I've brewed ~20 batches, all bottled, so likely hitting the 1000 bottled beer mark, with, until today, never more than a spilled beer or two, but today a bad bottling day....:smack:
First, no priming sugar, but no problem I've got DME. Decide against that to avoid Krausen in the bottles so use cane sugar (look up rates for 5 gal batch). Fine. Sugar water is boiling, sanitizing bottles, all ok. Open the fermenter, my Lagunita's Sucks clone(ish), dry hopped w/ 7oz of hops in the primary, no bags, doesn't look too bad, but will have issues w/hop flakes. Ok. Put the cooled priming solution into bottling bucket (1st time in that order, I usually stir it in at end). Start to rack into bottle bucket, using a new hose, first time ever my siphon doesn't hold. Hmmm. Ok, start over and lift cane up a bit from bottom, siphon takes hold, see hop crud coming through but catch the first parts, will deal with rest later. The stage is now set...
As I approach 4g of beer in bottling bucket I check to see how it looks in the fermenter. Oh no, getting close to the trub, already! Yup, recover just over 4g of beer (new low, damn!
). Thinking about the hop flakes/crud in my bottling bucket I figure I'll watch the tubing for how much comes in (maybe not much until the end??). I push it. Not too smart, more comes through, but maybe not too bad, and I stop. I begin filling, my new hose, remember that from above?, is too long, and I'm struggling to get the bottles filled (about 2 in now). I figure why fight it, cut the hose (sanitize the sissors first), and let's cut it just the right length too. Yup, cut barely long enough, but I'll make do, and fight with it! Bottles still not filling well. Duh, clean out the filling cane it must be full of hop crud. Yup. Lose spring in my bowl of sanitizer with all the caps. Remove caps and finally locate spring. Sanitiize a muslin bag to create an in-line filter. Brilliant, right?!
Ha! Filter clogs quickly, fill is too noisy (creating foam). Damn. Remove, try again. Same problems. Move filter from spout down towards cane where I can see it fill up. A bit less noise, I can work with this if I'm willing to fill slowly. Ok, now comes fun. I keep pushing down on the bottling cane harder (has to help right?!), uh oh, damn hose and cane separate, hose flies away, grab for hose, beer bottle, almost full, falls over, struggling to grab the damn fast flowing hose (minus the filter!), upright the beer bottle and turn off the spout! Beer all over the kitchen. Crap, mess, losing my beer!
Back together, filling more bottles slowly (filter back in line & keep changing it). During one of these changes, yet another almost full bottle falls over, more beer lost! Grab the bottle, almost pull the hose back off (this time from the spigot). I need a break. Decide to cap 1st 16 bottles filled now, use different caps for the ones that filled noisily (maybe I will notice a difference?). The only thing good about the day, love that simple wing capper. Back to filling, but damn its taking so long. Screw it, done with the filter, maybe it will fall out with the yeast in the bottle? Otherwise here's to hop flakes! Bottled nearing the end, about 4 to go. Will be more crud in these. End up capping these with a "D" on cap. Dregs. Finally all are bottled, 7 short of 2 cases. Damn, damn!
I clean up all the equipment, wipe down the cabinets, wash the floor. Then it dawns on me.... I only recovered a bit over 4g. I added the priming solution in the beginning, assuming 5g. Could I have created bottle bombs? Uggghhhh. I hope not. At worst maybe some over-carbed beer, but please no bottle bombs. So much for conditioning the first two weeks at room temp, I bring them down to the cellar, though that's about 62, so we'll see......
Time for a beer.
First, no priming sugar, but no problem I've got DME. Decide against that to avoid Krausen in the bottles so use cane sugar (look up rates for 5 gal batch). Fine. Sugar water is boiling, sanitizing bottles, all ok. Open the fermenter, my Lagunita's Sucks clone(ish), dry hopped w/ 7oz of hops in the primary, no bags, doesn't look too bad, but will have issues w/hop flakes. Ok. Put the cooled priming solution into bottling bucket (1st time in that order, I usually stir it in at end). Start to rack into bottle bucket, using a new hose, first time ever my siphon doesn't hold. Hmmm. Ok, start over and lift cane up a bit from bottom, siphon takes hold, see hop crud coming through but catch the first parts, will deal with rest later. The stage is now set...
As I approach 4g of beer in bottling bucket I check to see how it looks in the fermenter. Oh no, getting close to the trub, already! Yup, recover just over 4g of beer (new low, damn!
). Thinking about the hop flakes/crud in my bottling bucket I figure I'll watch the tubing for how much comes in (maybe not much until the end??). I push it. Not too smart, more comes through, but maybe not too bad, and I stop. I begin filling, my new hose, remember that from above?, is too long, and I'm struggling to get the bottles filled (about 2 in now). I figure why fight it, cut the hose (sanitize the sissors first), and let's cut it just the right length too. Yup, cut barely long enough, but I'll make do, and fight with it! Bottles still not filling well. Duh, clean out the filling cane it must be full of hop crud. Yup. Lose spring in my bowl of sanitizer with all the caps. Remove caps and finally locate spring. Sanitiize a muslin bag to create an in-line filter. Brilliant, right?!Ha! Filter clogs quickly, fill is too noisy (creating foam). Damn. Remove, try again. Same problems. Move filter from spout down towards cane where I can see it fill up. A bit less noise, I can work with this if I'm willing to fill slowly. Ok, now comes fun. I keep pushing down on the bottling cane harder (has to help right?!), uh oh, damn hose and cane separate, hose flies away, grab for hose, beer bottle, almost full, falls over, struggling to grab the damn fast flowing hose (minus the filter!), upright the beer bottle and turn off the spout! Beer all over the kitchen.
Crap, mess, losing my beer!Back together, filling more bottles slowly (filter back in line & keep changing it). During one of these changes, yet another almost full bottle falls over, more beer lost! Grab the bottle, almost pull the hose back off (this time from the spigot). I need a break. Decide to cap 1st 16 bottles filled now, use different caps for the ones that filled noisily (maybe I will notice a difference?). The only thing good about the day, love that simple wing capper. Back to filling, but damn its taking so long. Screw it, done with the filter, maybe it will fall out with the yeast in the bottle? Otherwise here's to hop flakes! Bottled nearing the end, about 4 to go. Will be more crud in these. End up capping these with a "D" on cap. Dregs. Finally all are bottled, 7 short of 2 cases. Damn, damn!
I clean up all the equipment, wipe down the cabinets, wash the floor. Then it dawns on me.... I only recovered a bit over 4g. I added the priming solution in the beginning, assuming 5g. Could I have created bottle bombs? Uggghhhh. I hope not. At worst maybe some over-carbed beer, but please no bottle bombs. So much for conditioning the first two weeks at room temp, I bring them down to the cellar, though that's about 62, so we'll see......
Time for a beer.
