I have been a bad homebrewer.
I have been a bad blogger.
I have not updated this site since this past summer. However, there are good reasons. First of all, I have not been brewing so I didn’t have much to write about. I was not brewing because I got married in January on the 19th. The amount of planning and preparation needed really escaped me. However, I am back and brewing like crazy.
For this post, some cool new things have happened.
- My wife bought me a kegerator for my wedding gift
- I purchased a reusable keg
- I will be kegging all future beers
This has had a strong impact on my likeliness to brew. The bottling is a real pain in the ass. You have to collect the bottles, clean them, and then bottling the beer is about a 20 to 35 min process. Needless to say, I am not unhappy I don’t have to do that again unless I want to.
The brew is coming
It’s funny that I was so eager to drink it then when I could I was so busy that I didn’t have the time to taste it for about 2 days. In my first taste I was pleasantly surprised. If you cannot tell, I have been a bit nervous about messing up somewhere along the line. I was surprised how much I could really taste the hops that I used in the brew. I smelled them while brewing and I can really taste that same aroma in my beer. I shouldn’t sound so amazed, it kind of makes me sound stupid because that’s how it works, but it was stronger than I expected.
There was a chemicall-y after taste to the brew, kind of like a medicine taste to it. I have noticed over time as I continue to let the beer age the after taste has dissipated. I don’t know if this is typical or if this means that I made a mistake somewhere along the line. I plan to take a bottle to a local homebrew shop to see what they have to say.
All in all, I am very happy with my beer. I did a good job! I like having the large quantity available to share with friends. I am already planning the next beer. I am looking for a light, fruity, but high alcohol content beer. Anyone got any god recipes fitting the bill?
By far the hardest step in the process. I had to wait 2 weeks before I could taste my beer. I kept it cool covered with a towel just in case any of the bottles exploded. It went by quickly.
Last night I finally bottled my beer. All in all, it was an arduous task. The hard part was and is cleaning everything. I cleaned the plastic fermenter, cleaned the bottles, and prepped the area. Cleaning the bottles was a pain and wasteful. I put a small amount of bleach in each bottle (about a teaspoon) and filled the rest with water. I let the bottles sit for about 45min to sterilize.
I then rinsed the bottles and set the carboy on the bitchen counter with the plastic fermenter below it. The transfer process was a breeze. I did a 6 pack at a time then immediately capped it. This process probably took about 30 min. Including cleaning and prep it probably took about 3 hours.
What I have learned is that in the future I need to streamline the bottling process, especially cleaning and sterilization. Maybe I could invest in a bottle cleaner.
My directions from beer-wine.com clearly state,
9. …check the hydrometer reading. If it has fallen to half the original reading, sanitize your glass carboy with B-Brite…
This being my first time, I misunderstood this direction. My original S.G. reading after combining wort and yeast was 1.043, well according to this direction I was waiting for my brew’s S.G.. to drop to .5215. I checked it on day 3 of primary fermentation S.G.=1.022, day 4 S.G.=1.022, and day 5 (today) S.G. = 1.022. From this I assumed that when the direction above said half I suppose they meant the decimals.
Continue Reading »