Bioguy1975
Active Member
So, no major issues here, just a brief description of how it went.
So, the morning of, I ran my bottles through the dishwasher, no soap, on high-temperature water. The cycle completed, I pulled the bottles out and allowed to cool to approximately room temperature. At the same time, I started my disinfecting solution (StarSan) and put all my tools in the liquid. I syphoned the beer into my sanitized bottling bucket.... whoops, forgot to add priming sugar! Ran upstairs, did 3.5 oz of sugar in one cup of water (I only had 3.5 gallons of beer) and took it downstairs, put it into the bottling bucket + beer. I got my Vinator ready, my bottles set up ready to be bottled, and the bottling tube attached to the bucket. Here we go...
So, first thoughts, there are a lot of drips coming off the bottling tube, even though it is meant to open and close only when a bottle is pushed onto the tip. I probably lost about 12 ounces of beer during the entire process. Second, thank goodness I got swing-top bottles. It really moved the process along quickly.
I had only about a half a bottle for my last, so I poured a little out for myself to taste, and did a hydrometer check with the last bit. 1.022, a little high. I tasted it.... and tasted very bland, almost watery. Citrusy as well, but I think that was the cascade hops, not sourness from an infection (no signs of infection in the container). Still a tad disappointing.
But... the color was good! A nice clear red-amber color. So, in the words of Bill Murray, 'at least I've got that going for me.'
The countdown to 3 weeks begins....
So, the morning of, I ran my bottles through the dishwasher, no soap, on high-temperature water. The cycle completed, I pulled the bottles out and allowed to cool to approximately room temperature. At the same time, I started my disinfecting solution (StarSan) and put all my tools in the liquid. I syphoned the beer into my sanitized bottling bucket.... whoops, forgot to add priming sugar! Ran upstairs, did 3.5 oz of sugar in one cup of water (I only had 3.5 gallons of beer) and took it downstairs, put it into the bottling bucket + beer. I got my Vinator ready, my bottles set up ready to be bottled, and the bottling tube attached to the bucket. Here we go...
So, first thoughts, there are a lot of drips coming off the bottling tube, even though it is meant to open and close only when a bottle is pushed onto the tip. I probably lost about 12 ounces of beer during the entire process. Second, thank goodness I got swing-top bottles. It really moved the process along quickly.
I had only about a half a bottle for my last, so I poured a little out for myself to taste, and did a hydrometer check with the last bit. 1.022, a little high. I tasted it.... and tasted very bland, almost watery. Citrusy as well, but I think that was the cascade hops, not sourness from an infection (no signs of infection in the container). Still a tad disappointing.
But... the color was good! A nice clear red-amber color. So, in the words of Bill Murray, 'at least I've got that going for me.'
The countdown to 3 weeks begins....
