First bottling day

Brewing Processes
1

OK.  My first batch is in the bottles hanging out, and hopefully getting happy.  It didn’t take as long to bottle as I though it would.  I did only get 41 bottles out of the batch, but that’s OK.  There was about 1 1/2 inches left it the carboy, on top of the sludge layer, that the auto siphon wouldn’t get, and some left in the bucket that was below the valve.  I also did have a slight boil over on brew day, that could account for some of the loss as well.  The estimated FG of the recipe I used was 1.012, and my measured FG before bottling was 1.011, so I think I hit it pretty good for a first try.  Came out at 7.1% ABV.

I took a taste of what was in the thief when I took the gravity reading, and it tasted like a good hoppy IPA.  I was worried with the temp it got to after the primary fermentation was done, but I didn’t notice any odd flavors, and it looked and smelled like beer.

Now to just wait 2 more weeks to see how it carbed up, and how it conditioned in the bottle (may have to sneak one after a week).

Now to finish the planning for batch number two.  I have lots of good notes from this batch to help get it more efficient and make it an even more awesome brew.  I am thinking Blood Orange Hefeweizen for thwe next one.

2

Nice work Erik. Patience is the key at this point. Get that next one going so you have a fairly steady supply of homebrew. Enjoy the first batch and make your adjustments in execution thtat you have noted for the second batch

3

You can get more from your ferementer if you tip the fermenter toward to siphon inlet as you get to the bottom.  Of course, this means you will carry over more junk into your last couple bottles.

4

I tried to get as little gunk as I could.  That’s probably why there was so much left.  The next batch I am going to be running through a fine mesh strainer as it goes into the carboy, so I can at least get rid of some of the hop sediment in the brew pot.

5

You always remember your first!

Right now, you’re in the hardest part of brewing, the eternal wait.

But not to worry, this will come to a close and you’ll be cracking open a cold one before you know it.

Great job.

And when you finish that blood orange wheat, share the recipe, it sounds pretty nice.

Alex  :slight_smile:

6

I would rather have a few less bottles of beer with less trub than a few more bottles that all have less trub.

7

?

8

LOL I read it a few times and gave up.

I usually let some trub go into the last few bottles and set them aside. After capping I mark the caps with a ‘T’. Once the trub settles and the beer has conditioned, it, pours clear and tastes and looks just as good as the rest. If you want to reuse the yeast, the bottles marked T have the highest cell count.

9

Perfectly said.

Congrats OP!