Bottling Day!

There is something compelling about the idea of filling all those bottles with my brew and stamping them with a professional-looking crimped pry-off lid. Besides the crafty pleasure of it, it also meant the end of the different processes and the beginning of just "wait and see."

But before I could get started on the fun part, I had to do the dull and tedious part. I had to wash and sanitize all those bottles. The bottles were actually quite clean already, but I didn't know their history, and I was not willing to do or not do ANYTHING to jeopardize this first batch! So I used my super duper brew equipment cleaner, Five Star PBW. Turned out a couple bottles had a residue sludge in the bottoms, and sure enough, that slid right out. So I washed, and then I rinsed, and then I rinsed again. And then I filled them with sanitizer, which was, thankfully, no-rinse, and set them upside down in a laundry basket to wait. (Note to self; investigate bottle washers)

I boiled the lids and set them aside. My eager assistant lent his back and carried the carboy to the counter. I siphoned off the brew, mixing it with the priming sugar.

There is nothing like a good siphon! A couple of pumps and everything is flowing.

 

I filled, and I let my assistant do the capping.

Having a helper really made this part go smoother. I didn't have to worry about needing another hand all of a sudden. We got the batch bottled and capped, and now we have to wait. If it ends up being tasty and good, you'll hear all about it. But if it is nasty, then we'll all just forget about it until the next batch!

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