Folks,
I've been crazy busy the past several weeks, but we need to either
bottle or, at the very least, rack off the beer (siphon from the
original carboy to a clean carboy) sometime Real Soon Now.
I'm on a contract so my daytime schedule is full now. That means
it'll have to be an early evening or weekend thing. I'm going to be
out of town next weekend (april 8/9/10). This saturday is open, but
we need to pick up a few supplies for bottling (see below).
The carboys should be moved several hours or a day ahead of time, to
allow the sediment to settle back down after the move.
The carboys should be moved to a table or counter (we're going to
siphon, so we need elevation), one that has room to work around, and
should be kept away from sunlight (a hood made out of a black garbage
bag or traditional paper grocery bag should do the trick).
I have both one of these:
http://www.southhillsbrewing.com/beer/beer-bottling/capper-double-lever
and one of these:
http://www.southhillsbrewing.com/beer/beer-bottling/capper-adjustable-bench-type
The second is easier to use, but it would be much nicer to use if we
could secure it to a bench or table. You can see the obvious
leverage/awkwardness of the design.
What we have:
bottle cleaning tree (very handy)
cleaning fluid
siphon
bottling bucket
possibly-functional bottling wand
bottle capper
What we need to get:
bottling wand/bottling filler
empty, non-twist-off beer bottles, 5 cases
bottle caps
I'm not certain my bottling wand (aka bottle filler) is in good shape.
You can fill without a bottling wand, but it makes it easier, so I
might pick up a replacement for my kit:
http://www.southhillsbrewing.com/bottle-filler?filter_name=bottling%20wand
The traditional method for obtaining empty beer bottles is to buy full
beer bottles and empty them yourself :-).
New bottles at brewing stores are about $14 per case (24):
http://www.southhillsbrewing.com/beer/beer-bottling/beer-bottle-12-oz-amber
However, back when I last bottled, which was some years ago (I mostly
use kegs), some beer stores take returned beer bottles and were
willing to sell you a case of recently returned bottles for $3-$5.
The bottles should be very fresh, only a few days old, dirty bottles
that are left to sit for too many days get mold that's a pain to clean
off.
Unused bottle caps can also be obtained from the brewing supply store,
a bag of 144 for $6. However, my first several batches were brewed
with caps very much like these, so I might order them:
http://www.bonanza.com/listings/Bottle-Caps-Relax-Don-t-Worry-Have-A-Homebrew-Collectible-/321309605?goog_pla=1&gpid=18283950120&gpkwd=&goog_pla=1&gclid=CjwKEAjwlfO3BRDR4Pj_u-iO2U0SJAD88y1SbpjaiwSZfM2us-NVsDJW-gItQrBPArRld7NEAUubbRoCfpnw_wcB
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/160920885183?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true
--
Steven J. Owens
stevenjowens@xxxxxxxxx
puff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
412-401-8060
