In the previous post, we made full-mash homebrew beer.
Two weeks later, our fermenters have stopped bubbling, and they are full of sweet, sweet beer.
Unfortunately, the beer is flat and warm. What can we do to rectify this unfortunate situation?
Ah yes, we can bottle the beer.
First we need to wash, sterilise and rinse the bottles. Twenty-seven to be exact.
Whew! Now we add a little priming sugar. This wakes the yeast up so they can carbonate the bottles.
And then its a simple matter of putting the beer into the bottles …
Capping each bottle …
We have a little handheld capper which does a great job.
Wow, an animated gif! It’s like 1998 all over again. 
Finally you ‘invert’ the bottles to mix in the sugar.
Ew, look at the gunk left in the fermenter!
The yeast takes about two weeks at room temperature to consume the priming sugar and carbonate the bottles. Getting the amount of sugar right is important; too much, and you can get exploding bottles. We haven’t had any explode, luckily.
The longer you leave the bottles, the better the beer gets. This is because as the yeast runs out of sugar, it starts to clean up it’s own byproducts, improving the taste of the beer.
But all good things come to an end, and eventually, it is time to consume the fruits of our labours (after chilling them in the fridge, of course).
Bottoms up!
Each brew-day produces between 35 and 40 litres of beer, which we split with Craig. He has a kegging system, which makes things a whole lot more straightforward.
First you grab your keg and soak it in steriliser for 30 minutes …
Pour the beer into the sterilised keg …
And lock the top down.
Craig then takes the keg home and throws it into his beer fridge, connected to an old fire extinguisher full of CO2 …
You leave it for a few days to carbonate …
And you’re good to go! Straight from the tap.
And that’s how easy it is to enjoy homemade beer, just as good as the real stuff.
Our beer costs between $1.30 – $1.60 per litre, ignoring labour (it’s a labour of love!) and has an alcohol content of whatever we choose (and we choose 5-6%). The satisfying feeling that comes from drinking fantastic homemade beer certainly beats paying $5 a litre for something tasteless like Heineken!
For more information, check out greatexpectations.co.nz and soba.org.nz.
Thanks for the info, I’ve been really thinking about trying a full mash.
You guys should look at getting a “rapid bottler”, its a far easier way than using the tube to transfer your beer to the bottles.
Cheers!
Left by john york on July 12th, 2009