so ive brewed 3 batches so far now because im hooked. but tonight i bottled my second batch and it was epic FAIL!!!!!!!!!!! i think i might puke and i have definitly cried already.
i was so exited after my first brew that i bumped it up a notch. a big notch for me! a few weeks ago i brewed Dickens Strong Christmas Ale from THIS BOOK.
it was a pretty big recipe for me and kind of expensive to buy all the fruit and honey and seperate spices. it was going to be gifts for all of my friends at christmas, so price wasnt a concern, really. it got really expensive when i splurged on 4 cases of 16 oz EZ-cap bottles to bottle them in. that alone set me back over a hundie. so far the whole recipe plus fancy bottles cost me about $170.
I was going to order some fancy cardboard holiday themed 4 pack holders and give each friend a completely unique gift and it would have bumped the price to around $200 with the 4-pack holders. that not really too bad since I would produce at least 9 but hopefully 10 complete 4-packs to give as gifts. so its really only spending $20 or less on each of your friends, that's nothing. relax. dont worry.
then everything went fine at bottling time. they were brand new bottles so i didnt scrub them but just ran the in my dishwasher without adding soap and set it on the sterile setting. they were hot hot. i had to let them cool in the rack while i got the stansar all set up. i bought a sprayer for my bottle tree to spray sanitize each one. this thing is amazing. this all went much better than my last bottling fumble, but at least i'll get beer from that one.
i boiled my priming sugar in 1 pint or water and let it cool on the stove covered with the lid that had been starsaned. i put the primer in the bucket maybe a little to hot, i'm thinking like 85 degrees. i wasn't too worried because such a small volume going in at 85 with a large volume at 65 coming in on top should have very little affect.
i filled all the bottles and damn! those EZ cap bottles are the cats pajamas! no wonder theyer so expensive. bottling went so quickly, just fill with my right hand and flip the lid and pop, all with the left hand. those bottles are nice! i ended up filling 42 bottles. that give me with enough to put together 10 four-packs as gifts, and leave me a couple extra spares do drink.
I was cleaning up after my mess, which really wasn't as big a mess as last time, and i saw the bag of priming sugar still sitting there! oh s4it! i know i put it in there. :: panicking :: maybe they just gave me an extra bag by mistake. i'm looking, lookig, looking, for the empty bag i put in the priming water, and hoe-lee-fook i just primed my precious precious christmas creation with a sample bag of 1-step cleaner that came free with my kit.
:denial: :anger: :bargaining: :depression: depression will certainly stick around a while before i get to acceptance. i was so, so proud. and now i am so, so down. i very well may puke before the night is over.
i was so exited after my first brew that i bumped it up a notch. a big notch for me! a few weeks ago i brewed Dickens Strong Christmas Ale from THIS BOOK.
it was a pretty big recipe for me and kind of expensive to buy all the fruit and honey and seperate spices. it was going to be gifts for all of my friends at christmas, so price wasnt a concern, really. it got really expensive when i splurged on 4 cases of 16 oz EZ-cap bottles to bottle them in. that alone set me back over a hundie. so far the whole recipe plus fancy bottles cost me about $170.
I was going to order some fancy cardboard holiday themed 4 pack holders and give each friend a completely unique gift and it would have bumped the price to around $200 with the 4-pack holders. that not really too bad since I would produce at least 9 but hopefully 10 complete 4-packs to give as gifts. so its really only spending $20 or less on each of your friends, that's nothing. relax. dont worry.
then everything went fine at bottling time. they were brand new bottles so i didnt scrub them but just ran the in my dishwasher without adding soap and set it on the sterile setting. they were hot hot. i had to let them cool in the rack while i got the stansar all set up. i bought a sprayer for my bottle tree to spray sanitize each one. this thing is amazing. this all went much better than my last bottling fumble, but at least i'll get beer from that one.
i boiled my priming sugar in 1 pint or water and let it cool on the stove covered with the lid that had been starsaned. i put the primer in the bucket maybe a little to hot, i'm thinking like 85 degrees. i wasn't too worried because such a small volume going in at 85 with a large volume at 65 coming in on top should have very little affect.
i filled all the bottles and damn! those EZ cap bottles are the cats pajamas! no wonder theyer so expensive. bottling went so quickly, just fill with my right hand and flip the lid and pop, all with the left hand. those bottles are nice! i ended up filling 42 bottles. that give me with enough to put together 10 four-packs as gifts, and leave me a couple extra spares do drink.
I was cleaning up after my mess, which really wasn't as big a mess as last time, and i saw the bag of priming sugar still sitting there! oh s4it! i know i put it in there. :: panicking :: maybe they just gave me an extra bag by mistake. i'm looking, lookig, looking, for the empty bag i put in the priming water, and hoe-lee-fook i just primed my precious precious christmas creation with a sample bag of 1-step cleaner that came free with my kit.
:denial: :anger: :bargaining: :depression: depression will certainly stick around a while before i get to acceptance. i was so, so proud. and now i am so, so down. i very well may puke before the night is over.
