Bottling and Aging
After the fermentation process, the process of bottling is one of the most important. Because if you do not sterlize right or, carbonate right, all that hard work that you have already done may be ruined. So this process is very important.
Sterlizing:
This is one of the most imortant things that you can do in homebrewing, remember to keep everything clean at all times. This will be what can make or break your homebrew. Actually this process is really easy, though many people don't put enough concideration into it, where they should. It's a process that can take the homebrewer from 1 hour to 4 hours depending on what method you use. Though what is four more hours compared to a great batch of homebrew? The easiest and most cost effective way of sanitizing is by chemical means. Most homebrew shops sell some sort of chemical cleaner for the Carboys and bottles though you do not have to use the manufactured products, you can make your own with what you have in your own house. Remember that it is your decision, but this does need to be done. If you decided to buy something at your local brew shop make sure that you follow the manufactures intructions. If you decided to make your own chemical cleaner, here is how. Fill an empty carboy with 5 gallons of cool water, then add about 1 cup of bleech to the water. This dilution will be enough to kill any micro-organism that might live in beer or your bottles. All that you have to do is soak your bottles in the bleech water for about 5 minutes, then rinse the bottles in hot, hot water, this will kill the bleech, that can disflavor your beer. You can also clean your carboy in this same manner. Make sure that you clean your bottles right before you bottle, because if you were to clean your bottles a week before, and so not have them caped, anything could grow in them again. If you decided to by uses bottles, and are wondering how to get those nasty lables off the bottles, contact me I have an answer.
The easist way to sterlize your bottle caps is to place them in to boiling water for About 5-10 min right before you are about to bottle...
Carbonization:
The easiest and most fool proof way to carbonate is to use Corn sugar. Take a pint of water and add EXACTLY 3/4 cup of corn sugar, place that into a pan and still well, heat until boil. When the sugar water has reached a boil count two min and remove, let it cool for a couple of minutes. Then add it to a clean, empty carboy, (the one that you are going to bottle out of). Then rack the fermented beer into the carboy that has the sugar water, making sure not to aerate the beer...
Bottling:
All that you really have to do is basicly add the beer, that has the suger water added to your, now sterlized bottles. Making sure that you leave about an inch or so at the top so that the carbonization will work. Then all that is left to do is cap it and let it age, before you can drink it.
Aging:
You will need to let your bottled beer age for a minimum of 7-14 days. You can drink it before that, though it may be very flat. So I would reccomend that you let it sit 7-14 days. When your days are up you are now ready to drink.
GO TO DRINKING
