Beer Update


I bottled my first batch of beer today.

First I washed and sanitized everything. The bottles were new so I rinsed them in sanitizer and rinsed them in clean water.

I then transferred the beer from the glass carboy (5 gallon jug) back into the 6 gallon plastic pale. The plastic pale has a spigot at the bottom for filling bottles.

There was a noticeable amount of sediment at the bottom of the glass Carboy. This is good. The previous transfer to the glass Carboy was intended to clarify and further age the beer.

I boiled some sugar and water while the transfer was taking place. I added the sugar to the beer about half way through the transfer. This sugar is supposed to activate any yeast left and cause the bottled beer to carbonate. Sugar turning into alcohol will emit C02.

The plastic hose fit neatly on the spigot. I started filling bottles leaving 1 inch of room at the top. I would fill eight 12 ounce bottles and then stop to cap them.

Capping is cool. You simply place a cap on top of the bottle and crimp the cap tightly on the bottle with a crimping tool.

I ended up filling and capping 52 bottles.

With the few ounces left in the bottom I decide to give the beer a taste.

It’s likely this beer will taste like a New Castle Ale. It is very smooth, nice hops, and slightly sweet. I figured the sugar will go away with the final fermentation.

The beer will take a few weeks to carbonate and a few more weeks to age. I plan my first tasting on about the 24th of July. I brewed this batch on June 10th when I was a mere 49 years old.

1 comments:

Peach Pod said...

This isn't going to be ready for your visit! Are you mad? I'm stunned!