So I got tired of cleaning bottles.

Homebrewing was one of my hobbies for a few years and I enjoyed it greatly. But I got tired of cleaning bottles so I took a break. Twenty years later my niece gives me a copy of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing for Christmas and I am back in the game.

All of my equipment is long gone, given to my brother who never used it, so I got together the bare minimum and borrowed a few items. My first batch is in the secondary and I am gathering bottles and growlers now.

It appears that things in the hombebrewing world have improved greatly while I was gone. In the past supplies had to be mail ordered in my area. Now there are threelocal homebrew shops for me to choose from. One is attached to a brewpub, so I can pick up supplies and stick around to sample some of their more interesting brews.

I'm looking forward to participating in these forums.

Welcome to HBT!

Portage, eh?!? I used to live there in Kalamazoo. I'm not sure I would ever consider brewing my own beer if I were that close to Bells and their wonderful, wonderful Oberon. That was my favorite time of the year there. When the Oberon would start flowing each summer...

Soappeddler said:

My first batch is in the secondary and I am gathering bottles and growlers now.

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Have you bottled to growlers before? I was going to do that but when I went to the homebrew store to get some caps, the guy warned me pretty strongly that the growler would be prone to bursting under pressure. I got some 'special caps' for them but ended up not using them - I like the idea of bottling to growlers - I hate washing bottles, too.

Welcome to HBT.

Go pick up a bottle washer and vinator, to make cleaning bottles easier. Or pick up a corny keg and do away with bottling all together.

Soappeddler, Regarding cleaning bottles, today I brew my first batch and while I was at it started cleaning bottles. On this forum, I found out about using oxy-clean. It works like a charm. Soaked about 20 in my sink in some hot water. The labels and glue came off easily. Pounding down some Red Hook's to clean some more for my first batch......

Welcome back to the obsession and to HBT. Lots of great people here to answer questions night and day.

Soappeddler said:

My first batch is in the secondary.

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And you're right, things have improved greatly. Secondary, what's a secondary?

NJtarheel said:

Pounding down some Red Hook's to clean some more for my first batch......

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That's part of the fun of homebrewing......emptying all those bottles so you can re-use them.

When I started homebrewing I told people the hardest part was buying bottles full of beer and then having to empty every single one by myself ahaha.

+1 for kegging!
+1 for not bottling in growlers!

You are gonna need yourself a kegerator! Oh man the pleasures!

Soappeddler said:

Homebrewing was one of my hobbies for a few years and I enjoyed it greatly. But I got tired of cleaning bottles so I took a break. Twenty years later my niece gives me a copy of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing for Christmas and I am back in the game.

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I think it's ironic that the book your neice bought you is one that was around back then.

Welcome back, man. Looking forward to hearing about your new brews!

got tired of cleaning bottles? didn't we all... welcome back

Hi Soap,

I used to live east of Three Rivers, now I'm about 75 miles north west of you. Welcome to HBT. I gave up bottling after a couple of batches but I'm glad I kept my capper and bottles. I use kegs now but want to start bottling again to preserve some of my brews. As far as obtaining bottles... we live in Michigan with a 10¢ deposit law, find a local store where the owner is behind the counter and ask them for the non screw top American bottles. They will sell them to you for the deposit = 10¢ each.

Welcome back, I Hoist my pint to ya!

Welcome back! From another REnewed brewer. I took several years off, and some of the changes in brewing culture are really surprising to me. The biggest is in dry yeast. Back in the day, I would go way out of my way to get a liquid yeast, but I have tried a few of the "new" dry yeasts, and found that I love Nottingham! "I PUT THAT S&@T on EVERYTHING", almost.