What are you doing with homebrew today?
- Thread starter BOB357
- Start date
I'm itching to bottle my brown ale and get some light beer back in the rotation, but she ain't finished yet. Down a couple more points from Friday, will check again Tuesday. I did bottle my primitive cider yesterday, so at least something will be drinkable soon. I found a 12 pack of bottles labeled as Cream ale but I thought I drank it all, score!
Jus moved the fermenter a few times to keep temperature where I want it. It’s chugging along nicely.
Well I did, of course. That slider is actually in need of rescreening. I am much better at my craft now than at the time I screened that door.@Herm_brews Nice screen! Who did that work?
FIrst order of business, I'm headed to the dentist to get a crown that I had put on nearly 40 years ago replaced. The original dentist is like me, old and ugly, but he's always done great work. Case in point, this crown's been there 40 years, with ZERO problems. New dentist is a hottie, though, and so sweet I get cavities when I go see her. If I was about 20 years younger, the missus would most likely insist I get a different dentist.
But, as soon as I can get back home, I've got 5 gallons of Leffe Abbey Blonde to bottle (including washing the bottles), and may put another Rapier Wit on, or an English Porter. Need to get my yeast experiment outta the fridge, so I'm thinking the porter goes first. The next Rapier Wit can wait until I get the first one bottled, and I'll just go ahead and run a batch same day I bottle the first (sometime next week). Capture the slurry, scrub (gently) the fermenter, and put it right back into service with the same beer. The Rapier Wit is my sit-on-the-porch-and-have-a-cold-beer-after-a-hot-day-of-yard-work beer. Pretty inexpensive with no grains. I've done both extract and all-grain, and have to admit I agree with the guy at Alabrew, I tend to make my best beer (certainly most consistent) with extracts. Takes all the steeping and sparging variables out of the picture I guess. But, the all-grain method just seems to have some odd satisfaction to it that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the craft work that has to be put into it. The Rapier's so simple with extract though, and EXTREMELY quick to get into the fermenter. Total brew day is about 4 hours, starting from when I go get the burner outta the shed, and when I put it back.
BTW, does anyone have a recommendation for a label brand/type that's easy to get back off the bottles, or a trade secret for getting them off? There's so many different adhesive types that guessing what's needed to get them back off without adhesive residue being left behind it's mind boggling. I'm guessing a laser printer is probably the smarter idea for printing, too, as ink-jets tend to run with ONE drop of water. I REALLY like the label maker in the Recipe management. I usually make one of the bigguns for the outside of my storage boxes, and just put "RW" on the caps after we crimp and seal. Keeping up with two different batches that used different pitching methods might complicate things just a little bit. The missus isn't very favorable to labelling the bottles, but if I can get something that goes on and comes off easy, that might change, even if I have to do all the labelling after they're capped and in the boxes.
But, as soon as I can get back home, I've got 5 gallons of Leffe Abbey Blonde to bottle (including washing the bottles), and may put another Rapier Wit on, or an English Porter. Need to get my yeast experiment outta the fridge, so I'm thinking the porter goes first. The next Rapier Wit can wait until I get the first one bottled, and I'll just go ahead and run a batch same day I bottle the first (sometime next week). Capture the slurry, scrub (gently) the fermenter, and put it right back into service with the same beer. The Rapier Wit is my sit-on-the-porch-and-have-a-cold-beer-after-a-hot-day-of-yard-work beer. Pretty inexpensive with no grains. I've done both extract and all-grain, and have to admit I agree with the guy at Alabrew, I tend to make my best beer (certainly most consistent) with extracts. Takes all the steeping and sparging variables out of the picture I guess. But, the all-grain method just seems to have some odd satisfaction to it that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the craft work that has to be put into it. The Rapier's so simple with extract though, and EXTREMELY quick to get into the fermenter. Total brew day is about 4 hours, starting from when I go get the burner outta the shed, and when I put it back.
BTW, does anyone have a recommendation for a label brand/type that's easy to get back off the bottles, or a trade secret for getting them off? There's so many different adhesive types that guessing what's needed to get them back off without adhesive residue being left behind it's mind boggling. I'm guessing a laser printer is probably the smarter idea for printing, too, as ink-jets tend to run with ONE drop of water. I REALLY like the label maker in the Recipe management. I usually make one of the bigguns for the outside of my storage boxes, and just put "RW" on the caps after we crimp and seal. Keeping up with two different batches that used different pitching methods might complicate things just a little bit. The missus isn't very favorable to labelling the bottles, but if I can get something that goes on and comes off easy, that might change, even if I have to do all the labelling after they're capped and in the boxes.
The soaking part is what I was trying to eliminate. I've gotten some craft beers with vinyl labels on them. Peeled right off in one piece. But, can't print vinyl with an ink jet printer. Watering down the Elmer's seems like a decent idea so I can spray it on the back of the labels, and lets me use plain paper for medium. But they have to be cut before spraying, meaning spraying each one individually.
I worked hard to remove the commercial labels from my bottles, so I have no interest in applying new labels.
YMMV, of course.
YMMV, of course.
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I'm with you there @Herm_brews Kudos to those that put in the time and effort for the extra cool factor though! For me, different colored caps and a sharpie does the trick!
Agreed that those who create labels for their bottles are expressing their artistic craft side, which I admire. Like @Craigerrr I differentiate with bottle caps and a sharpie.
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Measured out grains for next brew day, should be tomorrow.
Also remedied my hop debris in the keg situation with the Black IPA
Might just keg the El Dorado IPA tonight, think I will go with the floating dip tube on this one too...
Also remedied my hop debris in the keg situation with the Black IPA
Might just keg the El Dorado IPA tonight, think I will go with the floating dip tube on this one too...
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Might try Avery removable ID labels, 6464, 3.5” x 4”. Easy, and printable. Still haven’t figured how to match brewersfriend output to this label format though, so I cut and paste into Avery’s template. The brilliant “artiste” that I am…
Literally, 5 minutes in warm water and they practically wipe right off the bottles.
