Realbeer.com Beer Community  
 
THE REST OF REAL BEER
Home
Beer.edu
Fun
Blog
Links
Events
 
ADVERTISEMENT

Go Back   Realbeer.com Beer Community > Homebrewing > In general

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-18-2013, 05:59 PM
The collector The collector is offline
Green horn
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Knoxville tn
Posts: 175
bottled the first batch!

Ok i finally bottled the first batch with the help of my lovely wife! It went ok I guess but I do have a couple concerns. We started transferring to the bottling bucket befor we added the priming sugar water but we realized it quite early. Less than a gallon transferred. So we stopped went and boiled the sugar water. Cooled it.added it then went back to transferring.well my wife was transferring while I was cleaning bottles and I guess one of her hairs got in the batch somehow because when we were filling the bottles toward the end I noticed one of her hairs hung in between the wand and hose.... Think it will be ok? Also I forgot to gently stir the beer with the priming sugar but I did let it sit for about an hour after adding the sugar. Think I need to worry about hot spots in my bottles? And finally I used starsan to sanitize my bottles and didn't rinse just let drip for a few. That's fine right?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 01-18-2013, 06:47 PM
clumsy clumsy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederickson, WA
Posts: 40
Congratulations on getting your first batch bottled! Very exciting!

Drip-drying your bottles is fine. I haven't used StarSan (usually use iodophor), but it's advertised as a no-rinse sanitizer. That's not a problem. You did fine.

Although it sounds kind of gross, the hair is probably not a problem. If it were a hair ball that would be a bigger deal... but just a hair is probably not that big a deal. I suppose it depends what kind of hair product she uses

Not adding the priming sugar right at the start is not a big deal either. I always add priming sugar after I transfer all the beer into the bottling bucket. And just an FYI for next time: I never cool it. It'll kill a few yeast cells to add boiling syrup, but it won't kill even close to enough to be a problem. If you're making a pint of priming solution and you put that in five gallons of beer, you're putting in something like a fortieth of the volume. It'll cool faster in the beer, and it won't kill enough yeast to make a difference.

The biggest problem I see is the hot spots. If you left it for an hour after adding the sugar, it might exacerbate the problem. I.e. you've given it more time for the sugar to settle to the bottom.

But don't assume there's a problem: I made and bottled several batches without "gently stirring". True, I've had some dramatic volcanoes, but some of them worked just fine. And I've never actually exploded a bottle.

And look on the bright side: if you end up with some beer volcanoes, you'll remember for sure next time. "That'll learn you!"

One piece of advice you're free to disregard: when I'm unsure how even things are, or maybe the last few bottles look really yeasty, I put those aside as my sample bottles. Let's be honest: you're not going to wait the "proper" three or four weeks to sample your first batch: you're going to be wanting to open one tomorrow. So use your "iffy" bottles as your samples. If you don't know which ones are iffy, that's not a lot of help. But I've taken to deliberately segregating those as I bottle.

A related note: I read somewhere you learn a lot about beer by opening a bottle a week as it conditions. Whether or not you want to do that this time, I'd recommend it. I opened one a week on one batch and recorded tasting notes. It's amazing what happens to the flavours in the bottle.

On to more important matters: did you take an hydrometer sample? how did it taste?
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-18-2013, 07:25 PM
wortchillergoal's Avatar
wortchillergoal wortchillergoal is offline
beer brewing goalie
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: in the crease Syr,NY
Posts: 4,094
Send a message via AIM to wortchillergoal
Clumsy said many great things. I will add that one time I had to reach my whole arm in to the bottling bucket of beer to tighten the spout nut and washer. The batch came out fine.
__________________
Olgethorpe is screening me!
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-18-2013, 07:44 PM
The collector The collector is offline
Green horn
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Knoxville tn
Posts: 175
Thanks soo much guys big helps! I about the priming... I read in "how to brew" that after adding the primer let it sit awhile to let the sugar infuse well... So that's not what you'd suggest? More harm than good? Crap lol I really wish I would have stirred it.sigh... So much was going on and through my head I couldn't hardly think straight. I also forgot to test the gravity even though I had the hydrometer in the sanitizer. It was a big job cause the bottles had been in milk crates under my house for like a year so I took the bottle brush and scrubbed each one befor the sanitation. Oh and not all the bottles were completely dry of the sanitizer. Had a couple bubbles here or there. That's fine right?
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-18-2013, 07:49 PM
The collector The collector is offline
Green horn
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Knoxville tn
Posts: 175
What do I do if some bottles don't carb?
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-18-2013, 08:38 PM
clumsy clumsy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederickson, WA
Posts: 40
Quote:
Originally Posted by The collector
Thanks soo much guys big helps! I about the priming... I read in "how to brew" that after adding the primer let it sit awhile to let the sugar infuse well... So that's not what you'd suggest? More harm than good? Crap lol I really wish I would have stirred it.sigh...
I wouldn't worry about it. It's possible there's a problem, it's possible it'll come out just fine. This is a great opportunity for an experiment: you'll get some first-hand data on how important stirring is, and whether giving it a chance to infuse gives good results.

This is definitely a case of RDWHAHB.


Quote:
Oh and not all the bottles were completely dry of the sanitizer. Had a couple bubbles here or there. That's fine right?

