MetallHed's First Brew Adventure

[MetallHed]

nevermind..

"read the stoopid label you stoopid idiot."

It's a bleaching compound that can be used for all brewing equipment, including SS..

... im going to use that then, cover 'em with the wrap, and use StarSan just before and during bottling.

 

[TheWeeb]

Enjoy the process of bottling, it is one step closer to the goal! It looks like you have the same starter kit that I purchased; one of the things I learned (from this forum) in between my first batch and my second, which I just bottled last night, was to attach the filling wand right to the valve on the bottling bucket:

This really made it easy to simply sit there and fill the bottles with barely any waste or mess.

 

[fatmoose]

my kit came with "Easy Clean" no-rinse cleanser.. how about that? otherwise i'll go get some oxi-clean

That ought to work fine.

 

[fatmoose]

Enjoy the process of bottling, it is one step closer to the goal! It looks like you have the same starter kit that I purchased; one of the things I learned (from this forum) in between my first batch and my second, which I just bottled last night, was to attach the filling wand right to the valve on the bottling bucket:

(Image link removed)

This really made it easy to simply sit there and fill the bottles with barely any waste or mess.

This works so well! I got the idea out of one of Revvy's threads, can't remember if it was his idea or someone else in the thread. For me I didn't even need hose clamps, the 3/8 hose piece slips snugly over my bottling wand and the tip of the valve on my bottling bucket. I had to run it under hot water for a minute or so to give it the needed stretch to get it on both of these so once it cools down it's quite snug.

 

[MetallHed]

Enjoy the process of bottling, it is one step closer to the goal! It looks like you have the same starter kit that I purchased; one of the things I learned (from this forum) in between my first batch and my second, which I just bottled last night, was to attach the filling wand right to the valve on the bottling bucket:

This really made it easy to simply sit there and fill the bottles with barely any waste or mess.

sweet!

i practiced earlier in the week with water for about an hour.. this looks way easier!

thanks!

 

[TheWeeb]

This works so well! I got the idea out of one of Revvy's threads, can't remember if it was his idea or someone else in the thread. For me I didn't even need hose clamps, the 3/8 hose piece slips snugly over my bottling wand and the tip of the valve on my bottling bucket. I had to run it under hot water for a minute or so to give it the needed stretch to get it on both of these so once it cools down it's quite snug.

The hose clamps are probably overkill I was just a bit paranoid about an accident and loosing PRECIOUS

 

[MetallHed]

Alrighty so I bottled my first brew on Sunday night. I was expecting it to be a lot worse... it wasn't that bad actually, but I had help. I'm just hoping that I didn't screw it up as far as oxidizing or causing an infection.. but i'm not going to worry about it. I soaked all the bottles in starsan as well as all of the equipment. Here are some pics:

Opened the primary and saw this... smelled GREAT

Boiling priming sugar

Racking into bottling bucket onto the sugar, auto siphon was niiiice, glad that came with the kit

Meg was sanitizing bottles. She handed me the bottles, i filled then handed back to her so she could cap them

Overall, not too bad.. will get better as we do more. Total time from set-up to clean-up was about 1.5 hours.. so it didnt take too long.

Can't wait to drink it.. c'mon few weeks!! On to the lemon coriander weiss in a week or two..

 

[MetallHed]

oh and the FG ended up being 1.0086 three days in a row. ABV about 3.8%

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

Wow, That is one precise hydrometer you have got there. Mine reads to about 1.00X and even then I am not always sure lol could be +/- .001

 

[MetallHed]

well it was between 1.006 and 1.008 so i figured 1.007. The temp was at 67 degrees, so I adjusted the reading to reflect the temp at 70 degrees as per the hydrometer instructions. so add .0016 to the hydro reading..

:rockin:

 

[millsware]

Bored at work last weekend and got inspired by the labels/logos thread. I decided that I would keep and label a few bottles from each batch and save them. I came up with this logo and name:

and this label:

I tested one out on a bottle and I think it looks pretty nice... I'll post a pic of that tomorrow as I dont have one here at work.

Where did you get the barley images? I'm trying to design a logo, and these would really help.

