Bottle 'n Brew

Today was an exciting day for me as I got to finally bottle my first beer!!! I brewed it on Christmas day after opening presents but before the mess was picked up. Fortunately for me, I found the best beer forum on the net (www.mrbeerfans.com). If it had not been for them, I would have certainly tried to bottle after only 1 week of fermenting versus the 2 weeks.

Yesterday, I made several stops in order to make sure I had everything I needed (made a list of course). Picked up some supplies at my Local Homebrew Supplier (LHBS), some tools at Home Depot, and some labels at Wal-Mart. Stayed up late last night making sure I had everything in order.

Woke up, prepared a sanitizing solution and got to work! Bottling went without a hitch and I have 22 beautiful babies sitting in my closet for another 2 weeks of carbonating. Boooooooo! To top it off, I have to wait 2 more weeks after that (cold conditioning) before I can call it "done."

Since I had the sanitizing solution already made up, AND I had a new keg leak checking downstairs (after a successful spigot mod), I figured I would start batch 3. Man! I'm addicted to brewing already!

Made a Cherry Wheat beer...now I gotta name it. Hmmmm....... We'll figure it out. Got to use a hydrometer for the first time and I used a thermometer, too. I wanted to make sure the yeast was pitched at the right time!

Lesson learned today?

1. Brew and bottle at night. Those UV rays are dying to kill your brew.
2. I love this hobby (thanks mom).
3. It ain't over til it's over. Don't put shit in the sink 'til you're done. Go ahead, rinse it off, and put it back in the sanitizing solution.

I'm brewing again tonight (Cranberry Maibock)

Mike