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Super multi-tasking for a non-multi-tasker
Last night was a busy night for me. I don't think there was a piece of equipment that I own that I didn't touch. I wanted to get some beer I've been watching into the bottle to hopefully have a good product ready for the Yule holiday and New Year. This would make my primary open again so why not make something to put in it. What to put in it? Mead! I wanted to try some and I thought now was as good a time as any. I wanted to use the yeast I was using in my cider which was a champagne yeast. OK, so now all I have to do is rack over to another carboy. Now my plans are taking shape.
Sanitize everything I own.
Rack beer over to bottling bucket and then bottle. (If bottling doesn't make you stop brewing nothing will.)
Clean tubes and siphon equipment.
Start the mead heating to pasteurize the honey and heat some water to add on the side.
Rack cider over to another carboy and then protect the lees which I'll use as my yeast starter and nutrient for my mead.
I cooled my must before adding it on top of the lees (which were unceremoniously dumped into my primary) and little bit of remaining cider in my primary (bucket).
The results are one worn out man, one bubbling primary with mead, 10 22oz. bottles of porter, 29 12oz. bottles of porter, one beer soaked roll of paper towels (need practice bottling...), and a very slowly bubbling carboy of cider.
I think I may have actually gotten my fix in. I can actually stand not to be doing something and checking on something incessantly now. This may last a week in which time I'll have to either buy another bucket for primary or use my bottling bucket which seems to be more useless than useful.
I'd love to hear any comments on where I might have gone wrong. It seemed to me like everything should work, but hey what do I know I'm just getting back into this.
Bottling is hated by almost everyone, great reason to go to kegs. Sounds like you did fine, even with alot going on.
Two suggestions:1 get a brew buddy. Brewing just doesn't see like so much work when your doing with a friend. 2 drink home brew when you home brew. In my house its a rule. even work doesn't seem like work when you have a home brew in your hand....beer makes everything better! cheers
I bottled for about 5 years before I finally got my keg. I still had a roll of beer soaked paper towells when I was done. Not only is it labor intensive, it is messy. I found that doing it outside was the best bet, as I could just hose down everything when I was done.
Congrats on getting all that done in a night, though!
There is method to my madness though. I bottled my beer so I could get a couple tweaks to the system I'm using. I will be having a buddy over to help me bottle my cider and he's a cider drinker considering doing his own in the future. I want to have a little more refined process so I don't turn him off right at the start. Outside bottling is a great idea and I'll definitely do the summer bottling that way. By the way, I'm going to go to kegs without a doubt. It's just a matter of time and money.
I used to sanitize the bottles in the dishwasher, then set the bottling bucket on the counter right above the dishwasher, fold down the door and bottle right on the door, when you're done, you just close the mess right back up into the dishwasher.
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