Message (and beer) in a Bottle

Ok, after a while, I finally got around to bottling The Innkeeper! It went pretty smoothly, so that's always a plus. I had my trusty assistant Randall take some pictures for me since I was a little busy, so I hope you enjoy!


Before I did anything, I washed and sanitized my bottles, bottling bucket, auto-siphon, bottle-filler, and hoses. Then, I boiled a solution of water and sugar (2 cups water to 5/8 cup sugar) and added it to my bottling bucket. I then siphoned the beer directly on top of this solution. This is me siphoning the beer!


A special thanks to Anthony Bourdain for stopping by to help me hold up the carboy... with the point of his knife.


After I had siphoned all of the beer to the bottling bucket, leaving behind the yeast and other trub in the bottom of the carboy, I began filling the bottles. I use a bottle-filler and hose attached to a spigot at the bottom of the bucket. The filler has a stop in the bottom that allows the beer to flow through only when it touches the bottom of the beer bottle.


After filling the bottles, I capped them using my Red Baron capper. I used uncrimped caps that had been sterilized in my StarSan solution.

After I had finished filling and capping all of the bottles that I could (I had fewer bottles this time than with the Irish Red due to the boilover), I put them away in a nice, dark place to finish. The sugar solution that I added to the beer will be eaten up by the leftover yeast and converted to CO2, naturally carbonating the beer. This process will take about two weeks and it will be ready to drink!

I tried a small sample of the un-carbed beer, and I really think this beer is going to be delicious! I'm really excited!

I also tried my first bottle of Irish Red yesterday, and it was ready to go! I'll post some tasting notes of that either tonight or tomorrow! Until then, "All for Brew, and Brew for All!"