Bottling Day #2!

Phew! My second batch of beer is complete! Between brew day and bottle day, I spent a total of about 12 hours on this batch. That includes a lot of waiting time, like for bottles to dry or water to boil. And it also includes a lot of intensive cleaning before and after each step. I've got several equipment additions (bottle tree, different sanitizer, vinator, gas burner, small scale, beer thief, infrared thermometer, 5 gal sparge kettle, hot liquor tank, rotating sparge arm) I'm eager to add to my arsenal that will either speed things up, make things more accurate, or both. Christmas is just a few days away, and you can bet your sweet bippies any funds I'm gifted will go toward some brew toys! 

So! How did it go, you ask? Pretty darn well... I think. I did a few things different this time around. Instead of putting the priming sugar in each bottle, I added the entire batch amount of sugar into two cups boiling water, and added that into an empty carboy. Then I racked the beer into the carboy after the sugar water. I also didn't use a secondary fermenter this round. I've read and heard from others that avoiding the secondary fermentation vessel doesn't affect the beer, and also protects it from possible oxidation (overexposure to oxygen can give the beer cardboard-y flavors). 

But it seems I won't be able to get away from racking into a second vessel before bottling because it's necessary to get it away from the trub and to add the priming sugar to the whole batch. I think I'm happy not using a second vessel as a fermenter, and as a bottling bucket instead. I think what I'll change next time is using the carboy as the primary fermenter, and the plastic bucket as the bottler. It's very beneficial to be able to view the fermentation through the glass of the carboy, as opposed to the plastic bucket. 

The strangest thing about this brew is that the fermentation was complete after only 4 days. My last batch was still bubbling by the time I bottled it. This one was absolutely not bubbling after 4 days. In fact, it had a back-suck of sanitizer from the airlock into the fermenter because of the temperature change (instead of pressure pushing air out of the lock, it sucked in, pulling down some sanitizer with it). It wasn't enough sanitizer to hurt anything, but it sent me rushing to beer books, message boards, and brewing friends to figure out what was going on. 

The thing that matters most out of this, beyond all the specific steps and beer jargon, is the actual beer. My proudest feat at this point is how clear the beer came out. The yeast in the fermenter flocculated into a tight cake on the bottom of the vessel, allowing me to rack some super clear beer off of the top. I'm also stoked that my mash tun worked so well at keeping out the little bits and pieces of malt husk. It's nice to have an area of brewing that seems to be solid this early in the game.

So dark!

So clear!

Bragging aside, the taste is something that might be lacking. I say might because the flavors can change quite drastically during the bottle conditioning stage. But right now, the taste is a little light. There's almost nothing on the front, but the middle has a lovely nutty caramel that I'm excited about. The finish is soft and short. I guess inoffensive is a good thing. I know that my extraction from the malt wasn't super great, so I'm not surprised this brew isn't bold in any way. And that's just fine with me.

FG: 1.010

With an OG of 1.042, and and FG of 1.010, this beer is about 4.2% ABV. It will gain a bit more alcohol in the bottle from the priming sugar. I'm excited to see if this batch carbonates in the bottle a little better than my last batch did. My biggest concern for the entire brewing process is that the temperatures in my apartment are a touch too cold for fermentation and bottle conditioning. The average temp in here is 60° F, and I think the beer prefers between 65° and 70°. 

I'm sitting here now drinking a bottle from my first brew. It has been aging since 11/02, which makes this just past the 7th week of bottle conditioning. I haven't noticed a change in carbonation since the 4th week, and now I'm pretty sure that this is as good as it gets. It's closer to the carbonation of a cask ale, and a little flat by American standards. The flavors are just getting better and better, though. At this point, I think I'll share a few, and age the rest another month or two. 

I've had a few people ask me if I want to be a professional brewer, and my answer is that I have a lot of brews between now and the time I'll ever make that decision. So far, I totally enjoy spending 6+ hours brewing on my only day off in the week, and that's a great sign. My main goal right now is still to become a Certified Cicerone. I'm just gonna do what I enjoy, and if I end up going down the path of professional brewing, so be it. For now, I'm content with the flow of knowledge I've been receiving and seeking on a daily basis. =)