Resting Peacefully

Just a quick pic of the beers resting peacefully. This was taken last Thursday night. At the time of bottling, we had some heavy silt going through, which, unfortunately, is to be expected. I'll check tonight as I'm hoping most of it has settled to the bottom of each bottle.

Why do you make the goat sad? Where were you last night?

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT BITCHES!!!

It all comes together tonight my friends! Cleaning, Sanitizing, and bottling will begin tonight as soon as possible. Come on over whenever you can!

We're almost there!

One day until bottling gents!

Thursday it is!

With all apologies to those who cannot make, the votes are in and Thursday it is! Please feel free to come over whenever you would like, but I'd suggest no later than 5:30 (if possible). There's lots to do and we want to make sure we have enough time. Again, bring a 6-pack to share.

I'll stop by O'Sheas to get caps and any additional bottles. I'll take an inventory of what we have tonight and update accordingly.

It's looking like Thursday...

Still waiting to hear back from a couple of people, but the general consensus is Thursday would be much better for all. I'll have final confirmation shortly.

Cleaning, Sanitizing, & Bottling!

A quick pic of the finishing hops doing what they do best, finishing! So, there's been a little back and forth relative to which day is best for the cleaning, sanitizing, and bottling.

Thursday:
Paul
Jonti
Jon

Friday:
Mike
Jeremy

As I said in my e-mail, we're a democracy and majority rules! I'll let you know by the end of the day whether it's Thursday or Friday. Either way, bring a 6 pack to share. Of course we'll have games on.

Finishing Hops!!!

The above pics were taken this morning after I added the finishing hops last night. It's somewhat hard to tell, but there's definitely action. We can officially bottle next week.

Paul sent the e-mail out to everyone about bottling either Thursday or Friday. I'm easy either way, but we need to choose a day and stick with it. Mike, you're on notice buddy. Keep in mind, we need to clean and sterilize all the bottles and caps before we actually bottle. This will take some time.

Latest & Greatest

The 2 pics above were taken yesterday afternoon. I've included the shot of the top of the carboy so that you can see what the brew actually looks like. Notice the level of sediment on the bottom of the 2nd picture. I'll be adding the finishing hops tonight, nothing more than dropping the hops into the carboy and then letting it sit for a week or so. I'll begin the specific gravity readings today as well.

7 days and going strong!

In follow-up to my post from yesterday morning, it looked as if we were getting pretty close to finishing fermenting in the glass carboy and could consider bottling soon. I did a close inspection last night and, much to my surprise, we're still going strong. I'll get the hydrometer today or tomorrow to confirm the status of the fermentation. Remember, if we get the same reading (specific gravity) for 3 days, it's ready to bottle. I'll most likely begin the readings today or tomorrow.

If you look at the pic, it looks like there's a large head of foam at the top. This is actually not the case and that's merely sediment (krausen) that has floated up from the bottom throughout the fermentation and is now adhering to the sides. There's very little at the liquid line other than a bit of "froth" with air bubbles poking through every now and then.

According to everything I've read so far, the beer's doing exactly what it should be.

Beer Bottle Cleaning Crew - you know who you are!

Just a reminder, if you were one of the lucky saps enjoying beer last Thursday and not stressing over the process, you've been tagged as the Official Beer Bottle Cleaning Crew! You'll have loads and loads of fun cleaning and sterilizing all the bottles, and don't forget the caps!

In all seriousness, we need to establish a protocol and schedule for cleaning and sanitizing the bottles and caps. I'll do a quick rundown of the bottles we have from the other night and let everyone know how many we need. Based upon the product, +/- 5 gallons, we would need 64 12-oz bottles. We've got a mixed bag of bottles as it relates to volume, running from 12 oz to 16 oz to 18 oz. I would suggest we get a boat load of 12er's and then bombers for the rest. Lord knows we're going to break a few and they're cheap anyway.

Cleaning and sanitizing could, theoretically, be done in the dishwasher, but I think we would be best to clean everything in a water and bleach solution and then dry them in the dishwasher.

Mike, Jeremy, Scott, and Jon, you're part of "The Crew", so good luck and we're all counting on you.

03.09.10 - Resting Peacefully

This pic is taken from this morning at about 7:00 AM, everything looking good. I'll post another pic this afternoon and try to be more consistent on the timing. I'd like us to have a more "accurate" history of the brew. Speaking of pics, let's get the ones from the actual brew process up asap.

03.08.09 - Looking Good

This photo is from yesterday afternoon. Wally shared our status with a buddy of his who's got a bit more mileage under his belt when it comes to brewing. He indicated we may want to consider putting together a secondary airlock and tube that would drain into another bucket so as to eliminate any overflow and loss of precious product. I went to O'Sheas yesterday and went over everything with them. I told them about the whole process, including the minor mistakes, and then I showed them our pictures. They said we're looking really good and do not need the additional overflow set-up. We may want to consider it for future brewing, but he indicated you really only need it if it appears that the beer is really churning and will likely overflow. He said he thought it was ready to bottle, but to be sure we need to measure the specific gravity of the brew for 3 days. If the reading is consistent for 3 days, then we're good to go and we can bottle.

Pics are in reverse order

I'll get the hang of posting the pics by the time we're drinking! In all seriousness, the pics are in reverse order. The first pic on the post is from Sunday and the second pic is from Saturday. The video is from Sunday as well. In the future, I'll post pics under an individual posts.

Correction - Pics & Vid

My apologies for the double post, but I'm having some issues posting pictures. Here's the pic from Saturday, again. This was taken about 8:30 - 8:45 AM. Lots of activity and everything is looking good.



I was in LA for all of Saturday, into Sunday morning, and was very excited to see how the beer was doing when we got home. Needless to say, this badboy is cooking! Huge amount of activity throughout all of Sunday. All the liquid in the fermentor was churning and burning as the yeast did it's job. Really impressive stuff. Enjoy!

Some photos to keep you honest!!!

Things are looking pretty good fellas. I'm pleased with the progress. I checked the fermentor on Friday and I was a little concerned that I wasn't seeing as much activity as I would have liked. I even considered reaching out to O'Sheas for some feedback. Needless to say, it was all for naught!

I've included a couple of pics to keep you going. The first is from Saturday morning around 8:30 AM. As you can see, fermentation has begun.

Secondary Fermentation?!

At this early stage in our beer brewing education, I think we should hold off on the secondary fermentation. Also, from what I've read it doesn't seem necessary for the simple ale that we made. Dr. Stone, how is the fermentation going? Is there beer all over your garage?

what's that Disturbance???

Thanks to everyone for a great time last night. I'm cautiously optimistic that we've created a good product. We made a couple of mistakes, for which I accept full responsibility as Brewmaster, but all in all, I think we did a great job. We've got one under our belt, the worst is over, so let's get ready for the next one!

A couple of you have discussed starting the next batch when we bottle the Disturbance Ale. In most cases, we would bottle the current batch within 2 weeks. However, and as Wally indicated, we may want to consider a pour and secondary fermentation into the plastic bucket. We'd do this next week and then bottle after the batch has fermented in the plastic bucket for another week. Don't get your panties in a bunch, unless that's your thang (which is fine by me), we do not need to meet if we want to do a secondary fermentation. It's extremely easy to do and we have all the equipment. Let me know if you would prefer this method and I'll do it. As always, majority rules so get a damn quorum going!

Keep in mind, once we bottle, we've got another 2 weeks until we can officially pour and consume. As such, I think we should seriously consider starting another batch pretty soon.

Thanks again for a great time.

IT IS ON!!!

Today is the day gents! I picked-up the last few supplies last night and it is officially ON!!! Special thanks to Wally for suggesting we get a 5-gallon plastic bucket with a spigot. I went to O'Sheas yesterday and they said while we could absolutely bottle from our fermentor, they recommended we use a separate bucket, with spigot, for bottling. Well played Wally, well played.

For those of you who will be late this evening, no worries, we'll save some clean-up for you. For those of you who will be on time, come over whenever you can, but we'd like to start everything no later than 7:00 PM.

I leave you with these words of wisdome from Ace Ventura:

"If I'm not back in 5 minutes, just wait longer"

See you tonight bitches!!!

Final Prep!!!

A couple more quick hits before we get ready for tomorrow. So far, I haven't heard any complaints about pizza and beer. I'm thinking everyone should bring a 6-pack of your favorite beer, bring something unusual, something others may not have tried. Of course, a tall boy of Pabst or Beast will always suffice.

I'm going to try and get as much cleaning and sanitizing done by early afternoon so that we're not wasting valuable time. It should take about 3 hours, 3.5 max, to do everything (I think...), so why doesn't everyone come over between 6:00 and 7:00 PM. 6:00 may be a bit early for some, but you're welcome to come at any time. We'll begin the boil as soon as we have a quorum.

2 Days and counting...

I completed the final inventory last night and we're good to go. There are a couple of optional items that I think we should seriously consider adding to the inventory to make the whole process run smoother. In all likelihood, I'll run down to O'Sheas to pick them up either today or tomorrow.

We do NOT need to meet in advance of Thursday's planned meeting. I'll begin the cleaning and sanitization process fairly early, so that we can get to cooking as quickly as possible on Thursday. I'm assuming pizza and beer is ok for everyone? Our address is 1 Via Apuesto, 92673, my mobile is 949.632.4977, and home is 949.492.1062.

Our inventory thus far:

- Official San Clemente Beer Club Brew Bible (I've put together a binder for notes and such)
- Brew Kit (all the goods in 1 lovely package)
- 20 qt. brew pot
- Plastic Spoon
- Tablespoons and Measuring Cups
- Glass jar
- Fermentor
- Airlock
- Sanitizer (I'll make this the day of with a mixture of water and bleach)
- Thermometer (optional, but I think it will be beneficial)
- Appox. 5-7 gallons of distilled water (this can be the arrowhead water from Ralph's)
- Bleach
- Large Plastic Bucket (this will be used to sanitize some of the smaller items as well as for storage of equipment as we go through the process)

A couple of final items to consider, we need to exchange mobile phone numbers and preferred e-mail addresses. It sounds as if most of us do not want to use our "work" e-mails, not surprising, and would prefer to use our "personal" e-mails. We can include everyone's contact info in the above-mentioned binder. Lastly, the kit and 8 grolsch bottles were a total of $138.17, so bring your friggin check books!

Thursday, March 4th

Good Morning Fellow Brewmeister's!!! The day is fast approaching. I will be preparing a final inventory tonight, I know I keep saying that, but tonight is the night! I've prepared some materials for the first batch and I know Wally has some great information too. We should be good to go. I'll provide the inventory first thing tomorrow. Until then, here's to happy brewing!