To sanitize my bottles, I filled a cooler with about 5 gallons of water and a bit of sanitizer. In the future, I'll probably pick up a vinator to make things easier, but it's humble beginnings for now, right? I'll use the same water to sanitize my carboy and other equipment throughout the day. I took the opportunity to sanitize my growlers as well. Why not?
Getting the bottles to air dry is the longest process for this step of brewing, especially without a bottle tree. It has become completely clear to me that cleaning is roughly 80% of the beer making process. I've always read about how time consuming the cleaning is, but actually doing it makes it reality. There are no shortcuts, my friends. Just lots of cleaning and sanitizing.
Here's a rough step-by-step of my process...
- Bottling Day
- Insure that fermentation is complete
- Take hydrometer readings for at least three days where the reading is consistent.
- Be sure to use a sanitized hydrometer and cylinder each time.
- Clean
- Entire Work Space
- Clean & Sanitize
- Bottles
- Bottle Filler
- Bottle Caps
- Auto Siphon & Vinyl Tubing
- Small Funnel
- After the bottles have dried, use the funnel to place ½ tsp corn sugar into each 12 oz bottle
- Assemble the auto siphon, vinyl tubing, and bottle filler
- Remove the plug/airlock from the SF
- Place the auto siphon into the carboy, and give it a pump or two
- Press the bottle filler onto the bottom of the first bottle until it is filled
- Place a cap on top, and repeat steps 7&8 for the rest of the bottles
- Use the bottle capper to secure the caps to each bottle in order
- Place the bottles back in the box, and store in a dark place for at least 1-2 months
- Immediately clean and sanitize all equipment
I'm anxious to find out if my hard work will pay off in the form of a delicious end product. Even if I (heaven forbid) broke my full carboy all over the floor and never sampled a drop, I would still be on the other side of this with a great amount of experience and knowledge that I couldn't have gained any other way. But lets keep our hopes high!
I just finished bottling, and scrubbed out/sanitized all the dirty equipment. I lost a bit of beer trying to avoid bottling the trub on the bottom of the carboy, and also when I racked from one fermenter to another. That left me just four bottles shy of two cases of beer (44 bottles total). I also took a little sample for myself to taste. ;) Here's what I think so far...
A Gold to light amber in color, and a little cloudy. There's no carbonation yet, so no head.
A Sweet caramel malt, boozy, light floral hops, some yeasty phenols
T Toffee, caramel, bread crust, herby hops, touch of spice, fairly discernible alcohol, cheerios
M No carbonation yet
A Biscuit, very light bitterness
C I've got almost no experience tasting beer at this stage of beer making, so I'm not quite sure if it's going to be any good. According to my calculations, it should be about 7.22% ABV. Considering this is a very basic beginner recipe, I can understand why it's coming off as boozy. There are some good elements in there, and I'm sure some carbonation and maturation will only help round out the flavors. We shall see!
It's going to take at least two weeks to allow the beer enough time to carbonate. I'll probably try a bottle then, and another one each week after until I'm happy with it. For now, my job is done! Now I just wait and reap the benefits in a few weeks. =)
No comments:
Post a Comment