An update on the belgian

Despite my previous concerns about the belgian tripel I decided to stick with it and give it some more time. The general concensus of the people I asked at brew-club, was that the off flavours I didn't like were probably caused by stressed yeast. I think I may have under-pitched or something. If that's the case it could be that the yeast will clean up the beer and it'll taste better in time. Fingers crossed anyway.

So I bottled the beer in the small belgian beer bottles I had and boxed them up ready for storage. With such a strong beer I should probably allow it a good few months to condition properly anyway. I think I was just a bit impatient.

I bottled my American IPA #2 at the same time, which means the kitchen is now full of beer!

The first couple I tried in the first few weeks didn't taste great. Quite a few of what I would call off-flavours. Not very descriptive I know. There was a dry, bitter finish to the beer with some astringency. The worst part though, was the fact it gave me an instant headache! Kind of like sniffing marker pens at school, which I'm guessing is caused by higher alcohols in the beer. This hasn't given me much hope for the future, but it is interesting to see how the conditioning process rounds off the flavours.

Well, it looks nice at least! (Pardon the miller glass)

Happily, the most recent bottle of this that I opened didn't give me an instant headache! It's also carbonated more than the earlier tasters. I think this helps 'lift' the flavour of the beer, making it seem less sweet and stodgy. While I think this still has a little way to go to become a good beer, it is at least heading in that direction.

An Unwelcome visitor!

It seems like I've encountered my first real brewing disaster - an infection in my Tripel. This is really disappointing because initial signs were good for this. I felt like I'd done my research right for the recipe, and the brew-day went reasonably well. Even the initial tastings were promising, but as it has continued to ferment out it has developed a nasty, dry, powdery astringency. The body has also started to disappear since first tasting. I think this is due to an infection from Lacto bascillus or something similar. I've read that they can give these off flavours and thin out beers once infected. I'll take a sample along to BCB on Thursday for a second opinion on the cause, but I can see this batch going down the drain.

When I first found this off taste in the beer, I thought it was going to be something process related, but I couldn't think what I'd done that would cause astringency. My mash temperature was low and there were no dark grains involved. I then thought it could be oxidation from the longer lauter I used. My first beers hadn't had this problem, and the lauter time was the only process change I had made. But i think that it is down to an infection now.

I'll clearly have to tighten up my sanitising routine for the next brews. I'm usually pretty careful but, now I think back, I did use my brewing paddle to clear trub from the hop-screen as I was running the wort from the boiler and I can't remember sanitising it first! That might be the culprit. Otherwise I have another american IPA fermenting at the moment which might be in danger of the same issue. Finger crossed it's ok though as I don't want to have to ditch another batch - this is supposed to be saving me money!

Time will tell...

This is doubly annoying as I've just swapped 100g of Cascade hops for a box of belgian beer bottles! I heard that a tripel should be quite highly carbonated and standard beer bottles might turn into bottle bombs! So I got hold of some small belgian bottles, which have thicker glass and are able to hold more pressure.

40-odd bottles all de-labled and washed out, sprayed with sanitiser, and draining  on the dishwasher drawers.

Yes, this is what I do with my evenings!

I guess I'll have to wait a bit in order to use them now, but at least they'll be all clean for when I need them!

To b(ottle) or not to b(ottle)

Bottling beer is a process that I find many homebrewers tire of, and instead opt for cornie kegs and the like. I can totally see why. Obtaining, storing, cleaning, sterilising, filling and storing (again) 40 beer bottles for every brew you do is a time consuming business. But at the moment I have the time and being a new brewer I'm yet to get bored of the repetition involved, so I'm going to keep bottling for now. Also, bottling beer is pretty much free, whereas the investment needed in kegs and CO2 is just something I don't have. 

The other reason I like bottling beer is that it's just convenient to have bottles of beer! I can stick a couple in the fridge easily, I can take them to brew-club, I can give them to people, and I can store them in a few boxes and move them around if I need to.

So here's how I did it:

Take these...

...then do this...

...then use these...

...to give you these!

Bottles

So here we are, all ready for bottling the Porter. 

Gotta lotta bottle (sorry)

These are all bottles I've saved, had people collect for me, or scavenged from recycling bins! Recycling in action, right here ladies and gentlemen! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get through quite the amount of bottles I needed since the last brew, so I actually had to buy 6 bottles from Wilko's on the walk home yesterday. I'd rather not do this. Apart from the cost of buying the bottles, it seems unnecessary when so many are thrown away and all that energy and resource goes to waste. By the time I get to bottling my next brew I aim to have fostered a handy bottle collection arrangement with some local pubs. If I'm upping my production rate I'm going to need them too.

My preference is for brown bottles. They keep the light out of the beer and help it to keep better. Clear bottles may look nice on a shelf, but they can lead to beer going 'skunky' in aroma. Now, obviously there are a few clear bottles in that picture, so I'm not going to say I never use them. If I'm using second hand bottles I can't be too picky! So the clear ones will be kept in a closed box to keep the light out, and I plan to drink these first, before light can cause any problems.

I've found re-using bottles to be pretty straight forward, especially where I'm saving them at home. I just rinse the bottles out when I've finished them, give them a quick spray inside with StarSan to sanitise them, then I stick them in the dishwasher upsidedown to drain and dry out. Where I inherit, or retrieve, bottles from other people I give them a proper wash with a bottle brush to dislodge any gunk/mould that might be living in there too. I know some people use the dishwasher to clean and sanitise their bottles, but I wouldn't be confident that the inside of the bottle would be properly cleaned, given the small neck opening. I also think that way uses far more energy - a bit of a waste and more expensive. 

The final step I take is to wrap the tops of the bottles in silver foil and bake them in the oven at 180 for 60 minutes. This is enough time to sterilise the bottles and kill off anything else hiding inside. I can then pack the bottles away with the foil still in place so that come bottling day I'm ready to roll!