First ever brew.

[dougriddle]

If there is one thing you do now, is sanitize the hell out of your bottles. Nothing like ruining a batch of beer with gushers because you-read me-didn't take enough time cleaning and sanitizing...

[Adam]

Bottles arrived today from Northern Brewer. Got a case of new 12oz bottles and have 1.5 cases of SN bottles. Tomorrow should be bottling day before work. Only caveat is my son (4yo) has a cold right now so it might have to get put off til the weekend so I can take care of him. If he's well enough to go to school tomorrow, it's game on.

[Adam]

OK, had time to bottle today and I just got done cleaning up. Grabbing a bite to eat before I take off for work.

Took about 2 hours with setup, sanitizing, bottling, cleanup.

Some fast notes:

Cleaning bottles sucks. I got a hair under 5 gallons final yield into priming bucket. Was surprised how little the krausen mark was from the 5 gallon mark. This beer is so far very clean. I picked a few small chunks during transfer from fermenter to bottling bucket but stayed behind and out of the bottles. Bottle yield was a 6 pack shy of two cases. I didn't want to fight for the last bit of beer, so I will keep the half bottle to try tonight when it's cold (for S&G) and dumped the rest into a half filled 20oz plastic bottle, squeezed the air out some and put it with the full bottles so I can tell when carbonization is starting.

For safety, I put the bottles in the 6 pack carriers in the white half tub and the case of bottles from Northern Brewer I put in that box but put in a Rubbermaid tub with top off. If I get broken bottles, they will be contained in the tubs and easy clean up. I stored them in the basement on the floor, which is ambiant probably mid to upper 50s temperature. Dark, cool, low traffic in case bottles give. I did get a chance to measure the FG with a "real" hydrometer and it finished at 12 so I'm spot on with the recipe. Didn't know what the OG was, but I'll hazard a guess that by following the instructions closely I'm good for a 4.5-4.75% ABV.

I did pour a shot worth into a glass and sip it. I have to go to work, so it was just a quick taste. I took one sip just to get in on my tongue and the second was for analysis. It's obviously flat, so I tried to look past that and go with flavor only. Didn't taste tart or "holy WTF is that". Smooth, drinkable. If I properly sanitized the bottles I should have a very decent and drinkable weizenbier for my first ever brew. I owe a lot of thanks to the guys on the Sunday Session and you guys on the forum. Couldn't have done it without you. Thank you.

I'll post pics tonight when I get home from work around midnight EST.

[Cody]

Very cool, Adam. Congrats!

Also, I love the extra plastic bottle move. I think I'll try that myself, just for fun.

[Adam]

Here's what the fermenter looked like when I took the lid off.


My yield into the priming bucket.


Krausen mark


Transfer consisted of putting the priming bucket on the counter with a clear lexan tub as a catch pan for spilled beer. The bottles were on the floor to the left of the blue towel. Filled bottles (4-6 at a time) were placed on the floor then immediately topped with a sanitized cap. They were moved to the counter by the 6 pack until all bottling was done. Then I crimped/sealed the caps, rinsed and dried the bottles, then stored them.


Bottles.



Conditioning. "Loose" bottles not in the box are placed inside the white tub that surrounded my fermenter bucket. In case of breakage, the spill will be contained and hopefully the shards. I'm not worried but I like peace of mind. This is on the basement floor with basically zero traffic.


The new bottles inside the box inside the Rubbermaid tub, to contain spillage.


Now the results:

Beer in the bottle. Dark spots are the outside drips on the bottle.


Beer in the tumbler. First one is not in focus. I can't tell if the second one is yeast in there or just on the glass.

[Adam]

What I'm going to do is convert this recipe from LME to DME and try it out again. I've been taking notes on the progress. So far 3 weeks 4 days in the fermenter then bottle. I'm thinking maybe one week to 10 days to carbonate. What I want to do is work with DME for fresher ingredients then master this recipe before I try the next one. I don't want to be jumping around style to style yet, since I'm in the process learning phase. I want to get my setup and methods down to make this a great beer consistently.

[Cody]

Adam, that sounds like a solid plan. Just last night I was watching The Brewery Show podcast and that was one of the tips the head of Keegan Ales gave: master one recipe before jumping around to another. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

[Fugglupagus]

This pic makes my back cramp up:



Bottling sucks. But if you can find a way to fill bottles somewhere other than the floor, it sucks slightly less. Some folks put their bottling bucket on the counter, place their butts in a chair, and then fill bottles on something higher than the floor, like an open dishwasher door. I prefer to bottle on my counter: