10.11.2007

Bottling with the Blichmann Beer Gun Saga Continues

Ok, at least I got the first steps of this bottling experience completed. I'm splitting up the steps into smaller ones so I feel better about what I got done. (hey its my delusion) At the end you'll find an excuse for why I didn't get it done last night.
  • gathered 24 large bottles from basement (sounds easy...it wasn't)
  • soaked them in iodophor in a large cooler
  • read directions for Blichmann Beer Gun
  • realized I don't have 10' of 3/16" inside diameter beer line :-( (this helps prevent foaming during filling)
  • an hour or so later removed large bottles from iodophor solution
  • disassembled beer gun and cleaned it in iodophor solution
  • put a 3" x 3" piece of aluminum foil on each bottle and placed them back in their cases
  • cleared the beer fridge out to make more room for bottles (they should be same temp as beer in order to reduce foaming)
  • researched bulk beverage hose costs and decided to buy local due to shipping and cost
  • put order in for other draft equipment for upcoming wedding (unrelated, but, important)

All in all I made progress, but didn't get Gavin's IPA bottled yet. Here is the state of things.

  • beer is chilled
  • bottles are chilled
  • beer gun is cleaned
  • need to buy 5' - 10' of gas line 5/16" I.D. and 10' of beer line 3/16" I.D.

Here comes the excuse :-) Of course I would have finished all this had I not stopped over at Bryan's to sing a belated Happy Birthday to him. Ok...ok it wasn't all that bad. His wife made a delicious cake. I also got to taste some of his first home brew again as well as Damnation from Russian River. I think its a good excuse. I can always say it was "home brew related".

Cheers!

4 comments:

hiikeeba said...

I recently purchased a Beer Gun and have used it several times. It sure does make bottling easy. Now I secondary ferment in kegs and bottle whenever I need some bottled.

Bryan Kolesar said...

Sorry to have disrupted your evening ;-) I could tell you weren't enjoying the Damnation! Seriously, thanks for stopping over. Here's the batch info for the bottle we had last night. 2 1/2 years old.



Bottle Batch #004

Brew Date/ Bottle Date 11-May-05/10-Jun-05

Yeasts
Primary
R.R. Belgian Ale Yeast 1

Conditioning
R.R. Wine1

Comments
-Lowered the fermentation temperature thus lowering the fruitness if consumed at a young age.

Adam said...

jeffrey,

Well I'm back on track and I'll get the chance to use it tomorrow night! I picked up the beer line I need. Thanks for the vote of confidence. You know, if I like it I won't want to give it back to Del....hmmm.

bryan,

Heheh...it was delicious. No brett eh? There was some good funk in there though. 2.5 years old eh...it must have been tamer than when it was first brewed.

Bryan Kolesar said...

Def. had "softened"

Now, if I had pulled out the Temptation, that could've been a different story :)