So here I am, anxiously waiting for my freshly bottled nectar to be ripen in the bottles. I suppose I should back up a week and explain how the bottling process went. 

For some reason I was under the impression that this pale ale only needed to ferment for 1 week...no secondary fermentation, no second week in the primary fermenter. The yeast was very active the first few days and the whole thing seemed pretty calm for several days in a row after that. Stupidly, I based my decision to bottle on these observations. I do have a hydrometer, but I'm not really sure how to use it properly, and I decided that shooting from the hip was OK for this first round. 

I learned from other online posts that I could have risked extreme pressure build up in the bottles had the fermentation still been happening, leading to "bottle bombs"...a somewhat undesirable version of a "works bombs" with added glass shrapnel. However, I've had no problems so far, so I think I am in the clear for the most part. 

The most exciting part about bottling is the moderately high level of stress involved with trying to make sure everything is sterile. Not only does the task carry a certain amount of worry, it goes without saying that it's a pain in the rear to clean 40+ bottles. 

This is a rather unpleasant look into the fermenter. Fortunately, a lot of the hop sediment was pushed to the walls of the bucket. I was actually very pleased with the the look of the beer as it was coming through the siphoning tube. 

I tried to get a shot of the relative clarity of the beer as it was flowing, but I can see now that this picture sucks. 

So yada yada yada, all of the bottles are filled and stored away in a dark spot at room temperature. I was definitely not going to rip labels off of all of the bottles, but eventually I would like to put a little effort into making some of my own labels...if for no other than to just distinguish more easily between my home brew and some beer that I might actually want to drink. 

 

*Footnote: I tried a beer about 4 days into the bottle conditioning phase because I wanted to learn and be aware of the changes that take place over time. It was palatable in that I finished it without any issues; however, it was basically raw and "green" as expected. I'm crossing my fingers that it will round out nicely into a mild pale ale with some pop. We'll see. 

It's been a really long time since I've posted to this blog, and let's be honest, nobody reads this thing. It started as a way for me to keep a record of what I drank. That spun wildly out of hand and I was getting backlogged. Right around the time that I felt like posting to this thing was eerily close to homework, I decided to give it a rest. Actually having legitimate homework was another deterrent. How many different ways can you say, "this is hoppy, malty, medium bodied"... etc. I'm not discounting the art of rating beer, the exercise was a huge part of me learning about craft beer and becoming passionate about the many nuances. Why am I breaking the silence for the 3 people that look at this blog you ask?

My wife let go of her fear of the space limitations that define our apartment and bought me a home brew kit for my birthday! So here's a new rabbit hole to explore. It's mind boggling for sure, but all of that brewery tour lingo is starting to make so much more sense to me now. 

My first batch has been in my high tech drywall mud bucket for about a week now. I have really resisted the urge to mess with it too much in fear of contamination. However, I have opened it on two occasions to give the proverbial man nod of approval as if I have any idea whatsoever if anything is right or wrong. 

Recipe: Basic no frills 60 minute extract boil

3.3lb Northwestern Gold Extract Syrup 

7g Coopers Dry Yest

1oz Columbus Hop Pellets

1oz Simcoe Hop Pellets

60 minute boil with hop additions at 20 min (Columbus) and 40 min (Simcoe). 

I wouldn't dare name this beer without tasting it, but I'm expecting a pretty raw pale ale. 

Below is a picture of a sample of the brew a few days into fermentation. I poured a New Dogtown Pale Ale from Lagunitas to compare the appearance and because I was thirsty...I mostly just wanted a beer and felt like I was doing something by taking this picture. So my non-carbonated beer on the right is cloudy and, well, not carbonated. Other than that, I wasn't disappointing with the appearance; I was expecting a lot more floaters and undesirables in there. I have a hydrometer, but if you give a monkey a scalpel he ain't gonna perform heart surgery. In other words, Homebrew 1.0 will have to a little mysterious. 

Bottling conditioning is next and I plan to post a tasting after one  week (because I know it wont be ready but I wont be able to help myself) and 2 weeks...with the understanding that it may take that 3rd week to really be mellowed out and homogeneous. Haha, it could be straight swill in a bottle, it's 50/50 at this point.

Cheers!