Homebrew Beer Episode 3, Bottling the Brew.

Sunday afternoon we got busy and performed the final stage of the beer brewing project. ( Except of course the very last chapter,  tasting and consuming it! )

After washing and sterilizing all of the caps, bottles, and equipment needed to bottle Brian got comfortable and we mixed the final special sugar. He dissolved the sugar in 2 C. of warm water and stirred it into the brew.  Basically it was an ounce of the special finishing sugar to a gallon of the brew and it combines with the yeast and results in the natural carbonation.  That is if you get everything right!!

Brian sat on the kitchen floor and filled each bottle then handed it off  to me and I caped and packed the bottles back into the cases.

He then marked each cap as our first batch so we would know what we had should we proceed with additional batches of different beers.  The really tricky part of this is you keep edging along not knowing if the batch is any good.  Did we mess something up along the way?  We can't know until the end.

The bottled beer will sit in the house at room temperature for a couple of days then be moved down into the cool garage for 1 or 2 weeks before tasting.  Mark, Brian's brewing friend says it is good after a week but better after two.  Guess time really will tell.

YES.  THIS TURNED OUT GREAT.  WE ARE SO EXCITED!  A friend of Brian's who has done this for years says it is terrific.  The only advice he offered was to put just a little bit less in each bottle.   We are tickled to death and have started a new batch.  More to come later......

Homebrewing Beer Episode TWO, American Pale Ale.

The beer stays here until time to bottle.

Saturday we consulted our friend Mark who is an old pro at home brewing and he suggested we open up our brew bucket and take a look.  The air lock has ceased bubbling and the darkness that had formed at the top has dropped to the bottom of the pail.  It smells like beer!  It looks like beer!

He suggested we siphon the brew into the bottling bucket so Brian installed the spigot and we washed and sterilized all of the pieces and utensils that would touch our brew.  The idea was to siphon off the clear liquid then to let it sit undisturbed a bit longer to let it develop and to let it continue to clear. 

We accomplished all of this in no time and felt reassured we are on the correct path in our brewing endeavor!

I must admit I was worried that we had not let the liquid cool enough before throwing the yeast.  I was sure it was under 115 degrees F  (the temp. for mixing yeast and liquid for bread baking)  but after the fact I remembered the directions said to cool it to 65-70 degrees.  What the heck is that all about??  Well anyway I had not checked the temperature because I knew we had added 14 quarts of cool water to only 6 quarts of boiling water and I knew from the feel through the side of the bucket it was not too hot had I been making bread!  So I was very relieved it appears to be a good brew!

Brian brought in an adjustable low stool on casters from the garage and we positioned the bottling bucket on it and the brewing bucket on a table and it siphoned it off easily.  Then we were able to just roll the pail after placing the lid on, to an out of the way corner to rest a few more days until we bottle.  Until then it will just sit undisturbed.

NOTE: See Homebrewing Beer Episode ONE on 11/15/12 for the beginning of this process.

Homebrewing Beer, Episode One, Our First Attempt.

This is the label from our can of extract.

Gees.....I have gone to the "American Home Brewers Association" website,  www,homebrewersassociation.org and watched the brewing films a half dozen times now.  My hope is that what we purchased is at least close to what they are directing!!  Time will surely tell.

The Home Brewing Kit.

We went to the Farm Bureau and purchased everything we should need last Saturday.  A knowledgeable fellow, Al, helped us and is also a home brewer so we felt good about his advice.   We didn't want to start this too soon and run it into having to process some part of it on Thanksgiving day!  We should be OK until at least Wednesday of next week.

The kit contained everything except the extract, sugar, caps, and bottles.

I have first drawn and let sit out overnight 5 gallons of water to loose the awful chlorine.  Then I boiled it all a  good 20 minutes and have left it covered overnight so it is sterile and cooled.  Next when Brian gets home and we have finished supper we will sterilize and get things rolling!!

ZERO HOUR.  First thing, we set about to dip 3 quarts of our prepared water into a stock pot and turn on the heat as it must be brought to a boil.  Next we drew a dishpan of hot water and after removing the label from the can of extract submerged the can in the water to warm it to make it more free flowing.  The next step was to mix 1 T. of the beer equipment disinfectant with 1 gal. of very warm water and disinfect everything that will touch the beer.  (You needn't worry about the water or pans because of the boiling and keeping them covered with their lids.)

We are making a 5 gallon batch rather than the 6 as specified by the kit as Al recommended cutting back the water only for a deeper flavor.  Hay Brian wants big flavor don't you know! 

The extract.

So now the water is boiling, everything should be sterile and we pour the contents from the can of extract into the brewing pail.

Dissolving the extract in the boiling water.

Next add the 3 quarts of boiling water and stir to dissolve.  As soon as it has dissolved Al said we should fill the empty extract can with the brewers sugar he sold us and add it, stirring again to dissolve.  Big B (Brian) is right in there and we re chugging along!

As soon as we complete this task we fill the brewing pail to the 5 gallon line with the room temperature and previously boiled water stirring away as we go.   They have a special lingo that goes along with this and if I recall correctly we now have "wort".  I think that is what they term the mixture before you "throw the yeast".

"Throwing the Yeast."

Next you do add the yeast, the water temperature is to be between 65 and 70 degrees which I find very very odd from my bread making past.   Well anyway, you stir and dissolve then proceed again.

Tucked away in a dark place.

At this point we lock on the lid, fill the air lock half full of water and insert it into the appropriate opening on the lid, and slide it away into a dark place not to be disturbed for a good week or so.  And we shall see what comes of our first attempt.........more to come.