Totally fine. You done good.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 01-18-2013, 08:42 PM
clumsy clumsy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederickson, WA
Posts: 40
I screwed up priming a batch a year and a half ago. I asked about it here:Priming Sugar Gaffe. Got some great answers.

Every batch is an experiment.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 01-18-2013, 09:17 PM
wortchillergoal's Avatar
wortchillergoal wortchillergoal is offline
beer brewing goalie
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: in the crease Syr,NY
Posts: 4,094
Send a message via AIM to wortchillergoal
Another idea for the priming sugar is to put it in the bottling then rack your beer on to it. This can help evenly distribute the sugar through the beer. I have never done that, I just gently stir the priming mix in to the beer.
__________________
Olgethorpe is screening me!
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 01-18-2013, 09:38 PM
maltyapples's Avatar
maltyapples maltyapples is offline
Bucket Enthusiast
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 414
Congrats! At the very least the hair will give you some creative naming options! I'm sure you'll be fine, I wish you the best of luck!
__________________
Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world. (I think I may have found her!)

Fermenting: None
bottled: Prototype Porter, ESB, cider experiments 1-7.
Secondary: Zip point squat
Kegged: Nada :( (unless you count lemonade)
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 01-18-2013, 10:09 PM
The collector The collector is offline
Green horn
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Knoxville tn
Posts: 175
Thanks guys. As far as the name...well wehave decided not to tell anybody about the hair lol since we intend to give some of it away to friends if all goes well in the next couple weeks. It snowed here yesterday so my wife has deemed it "dirty snowman IPA" oh and on a positive note I have the perfect bottle conditioning spot. I have cabinets above my fridge.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 01-18-2013, 10:49 PM
vance71975's Avatar
vance71975 vance71975 is offline
Drunken Brew Dork
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Bryan,Ohio
Posts: 2,316
Quote:
Originally Posted by The collector
Thanks guys. As far as the name...well wehave decided not to tell anybody about the hair lol since we intend to give some of it away to friends if all goes well in the next couple weeks. It snowed here yesterday so my wife has deemed it "dirty snowman IPA" oh and on a positive note I have the perfect bottle conditioning spot. I have cabinets above my fridge.


Ahh the memories of when i worried about everything, relax man, dont sweat it, even if it is a lil flat or over carbed it will still taste better than ANY bud,miller or coors product!
__________________
The mind is like a beer, it does the most good when it is opened.

Author of Bizarre Brews 101 Now for sale online!

http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000460972

Or Just Google Bizarre Brews 101!
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 01-19-2013, 05:44 AM
wortchillergoal's Avatar
wortchillergoal wortchillergoal is offline
beer brewing goalie
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: in the crease Syr,NY
Posts: 4,094
Send a message via AIM to wortchillergoal
Quote:
Originally Posted by vance71975
bud,miller or coors product!

Vance this board has it's own shortened version for the above swill in case you didn't know. Typing BMC equals the above of your quote.
__________________
Olgethorpe is screening me!
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 01-19-2013, 01:59 PM
clumsy clumsy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederickson, WA
Posts: 40
Quote:
Originally Posted by The collector
Thanks guys. As far as the name...well wehave decided not to tell anybody about the hair lol since we intend to give some of it away to friends if all goes well in the next couple weeks.

Yeah, don't tell anyone. They'd rather not know.

A co-worker made his first batch, and told me he'd messed up on cleaning the bottles. IIRC he forgot to scrub them out before sanitizing them. I'm a home-brewer, I know how nasty a beer bottle can get: people are always giving me their empties, and they're frequently full of semi-gelatinous black and brown pieces of mold. So when he gave me some of his beer, it was really hard to drink. It's not that it's not good, it's just that all I can think about is those big gobs of goo that come out of beer bottles when people give them to me. Sanitizer or on sanitizer, I don't want a big hunk of mouldy crud in my glass.

I don't think there was anything like that in his bottles: I'm sure they're just fine. But I can't get that image out of my head.

His beer is actually pretty good, especially for a first batch. In fact, for a first solo all-grain batch, it's a beer to be proud of. But I'd enjoy it a lot more if I didn't know about his bottling problems.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 01-19-2013, 10:59 PM
vance71975's Avatar
vance71975 vance71975 is offline
Drunken Brew Dork
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Bryan,Ohio
Posts: 2,316
Quote:
Originally Posted by wortchillergoal
Vance this board has it's own shortened version for the above swill in case you didn't know. Typing BMC equals the above of your quote.

Oh i know, its just that clumsy is new and i wanted to make sure he understood what i said.
__________________
The mind is like a beer, it does the most good when it is opened.

Author of Bizarre Brews 101 Now for sale online!

http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000460972

Or Just Google Bizarre Brews 101!
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 01-20-2013, 05:38 PM
wortchillergoal's Avatar
wortchillergoal wortchillergoal is offline
beer brewing goalie
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: in the crease Syr,NY
Posts: 4,094
Send a message via AIM to wortchillergoal
Quote:
Originally Posted by vance71975
Oh i know, its just that clumsy is new and i wanted to make sure he understood what i said.
Sorry, my bad, At least Clumsy now knows one of our code words.
__________________
Olgethorpe is screening me!
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:15 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.5.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©1994-2012 Realbeer.com