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Category Archives: Bottling

Bottling

Bottling Day – Carpe Citravesa Homebrew

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June 28th, vacation has started for this teacher.  PHEW!  So how do I move forward?  How do I relax?  Well, I make it a bottling day for Carpe Citravesa.  I bust out about 40 bottles.  I know my batch will fit in it because I have some bombers in there….and I love bottling in bomber bottles!  One, it goes so much quicker.  Two, it makes it easier to share when out and about.  Three, they are just “cool”.

IMG_20160628_114727931 This bottling day didn’t go off without a hitch. Continue reading

Bottling Homebrew Talk

Bottling Day: Commandant Pliny of the Clone Wars Homebrew Series

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Today was bottling day for my Pliny the Elder homebrew clone, Commandant Pliny.  This is the second brew in my Clone Wars series.  This homebrew was made back in February, during a beer tasting with buddies.  It was nice to bottle just 25 total bottles.  I used 20 bottles that were 20 oz or bigger, which made the process go much faster.  Once I get a kegerator up and running, I can see this getting even quicker!

 

During the bottling I also drank a New Belgium Ranger IPA.  Very tasty if you haven’t gotten a chance to try one!IMG_20160412_195458211 

 

Some things I pondered:

  • The new bottling wand with the spring is a HUGE help.  I had less than 3 drops of spillage the whole time.  This is a big thing considering there was so much hop material in the beer from all that hops.
  • I had just short of 4.5 gallons go into the bottling bucket. Of that, I actually bottled just short of 4 gallons due to sample testing, and massive amounts of hops sludge that made it in through the siphon.  I didn’t want to have bottles that were hop sludge depositories.  

    IMG_20160412_204424536

    Lots of hops residue

  • I left it in the secondary longer than needed.  I am not sure what this will do to the overall flavor, but the hopping schedule for the dry hopping for the bottling was almost spot on.
  • I did have some loss from the transfer and yeast collection, next time, I think I will push a little more volume at initial fermentation to get more bottles next time.
  • The idea of a beer tasting while brewing was a great one.  In fact, one of the tasters is hosting a group of us this weekend while he brews and we taste again!  Woohoo! I look forward for a little reporting back from that night.
  • I am looking forward to the reuse of the WLP001 yeast that I harvested.  I got hopefully a viable amount to use in the future.  I will also look into making over sized starters with fresh yeast, and splitting them in the future as well….this would alleviate the hop trub to decant with super hoppy brews like this one.
  • I probably won’t be able to taste this side by side with Pliny the Elder.  I have had it before, but it is tough to procure here in NY State.  Oh well…..it should be a tasty beer either way.

 

 

 

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Nice golden color to this one!


IMG_20160412_204338936 IMG_20160412_204351185

Bottling

Bottling Day – Lt. Topper Reports For Duty

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Today I bottled the Lt. Topper.  It is a Heady Topper clone.  OG 1.080 and FG 1.020 for a abv of 8.1%.  The true Heady Topper rings in at 8%…o not too far off!  The 6.5 gallon pre-boil ended up as 4.75 gallons going into the bottling bucket.  This left about half a gallon or so of trub between the bottom of the carboy and the bottom of the bottling bucket.  It is unfiltered, so there was lots of tasty greens left behind from all those hops additions.  Now to wait a few weeks and see how it carbonates!

Bottling Homebrewing

Bottling Day: SMaSHing Nuggets and Bottle Scraping

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It all started because of a dentist appointment.  A little extra time, and voila!

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I scraped and sanitized a bunch of bombers and 12 bottles today.  This will prepare me for my next brew.

Then I bottled SMaSHing Nuggets.  I put some into a Beer Box, some in bombers, and some into 12 ounce bottles.  The OG was 1.048 and the FG was1.015.  ABV rings in at 4.5% – makes for a good session beer.  The uncarbonated beer tastes a little earthy and peppery…I think it will be quite tasty!

I attached a pic of the brewing notes.  Feel free to try it out!
SMaSHing Nuggets

Bottling Homebrewing

Bottling Day – Choconutty Stout

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Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Beer.IMG_20150912_153541210

I just bottled a new batch.  My kitchen smells of chocolate and peanut butter.  I got 14 bombers, and 18 regular bottles out of this batch.  So let’s take it back a bit….

A few years ago, I got the Chocolate Covered BEAVR Nuts kit.  Let me just say, I loved it.  Everybody loved the name (wasn’t mine), but enjoyed the beer even more (minus the people who had nut allergies who stayed away).  I kept saying I needed to do another batch.  So, I locally sourced some of the ingredients at a bulk spice place nearby.  Then I got a basic stout kit and did some magic.  Did I change and veer away from the BEAVR Nuts?  Yes.  I added more peanut butter powder.  I used a mass amount of Royal Dutch Chocolate powder.  I used the cacao nibs.  End result?  Super chocolaty.

Where would I go from here?  Up the abv!  Get some more stuff in there to make a Super Choconutty Stout.  Here are the stats for this one:

Choconutty Stout

Brewed 5/23/15

Bottled 9/12/15

OG 1.073

FG 1.020

ABV: 7.1%

 

Things I learned from this batch:IMG_20150912_153757362

  • I love the Big Mouth Bubbler I got for Christmas.  Cleanup was a breeze.  Adding things in was so much easier not using a funnel, or just trying to get it through the small neck.
  • Next time I would be sure there was MUCH more wort.  I lost a lot of beer due to the sediment at the bottom.  I wanted to keep it as clear as possible.IMG_20150912_153801276
  • I need more bomber bottles.  It is so nice to use those, and it makes it easier to share some beer.
  • I may need a new bottling wand.  My current one seemed to stick a bit, and made for some nasty clean-up spots.
Bottling Homebrew Talk Homebrewing

Just Bottled – Hopcinnacidity Hard Cider

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Well, yesterday I bottled a new batch of brew for me…only it wasn’t beer!  It was my first attempt at hard cider.  Well, with a twist.

Let me back this up a bit.  I read an article in Brew Your Own Magazine about making fruit drinks.  I got pretty intrigued by hard cider via apple juice.  IMG_20150822_142150902Only, I had to change things up a bit.  I decided to hop it up a bit.  I added some UK Pilgrim hops right from the get go, as well as 5 cinnamon sticks.  Throw in some yeast nutrient, a little yeast, and let it fly.  7 days in, the fermentation was almost complete, so I tossed in some UK Sovereign hops to add some aroma.  Let it sit for another week and bottled.  Here are the stats for this hard cider brew:

Hopcinnacidity

Brewed 8/22/15

Bottled 9/5/15

OG 1.048

FG 1.002

ABV: 6.1%

 

Some things I learned:

  • I got a great fermentation!  This may be the lowest FG I have had in any of my brews.  If I actually kept notes from the beginning, I would be able to tell.
  • Adding the hops will give the hard cider some character.  I should figure out the best ones to use in the future, not just what do I have here.
  • I decided to use carbonation drops for this batch.  I needed some more, so the trip to the local home brew shop was costly, as I came home with some extra dry malt extract for a future SMASH beer.
  • Next time I need to rack it from the carboy (primary fermenter) to another vessel BEFORE the bottling bucket.  Let’s say there was a bit of hop sediment in there with two ounces of hops in just under 3 gallons of hard cider.
  • I need to use muslin bags for my hops, it would have helped in the clarity of the brew.

I can’t wait to see what it tastes like….

 

Bottling Homebrewing

Just Bottled – Vinn’s Java Tour

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My wife is training for a marathon….she is out on a 20 mile training run.  So what should I do?  Bottle some beer of course!

I brewed this coffee stout back on April 30th.  After the primary fermentation, I transferred it over to the secondary, adding some double brewed coffee .  I added in some bourbon soaked vanilla beans, then just let it sit in the dark.  The OG was not killer, 1.047 at 81 degrees Fahrenheit, just before pitching the yeast.  I wish I had squeaked out a bit more on the FG, but adding in the full pot of double brewed coffee drops things a bit….. 1.018 at 62 degrees Fahrenheit.  Final ABV 4.1%.  I think next time I need to make a more potent wort to drive the abv up a bit.

This brew was a fun batch, as during the boiling process, my dad stopped over.  It was a New Beer Thursday #nbt.  We threw down a Ghost Face Killah, from Twisted Pine Brewing Company and a Saranac Disruption Nitro.   Nothing better than drinking some fun craft beer while brewing.

Downfall to this bottling event?  I have to get more bottles ready for my chocolate peanut butter stout and dry hopped hard cider that are almost ready!  I guess I have some bottle cleaning work to do!

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Beer wort to be tested with a hydrometer

Bottling

Preparing Bottles For Your Homebrew

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A few days ago, I spent over an hour with my least favorite home brewing task… cleaning and preparing bottles.  You could spend some bucks, and buy some fresh bottles.  Over time though, those bottles disappear.  You take some brew to a party, the bottles ultimately get left behind.  You go to a buddy’s house for football….you leave some behind…you get the picture.

 

Anyways, I hate buying bottles without beer in them…..they seem to be a better deal with commercial stuff in them….or craft stuff for that matter.  So I have cases of beer bottles to scrape and sanitize.

 

A few tips I have gotten along the way.  One, start the process soaking in some warm water.  Add some OXICLEAN to the water.  It helps break down the glue a bit, makes it easier to scrape.  I used to use a pampered chef scraper, but now I use a straight blade widget.  If it leave stuff behind, or is a bit stubborn, back in the water for a little while.

 

After the scraping is done, into the dishwasher for the sanitizing cycle.  I talked with another buddy who sometimes wraps the clean bottles in foil, piles them in the oven and sanitizes them by heat in there.  Other times, people fill their bottling bucket with one step cleaner and let them soak a bit.

 

Are there shortcuts?  Yep, get the rounded scraper like this one HERE .  OR just buy the bottles like here.  Ideas?  What do you do?  Leave a comment below.

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