I mentioned in passing that this past weekend Jeff and I finally got to bottle the beer we made several weeks ago. You know I documented the whole thing!
We started by siphoning the beer into another bucket to separate it from any crud such as dead yeast film or hop sludge. Sounds delicious, right?
Jeff read online that it can be helpful to fill the bottles over the dishwasher to catch any drips or spills. We immediately saw the wisdom in this when we proceded to spray it all over the place.
We had been collecting used beer bottles for the past 6 weeks to use for bottling and I think we were able to acquire around 75. Don’t worry, we didn’t drink all of that ourselves, many were donated from friends who knew we would need them.
They got soaked in OxyClean to remove the labels, were sanitized, and then covered with some foil to keep the dust out.
After each bottle is filled, you clamp on a cap with this scary capping device. I let Jeff do this since it requires some muscle.
Our first 6 pack!
We ended up with 47 bottles total. Way more than we will be able to drink by ourselves, especially because we’re starting another batch this Saturday! Not only that, but we’re brewing another batch in a month. Jeff is definitely addicted and I think this is going to turn into a monthly thing for us.
There is no way we’ll ever be able to drink as much beer as we want to make, so I’m sure we’ll be pawning it off on anyone that enters our home.
The beer we’re making this weekend is a replica of one of my very favorite beers ever, the Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar. I tried it for the first time in Seattle when I was still getting over some stomach poisoning. I was feeling terrible at dinner and couldn’t finish my food, but I could not let myself stop drinking that beer because it was the most delicious beer I had ever tasted. I won’t be sad to have a huge stash of it at home!
What is your favorite beer? Or, what is your favorite “special” beverage that you just can’t get enough of?
I will gladly sacrifice myself and offer to take any of that off your hands.
Especially the Hazelnut Brown! I love the Rogue – they carry it at WF on Ponce.
How very noble of you. đŸ˜‰ I need to host a blogger meetup at my place so I can foist all this beer onto you and everyone else!
Jesse LOVES making his own beer! The cap thing is so hard to use!! I hope all your beers turn out well!
Carol @ Lucky Zucca recently posted..The Hunger Games
Thanks! I hope they turn out well too, it’s hard to wait months to see if the finished product is even drinkable.
You need to get the bottling attachment for the bottom of the tube – it controls the liquid filling into the bottle, only releasing the liquid when you press the attachment to the bottom of the bottle. It’s not messy at all, so I think it would help you guys immensely.
You’ll be surprised how quickly that beer goes once people know you brew.
Heather @ Better With Veggies recently posted..Do Shoes Really Matter for Running?
Ha! We even used one of those, apparently we’re just really messy!
Cool! I think Jason would love to brew his own beer.
I’m not a huge beer fan. I like wheat beers when I do drink beer though.
Lee recently posted..Test Run in My New Shoes
Just so you know, I’m totally a beer girl (well, in the sense that I can make one beer last three hours but hey, at least I like beer) and am starting to make moves towards planning a trip to the US this year.
You know, just in case you still need friends-who-drink helping you out later down the track…
Hannah recently posted..Chobani Yoghurt Fun and Vanilla Craisin Muffins
Ooooh! How exciting! If for some reason you find yourself in Atlanta…
Very cool! Only thing left to do is come up with an awesome name for your beer. And start distributing the brew. To me. đŸ˜€
Ha ha! I can’t wait until we know enough to stop following recipes and create our own concoctions. Those will definitely deserve their own names.
I had some friends who got super into home brewing a few years ago. I helped them out a few times… mostly with the drinking aspect, though. They came up with names for everything, and had a theme, and even got a small wooden keg with a wood burned image on it. Pretty cool stuff. I haven’t been able to stomach the costs yet, but someday soon, I hope.
I’d say my favorite beer is Two Hearted Ale by Bell’s. A recent runner-up that I’ve only had a few times is the Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale.
Emma recently posted..choccie choccie choccie starts with c
I love both of those! Really, everything Bell’s makes is quite respectable. Have you seen the Morimoto Soba Ale cheese? It’s as good as it sounds.
Nooooo I haven’t! It sounds amazing!
We’ve only been able to find the Soba Ale in one tiny convenience store down in Portland, we’re not exactly in a hot spot for craft beer. Or cheese:)
Emma recently posted..choccie choccie choccie starts with c
That is awesome!! I would love to make my own beer. Especially because here in Ecuador I cannot for the life of me find any dark brews!
kale @ tastes good to me! recently posted..florence nightingale’s hot toddy
That is a tragedy, light beer definitely goes better with sunshine but beer variety is the spice of life!