Bottling My First Batch Tonight

[HuffDaddy]

So I'm amidst the experience of my first batch of homebrew. It is an English Pale Ale. So far so good. Two nights ago I set up my bottling rig and did a practice run (with water instead of beer). Last night I loaded up my dishwasher and ran my bottles through 2 santizing + high heat cycles. Tonight, I'll be moving everything to bottles and the anticipation is killing me.

Wish me luck!

 

[bull8042]

Don't sweat it, you will do fine. Remember, you aren't birthing a new baby, just bottling beer. No lives in the balance, so to speak...... You will be OK. Good luck.

 

[HuffDaddy]

Yeah, I'm not TOO worried. The practice run went extremely smooth, so I expect the same tonight.

 

[yeasty]

measure your priming sugar carefully....

 

[AmberChris]

I feel you buddy!! I have my first brew in bottles sittin in my closet. I have 2 weeks left till drink day and I'm extremely anxious to see how I did. Good Luck!!

 

[HuffDaddy]

"measure your priming sugar carefully...."

Would you mind expanding on this? I am working with a pre-measured kit, so I planned on using whatever amount of sugar was included in it. Is there a beer to prime ratio I need to be wary of?

 

[fatinma]

don't even think about opening one of those beers for 3 weeks. The wait will be worth it.

 

[Revvy]

Good luck, and smart thinking doing a wet run before hand...

And if you haven't already read some of the tips that me and a few other people put in my bottling tips thread...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

You may find an idea or two to make in uber comfortable or effortless...



I find basic brewing podcasts to be the perfect backdrop to my bottling days.

 

[KDM]

I bottled for the first time ever nine days ago. I read and reread Revvy's and other related threads here, and then practiced with water first as you have done (excellent idea!). Everything went smoothly and I actually found the process enjoyable. I used the packet of sugar that came with my kit with nary a thought as to measuring it.

Last night I popped one open. I know I ought to wait three weeks for best taste or whatever, but I really want to know first hand what it's like at bottling time, then at one week, two weeks, etc. (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it). This one opened with a nice little pffffft! and produced a head in the glass readily. It tasted okay but not spectacular, but at any rate was probably the most satisfying beer I can remember because of its origin. I understand it really isn't fully carbonated at this point, but wouldn't have known if not told.

 

[yeasty]

"measure your priming sugar carefully...."

Would you mind expanding on this? I am working with a pre-measured kit, so I planned on using whatever amount of sugar was included in it. Is there a beer to prime ratio I need to be wary of?

in my case the bag of corn sugar wasnt labeled well enough for me to understand what to do so i took out a dry measure cup and filled it up not knowing that i needed to really pack it down to get the right amount. that stuff is real fluffy and i used about 50% of what i should have. not to mention my final amount was more like 4.5gal so i was going to use slightly less than the 5oz. anyway.....just a note of caution.

 

[HuffDaddy]

thanks Revvy. I read that post a while back (its what gave me the idea about bottling in my dish washer), but I was looking for it again this morning to freshen up.

 

[Joos]

in my case the bag of corn sugar wasnt labeled well enough for me to understand what to do so i took out a dry measure cup and filled it up not knowing that i needed to really pack it down to get the right amount. that stuff is real fluffy and i used about 50% of what i should have. not to mention my final amount was more like 4.5gal so i was going to use slightly less than the 5oz. anyway.....just a note of caution.

1 cup for 4.5 gallons and no explosions?Good that gives me hope for more carbonation in the future.Everything I've read says bout 3/4 cup for 5 gallons

 

[HuffDaddy]

Well, I did it. I took my time and everything went smoothly. I ended up with 40 bottles worth of beer. They are now resting in cardboard cases wrapped in garbage bags (in case of bottle grenades) in my closet.

Now the waiting begins.

 

[fratermus]

"measure your priming sugar carefully...."

Would you mind expanding on this? I am working with a pre-measured kit, so I planned on using whatever amount of sugar was included in it. Is there a beer to prime ratio I need to be wary of?

Accurate priming sugar measurement requires a scale. Kits almost always come with a default 5oz packet of dextrose because it is easier on them logistically. It's rarely the right amount of priming sugar (it can be right in the same way that a stopped clocke is right 2x/day).

I have two conflicting thoughts about this:

* 5oz will probably excessively carbonate most styles
* most Americans, new brewers included, expect excessive carbonation

so maybe it's a wash. By the time a new brewer realizes/cares that carbonation varies by style they are also weighing out their priming sugar from (relative) bulk supplies.

 

[yeasty]

so maybe it's a wash. By the time a new brewer realizes/cares that carbonation varies by style they are also weighing out their priming sugar from (relative) bulk supplies.

except in my case....i realized the mistake the next day. and i cared.

 

[KDM]

40 bottles, eh? I was feeling almost gypped to get only 49 out of my first batch using Revvy's bottling thread as a go-by, was hoping to squeeze out at least 50. Now I feel better, but also wonder why you're nine bottles behind me, a fellow first-timer? I want to know 'cuz I'm pretty hot to get as much out of each batch as I possibly can since I consider all this an awful lot of work. I mean, it's fun and keeps me out of the pool halls and all, but still I wanna get the most bang for my buck.

As a side note, I was surprised to find I preferred using my wing capper to the bench model. Granted, my bench capper is 100 years old; wonder if the new ones are any better?

 

[clake]

Nice to see you over here Huff!

 

[HuffDaddy]

"40 bottles, eh? I was feeling almost gypped to get only 49 out of my first batch using Revvy's bottling thread as a go-by, was hoping to squeeze out at least 50. Now I feel better, but also wonder why you're nine bottles behind me, a fellow first-timer"

I ended up shorting my batch when I transfered my beer from the primary bucket to secondary. With a large amount of sediment on the bottom of my bucket, I was probably a bit too careful about not transferring any of it and left more beer in the bucket that I would have liked. When it was all said and done, I bottled 4 gallons out of my original 5 gallon batch.

 

[Tim_the_Enchanter]

Edit: I said I didn't want to threadjack and did it anyway...durrrrr. Starting a different thread...