Category Archives: bottling

Laurasia IPA Bottled, Gondwana IPA Update

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After a week of dry-hopping with 2 oz. of Simcoe hops pellets, I bottled the Laurasia IPA (8 March 2014). The gravity was unchanged from last check, at 1.020, resulting in a final abv of 6.5%. I added 4 oz. of corn sugar boiled in 1 cup of water. The final volume in the bottling bucket was 4.5 gallons, yielding 15 12-oz bottles, 13 18-oz. Grolsch bottles, and 6 22-oz. bottles.

I transferred the Gondwana IPA to the secondary fermenter on 9 March 2014. The gravity measured 1.010, down from 1.047, yielding an abv of 4.8%. Somewhat distressingly, there was a bit of a vegetal aroma and flavor to the beer; this had come off strong after the mash, but disappeared after the boil. With the aroma’s reappearance, I was worried that I would have to toss out the beer. But, I rechecked a week later (16 March 2014), and the beer tasted and smelled just fine. A good argument for patience!

Citation Porter Bottled

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After one month in the secondary fermenter, I bottled my Citation Porter on January 5. Final gravity was 1.014; with a starting gravity of 1.054, this calculates out to 5.3% abv. I primed the beer with 1/2 cup corn sugar dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water. This is a little less than I normally do, but some of my other batches have been more carbonated than I like. Plus, porters are supposed to be on the low end of carbonation.

The final yield was 25 12-oz. bottles, 10 18-oz. bottles, and 5 22-oz bottles. At bottling, the flavor was rich and toasty, pretty close to what I had expected. I can’t wait to try this one!

Rainy Day IPA 1.2 bottled

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After nearly three weeks of dry hopping in the secondary fermenter, it was time to bottle my Rainy Day IPA (version 1.2). So, yesterday I added 3/4 cup of priming sugar (boiled in 2 cups of water) and did the bottling thing.

The end yield was 3 22-oz. bottles, 13 18-oz. bottles, and 18 12-oz bottles (a little over 4 gallons of beer total). At time of bottling there was a great hop aroma, and the flavor is clean, smooth, and hoppy. The beer has a great dark copper color (maybe I’ll lighten it up a bit for the next version?). We’ll see how a few weeks of bottling condition play with it. . .because I used hop pellets, there was a fair bit of loose hop sediment. Most of it ended up on the bottom of the carboy, but there was still a little in suspension.

Final gravity was same as before, 1.012 at 70° F, down from 1.060. Thus, the estimated a.b.v. is 6.4%.

Fake Tire Amber Ale 1.2 Update

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Having brewed my Fake Tire Amber Ale 1.2 on October 7, I transferred the beer into the secondary fermenter on October 14. Due to various life events, I did not get around to bottling until Monday, November 26. So, the beer sat in the secondary for nearly six weeks. This is longer than I normally go, but the result seems to be an exceptionally clear beer.

Final gravity is 1.010 at 68° F, down from an original gravity of 1.052 at 60° F. Adjusting for temperature, this gives an a.b.v. of 5.5%. The flavor is quite clean, and I think will match Fat Tire pretty well.

I primed the beer with 3/4 cup of priming sugar, and bottled it. The result was 14 12-oz. bottles, 11 18-oz. bottles, and 7 22-oz. bottles.