Today I bottled the bitter. Got 44 bottles out of the 5 gallon batch. This makes me wonder what I am doing wrong because most literature I read states you should get 48-52 12 oz. bottles from a 5 gallon batch. The most I've ever gotten is 46. Oh well. I soaked two cases of bottles over night, washing and sanitizing them this morning. This brings the number of available bottles to fill down to 340.
Some of that will be filled with the sour ale, which currently has a white film on the top, presumably (and hopefully) the good souring bacteria doing their job...
The room in the basement that Grandma used to keep stocked with spare food is turning into a nice (and decently stocked) location for storing and cellaring beer.
4 comments:
RE: not getting enough bottles. From the look of the first photo it looks like you have more dead space than neccessary in the carboy. I didn't realize it until this year when I marked off gallon levels in my carboy, but 5 gallons gets you well past the shoulder of the carboy. Do you think you just need to add more water (gasp).
The carboy is a 6 gallon vessel, the reason why the batch wasn't to its shoulder. When I transfered the batch into the bottling bucket, it registered 5 gallons as marked on the sides of the ale pail. Thanks for the suggestion to mark the gallon levels on the carboy - that's a good way to know where I'm at during the brewing process.
I have absolutely no worthwhile technical advice to offer. Just "mad props" (hops?), and I hope to drink some with you in December.
Technical advice not necessary, discerning palates are appreciated. I look forward to enjoying some homebrew in December as well.
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