OK, well, more like a no-hitter because the beer has to taste good to have it be perfect, but...
Of the dozen or so batches (all 1 gallon) I've brewed in the last year and a half, I've had my ups and downs. Spilled beer
eek, forgotten fizz drops (oops), wasted beer (partials), low yield, bad sanitation, kids in the way, dog in the way, etc. Bottling has always been my weakest moment.
Today, I bottled (a few days late) a single-hop IPA (my third all-grain brew), and got exactly 9 bottles. No partials. Everything was clean. No spills except a tiny bit when I didn't close the clamp all the way, caught it immediately and lost about a tbsp. of wort. All bottles are free of wort on the outside. All bottles numbered - I didn't always do that. No worries about fizz drops because I used priming sugar.
If I had a slip, it was O2 in the beer. The auto-siphon slipped a couple of times and I got some bubbles. Aside from that, everything went by the book. Even the siphon to the bottling bucket was smooth. I guess the trick is to have absolutely no help and have the house to myself while listening to good music.:rockin:
I'll be back in 2 weeks to tell you if things turned out as well as the bottling.
Of the dozen or so batches (all 1 gallon) I've brewed in the last year and a half, I've had my ups and downs. Spilled beer
eek, forgotten fizz drops (oops), wasted beer (partials), low yield, bad sanitation, kids in the way, dog in the way, etc. Bottling has always been my weakest moment. Today, I bottled (a few days late) a single-hop IPA (my third all-grain brew), and got exactly 9 bottles. No partials. Everything was clean. No spills except a tiny bit when I didn't close the clamp all the way, caught it immediately and lost about a tbsp. of wort. All bottles are free of wort on the outside. All bottles numbered - I didn't always do that. No worries about fizz drops because I used priming sugar.
If I had a slip, it was O2 in the beer. The auto-siphon slipped a couple of times and I got some bubbles. Aside from that, everything went by the book. Even the siphon to the bottling bucket was smooth. I guess the trick is to have absolutely no help and have the house to myself while listening to good music.:rockin:
I'll be back in 2 weeks to tell you if things turned out as well as the bottling.
