Tag Archives: bottle

Beer

The Beer is ready to drink… almost.

[singlepic id=12 w=320 h=240 float=left]A bit late with this one, but it’s time for an update on my adventure with making my own beer. It was just over 2 weeks ago that I re-checked my keg to see how the fermentation of my wort was coming along, it still had a slight cloudy appearance to it, but had lost any hint of sweetness, so I decided that it was a good time to go ahead with the bottling. The instructions called for adding 2 1/2 teaspoons of sugar into each bottle, so I used a funnel to get that in, then slowly add the fermented beer wort into the bottles, and fill them up to the spot right around where the neck of the bottle starts.

[singlepic id=11 w=320 h=240 float=right]After I filled all 8 bottles, I had to gently flip the bottles a few times to make sure that the sugar was fully mixed in. I then had to move all the beer back to my office, again to spend the next 10 to 14 days with temperatures between 20’C and 24’C. I also took the time to add a label to each bottle with the bottling date, ready to drink date and expiration date. All this waiting is going to leave me extra thirsty… thank goodness I’m making a lot of beer!

Now to speed up to 88mph and jump ahead a few days…
[singlepic id=13 w=320 h=240 float=left]The fermentation is done, and the bottles are nice and hard, and the beer has become clear. Now, this doesn’t mean that I can just crack open a bottle and start drinking… at least not without chilling the beer, no one likes warm beer, right? I am living up to following the instructions, and will do the conditioning step, which has me setting the beer aside for 2 more weeks minimum (up to 3 months). So, now I am setting a date of 3/3/12 to enjoy the first sip of my first batch of home brewed beer, at least, that didn’t come in a 2 litre bottle, though I still enjoy my Mister Beer too.

Beer

Beer bottling day has arrived…. or not.

I have waited the 14 day period to let me Mr.Beer keg ferment, and am ready to start bottling my beer. Now, I have had the keg resting out of direct sunlight, in the only room that I know will stay between 20’C and 24’C, my office, as having 3-4 computers always powered on does generate a decent amount of heat, and I only set the thermostat to 16’C just in case, though I did have to keep the door closed over night to keep the heat in. I checked the keg with an LED flashlight to check on the state of the contents, but it’s hard to tell the cloudiness inside the brown keg.

[singlepic id=7 w=320 h=240 float=left] Now the instructions directed me to sanitize the bottle that I would be putting the beer into, and lucky for me, the Premium Gold Edition of the Mr.Beer kit, came with 8 1 litre bottles. So, using the remaining sanitation mix, I prepared 4 litres of cleaning mixture and filled each bottle half way, capped them, and shock the crap out of them, before letting them sit for 10-15 minutes in the sink, and then shaking them again just to make sure the sanitizer had made contact with all surfaces.

[singlepic id=6 w=320 h=240 float=left] At this point, I brought the keg out of hiding, in preparation to dispense the beer into the bottles. I was able to see a nice layer of sediment built up along the bottom of the keg, and double check the clarity of the contents, and it did appear a tad cloudy, so I would have to draw a sample to verify that. If you look closely, you can see how far up the beer mixture is in the keg, just shy of 2/3’s full.

Here is a good look at the sediment.
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And here is a look at my sample, after I took a taste test.
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You can see how cloudy the beer still is, and I was able to detect a some sweetness in the taste, but it did almost taste like flat beer, which is what I am aiming for. Now, I’ve never tried the Cowboy Golden Lagar before, so I’m not quite sure of what the taste should be, but I’m guessing something close to flat Budweiser.

Well, with the beer not quite ready, I’ll put the keg back into storage for 2-3 (probably more like 7 days), then do a sample draw again to check for cloudiness and taste. For now, the sanitized bottle will remain sealed. For now, you will just have to wait another few days, just like me.

 *All pictures in this post are mine. I took them with my camera. If you want to use them for your own non-commerical use, go right ahead.