You need to get yourself some corny kegs. It is so much simpler. I finished up the batch that you gave me a week or two ago. It had a real long lasting head when coming out of the keg. I have a picture I'll attach. I think the dry yeast was a bit lackluster though. The gravity finished off a bit high and there was a residual sweetness. In my brewing heyday I used a stir plate to ramp up starters from white labs tubes, thus pitching some pretty heathy quantities of happy yeast cells.
Looks good Pete. I don't think I will ever get around to doing this. But I will help in the drinking of!
I actually like to bottle beer and don't find it all that hard or complicated. The trick is a bottle jet which means no scrubbing of the bottles, carboy or fermenting bucket. High pressure blast off!
You know, if I sent a box full of chains to you for sharpening one of those bottles could fall in the box when you send it back.
Way to go Pete! You're doing it the way folks like us have been for a long time. My life long goal was to try and replicate a Labatt's "Velvet Cream Porter" the way it used to be brewed back in the 70-80"s. There was an extended brewer's strike back then and it went out of production for some time. When they went back to work and started bottling that one again it just was not the same............... . I've got no idea if that one is even brewed up north anymore since it was never imported here. It was a treat that Canadians and us folks that live/lived near the border enjoyed! As you could drink at 18 in NY back then, I started making runs over the bridges to the Canadian brewer's retail outlets at a young age! Here is an old photo of me making beer in OH back in the early 80's, using the exact same setup as you, and in black & white to boot! Always loved those short stubby beer bottles!
Cool pics Boog! It is a very similar setup indeed. I use a bottling wand that attaches to the bucket and then I set the bucket on the counter and press the bottles on the wand to pour. It works very well! The short bottles get saved for my buddy's setup and I use the tall ones because I love them. We keg a little as well but I'm not big on kegging I prefer bottles. It's about the art of brewing for us not just drinking the beer ( although I love that part. ) Paul That's not an insult by the way I like the convenience of kegging but bottling is just more fun and I love glass bottles. We have discovered that bleach sanitizing is a win win because it washes out easy and fast and doesn't leave a residue or kill the foam at all. We have tried everything else but always come back to bleach even with the occasional keg.
All is cool. Bleach is the one of the best sanitizers and it also cleans. I think it is unique in that respect. All it takes is a careful rinse and you are good. Iodaphor is also good stuff, but less practical when doing bottles due the the expense of it. You can fill a bucket with bleach solution for a few pennies and let the bottles sit. Cheers, this is the batch you sent. The rings are the glass, didnt realize that when I took the picture. And it getting charged right after kegging.
