I brewed homebrew #13 a couple weeks ago, and it just got to the point where it is ready to drink. This time we made another coffee beer using 1/2lb of the Sumatra Mandheling I have been roasting and selling on Twitter as @WichitaCoffee.
The corn sugar and caps I ordered ended up shipping late, so we were forced to wait an extra day before bottling our American Ale. While an extra day may not seem like much, the effect it has on homebrew can be disastrous depending on your recipe.
Our ale seems to be unaffected, but it is always good to bottle your beer at the precise time it’s ready. We ended up with 72 bottles this round, which will be ready for tasting in about 10 days.
Many visitors to BEER dad ask me “how do you know when your beer is ready to bottle?” and some even ask how exactly you bottle it, so here are a few tips on when and how to bottle beer.
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My porter is running low so Laura and I brewed espresso stout tonight. We made some for our second brew last December and liked it, so I decided to make more. This is our 9th brew.
I used my own secret recipe this time, and my own beans, since I didn’t roast coffee last time I made it. It won’t be ready for her 21st birthday, but that’s ok because I wouldn’t want to share it with her friends anyway. We will bottle it next weekend and should be able to drink it by the 18th.
I’m sure this post is going to bring even more interesting search traffic.
No, there are no pictures of babies drinking beer on BEER dad, but now that Kaden is 7 months old he thinks he’s old enough to steal my mug. Not cool.
Porter is done.
Let me know when you’re ready for a tasting.
I noticed yesterday our porter was ready for bottling, so we spent the evening sanitizing, priming, filling, and capping the bottles. It’s a lot of work, but worth it because we ended up with just under 70 bottles for only $30.
My porter now gets to condition for about a week before I raid it. You could drink some now, but it would be too sugary to enjoy. It will end up almost exactly 5% abv and slightly darker than the picture a few posts below.
We finally got those pesky hospital bills paid off so I was able to buy green coffee and brew beer again! It’s been about a month since I’ve had either, so I’m looking forward to when both are ready to drink.
We brewed the porter tonight, which was our 8th brew, using malt rather than corn sugar. This means it will have a more full body when it’s ready, which to me means more delicious.
I used a pre-hopped kit again because I’m still not brave enough to brew from scratch, and don’t have a big enough brew pot for grain brewing.
My coffee should arrive Tuesday and the porter will be ready to move into 72 bottles next weekend. It will be ready to drink about 8 days after that. The porter will be around 5% alcohol when ready.
Also good news: BEER dad has been renewed for another year of beer and parenting.
We bottled the amber bock last night and are now patiently awaiting it’s arrival in our fridge. In the process I was forced to finish my bitter so I would have enough bottles.
I will be beta tasting the bock later this week and will be researching how to make a good wine because my and BEER mom’s 2nd anniversary is just around the corner.
My amber bock will be about 6% alcohol when it’s ready.
