My first batch of beer

[geronimotwo]

Kit and recipe.  Neither mention the intended clarity of the final product.

to quote the author of my first homebrew book, "don't worry, have a homebrew!".  really, there are many variables that will change the beer one way or another, but regardless, it's gonna taste great!  if the fermentation has stopped, bottle it!  after it's aged a couple of weeks, drink it!  mmmmm homebrew!

[AZRedhawk44]

I think it's as clarified as it's gonna get, without letting it sit for 6 weeks in a 50* fridge or something.

Going to bottle tonight.

[geronimotwo]

don't forget the priming sugar!   you'll want to give it a taste but it will be nasty, with only hints of greatness!

[AZRedhawk44]

Wow, the color is so different in smaller containers.  Color properties of beer don't seem to have much in common with mead or wine, in large containers.

It's straw-gold when going through a siphon tube.  Still some cloudiness in a 12oz bottle though.  There was a 4oz remnant partial bottle that I put into a frosty mug from the freezer and cooled, then tasted.  Mellow, smooth, mildly hopped, a yeast-bite aftertaste to be expected this soon after fermentation.  It will be a very "safe" first brew, as I expected.

Finished at about 6.3% alcohol content.

Yield was 48 x 12oz bottles, which comes out to a little less than 4 gallons.  I'm having a hard time believing I lost that much liquid from racking twice.  I'd estimate that there is about 12-16 ounces in the bottom of my secondary carboy loaded with sediment, and there was about 3-4 ounces of waste product in the bottom of my bottling bucket.  The first time I racked I probably had 24-32 ounces of leftover liquid in bottom of the primary, to avoid bringing the sediment up into the secondary.

Where'd the other half gallon go?  There was some evaporation, I guess... but is actual volume of internal contents lost somehow when the yeast is producing CO2 and emitting it out the airlock?

[geronimotwo]

don't worry, have a homebrew!      there should be at least a quart of yeast goo at the bottom of the carboy,  how much airspace did you leave in the bottles?  by the way that "goo" can be used as the yeast for the next batch.

[AZRedhawk44]

how much airspace did you leave in the bottles? 

I used one of these to do the filling:

http://www.amazon.com/Brewcraft-Fermtech-Plastic-Bottle-Filler/dp/B0064OEE9O/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387807614&sr=8-1-fkmr2

Makes it very easy to get repeatable fill levels in each bottle.  I fill to the tip-top of the bottle, then remove the filler.  The beer level inside drops as the filler is removed, and the fill line descends down the neck of the bottle about halfway.

Then I cap with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Bottle-Capper-Red-Baron-Homebrew/dp/B000Q6ARMY/ref=pd_sim_indust_5


I looked at a bottle this morning, and the cloudiness is dissipating.  That frustrates me.  It spent so long sitting in the secondary... the yeast should have precipitated out in the secondary.  Unless maybe the cloudiness and hint of silt at the bottom isn't yeast, and it is the priming sugar I put into the bottling bucket?

[geronimotwo]

all this time spent whining about cloudiness, and now that it's clarifying.........

those bottle fillers are a great tool for the home brewer.  I also recommend one of these bottle rinsers if you don't have one already.

http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Carboy-Bottle-Washer/dp/B003H84UD0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1387830501&sr=8-3&keywords=bottle+rinser

with an adapter it can be mounted right on the kitchen spigot, and saves a lot of time rinsing.

the sugar shouldn't settle out if you made a light syrup of it first, but unless it's pasteurized and strained I think you always get some yeasty sediment on the bottom.  some people like to roll the bottle to stir the yeast back in before drinking (particularly with a hefeweizen), but I try to pour the beer without stirring it up.

[Ron]

Some sediment on the bottom is the price you pay for carbonation when bottle carbing.

[geronimotwo]

have you given it a try?

[AZRedhawk44]

Yep, it's dandy.  I have a porter kit in the mail on its way to me now that my equipment's all freed up.

[geronimotwo]

you may find that the carbonation will continue to increase over the next few weeks, but you should have a good idea about where the taste is heading by now.  home brew has a much more satisfying flavor than commercial beers.  some say that's just because of the extra effort one puts in to the product.