 

[MetallHed]

They're actually from clipart on microsoft publisher. You can go to microsoft's website and search for them. I actually searched for "wheat" and that came up.

the only problem is that the off white shape directly behind the wheat is a part of the image.. you would have to do separate editing to erase that part if you dont want it... i was too lazy to take that extra step, and they looked good with my design, so i kept them.

 

[millsware]

That shouldn't be a problem. Thanks.

 

[ctufano]

Metal, wanna do a mini beer swap when yours are done bottle conditionin -- I have some caramel cream vanilla ales and in another week will be bottling my cream stout

(mods, am i allowed to initiate a bottle swap like this? if not, apologies!)

 

[MetallHed]

that sounds cool!

That is if mine tastes okay to me I can't be swapping a poor example of a usually nice tasting cream ale.. haha

I'd love a cream stout though... i want to do a chocolate stout soon.

We'll give it a few weeks and see what it tastes like...

 

[MetallHed]

One week bottle progress report:

Threw a bottle in the fridge to chill for a few hours. Popped it open to hear a nice hiss. Poured slowly straight down and got this:

How'd it taste?

Was awesome to me. I hope I will get a better lookin head on 'er after she sits for a while, but I plan on taking some to the 4th celebrations and getting some further opinions... boo ya!

 

[MetallHed]

Chilled and had another bottle today... oh man.. it's already better, including the head:

 

[TheWeeb]

ya ya ya!

 

[ctufano]

mmmm. i mailed 4 beers to my dad (atlanta to west palm) and only 3 made it. i flew in today, and my buddy decided to head down for the long weekend, too. bought some cigars earlier, and tomorrow night we're drinkin the 3 beers. cant wait!

point being, lemme know when ya wanna bottle swap, if ya still do!

 

[MetallHed]

only three?

doooood... LOVE a good cigar... though i'm still a noob on those... used to smoking black and milds and been tryin to find a good "real" cigar.

I'm ready for the swap.

Sendin a PM!

 

[ctufano]

Well, I had sent 4. One broke though

Got good reviews on that -- I love going on cigars.com, and I've been hittin lots of stores and tryin different sticks -- all body types, places of origin, shapes. I can only barely appreciate a nice stick versus a not very nice one, but the ability to distinguish is growin!

 

[ctufano]

Hey man, had your brew today after I ate dinner! Sat on my patio drinkin it while smoking a Rocky Patel corona shortie cigar. Was very nice! Good summer beer! Only downfall was I was taking my time enjoying it and the damn Atlanta heat made it hot by the time I was done, but was still good!

Great job on your first brew!

Heres a pic of my awesome mail day -- beers and stogies!:

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

A quick tip on your bottling if you don't mind...set the bottling bucket up on something ( I turn my brew pot upside down on the table) That way you don't have to set all bent over to fill the bottles. My back would be screaming after bottling an entire batch that way.
Cool labels

 

[MetallHed]

Hey man, had your brew today after I ate dinner! Sat on my patio drinkin it while smoking a Rocky Patel corona shortie cigar. Was very nice! Good summer beer! Only downfall was I was taking my time enjoying it and the damn Atlanta heat made it hot by the time I was done, but was still good!

Great job on your first brew!

Heres a pic of my awesome mail day -- beers and stogies!:

Awesome!!!

I'm glad they made it alright and you enjoyed 'em!

Can't wait to try yours, tracking says I'll get 'em tomorrow, so I'll be havin one on the porch during the projected thunderstorms.


woo hoo!

 

[MetallHed]

A quick tip on your bottling if you don't mind...set the bottling bucket up on something ( I turn my brew pot upside down on the table) That way you don't have to set all bent over to fill the bottles. My back would be screaming after bottling an entire batch that way.
Cool labels

Thanks!

I tried the brew pot but my handles stick up farther than the top of the pot so it won't sit flat. I will have to find something to bring it up though, thats a good idea.

 

[ctufano]

I sit on a laundry hamper by the dishwasher (the big bucket kind)

ya man, def liked the beer. will be savin the next til after I've tried the other two you sent