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murakoziA little while back, I splurged and got the assorted gear to brew some beer at home. I figured I'd start out in easy mode and do single step fermentation. So a couple Fridays back, after work, I made up a batch and set it aside to ferment.
Last Wednesday, when I was stuck at home while waiting for a maintenance guy to finally get the air conditioning fixed (can't believe I forgot to make an LJ entry about that), I took advantage of the time to bottle the stuff up. It'd stopped fermenting at least 24 hours before that and was ready for bottling by that time. Over 40 filled bottles and one very beer-smelling kitchen later), I put it all aside again to let it carbonate itself and finish up in the bottles. Yesterday I got one bottle out and put it in the fridge for a bit, then tried it. Though it should still 'age' for another week or two, the instructions said to try one a week after bottling, just to make sure it actually is carbonating and that it didn't turn out bad.
Good news. It doesn't taste bad at all and is properly carbonated. There are a number of things that could've gone wrong, from contamination to temperature issues. Looks like none of 'em did go wrong though. My biggest concern was the broken air conditioning letting it get so warm in the apartment during the last day or so of the fermentation. I was afraid it'd throw things off. I drank the bottle and suffered no ill effects. No violent illness, no sudden need to run to the toilet, and I'm still alive.
So in a week or so, I'll try another bottle. Then maybe I'll give some to other folks and see what they thing.
I figure another batch or two and I'll start trying to be a bit creative and do some two stage fermenting.
Last Wednesday, when I was stuck at home while waiting for a maintenance guy to finally get the air conditioning fixed (can't believe I forgot to make an LJ entry about that), I took advantage of the time to bottle the stuff up. It'd stopped fermenting at least 24 hours before that and was ready for bottling by that time. Over 40 filled bottles and one very beer-smelling kitchen later), I put it all aside again to let it carbonate itself and finish up in the bottles. Yesterday I got one bottle out and put it in the fridge for a bit, then tried it. Though it should still 'age' for another week or two, the instructions said to try one a week after bottling, just to make sure it actually is carbonating and that it didn't turn out bad.
Good news. It doesn't taste bad at all and is properly carbonated. There are a number of things that could've gone wrong, from contamination to temperature issues. Looks like none of 'em did go wrong though. My biggest concern was the broken air conditioning letting it get so warm in the apartment during the last day or so of the fermentation. I was afraid it'd throw things off. I drank the bottle and suffered no ill effects. No violent illness, no sudden need to run to the toilet, and I'm still alive.
So in a week or so, I'll try another bottle. Then maybe I'll give some to other folks and see what they thing.
I figure another batch or two and I'll start trying to be a bit creative and do some two stage fermenting.