Christmas Ale - Bottling Day!

  After numerous false starts and failed attempts, I bottled my Christmas Ale today.  I had been trying to do this for a few days now, but various distractions (damn you, seasonal allergies!) kept me away. So today I decided to play hookie from work and do it!*

  Before bottling, I took another sample, with a gravity somewhere between 1.012 and 1.014, maintaining an ABV of around 7.8%, not significantly lower than the recipe's goal of 8.02%, although the ABV could go up a bit by Christmas due to aging.                       In all, I got sixty-two bottles.  For those of you doing calculations, that's a little over five and a half gallons, although the last ten or so bottles - having liquid from the bottom of the fermenter - are probably chock full of sediment, so if you get one (they're all set aside in one box, so I know where they are), just be careful.                                                                                                  The sediment is perfectly safe, and probably wont even significantly affect the flavor; it's just a little gross and slimy.  If you do get some of this beer, and you don't want the sediment, just pour carefully and you should be fine.

As usual, if you'd like a bottle or three, you'll need to come visit.  I won't ship these because, well, it's expensive.

 Behold!  This is the Spice Bill bag!  It contains the remains of ginger, vanilla, allspice, and cinnamon.  Now, it's just disgusting.

This is what's left at the bottom of the fermenter -- called trub.  (pronounced "troob")  It's all the sediment from the grains, sugars, and yeast, mixed with concentrated remains of hops and the spice bill.  After boiling the wort, everything is nicely suspended in the liquid, and over time everything begins to clear out, with the solid items slowly falling to the bottom.  While most of the hops and spices were separated in bags, and thus could be removed from the wort, the grain and sugar particles will eventually clump and fall to the bottom, as will the yeast - which over the last month or so has grown quite a bit.  When I opened the top and stuck my head in there to take that picture, the concentrated alcohols damn-near knocked me out.  Pretty awesome!




*Note to anyone who may or may not be reading this who may be from work:  I was actually legitimately excused for the day for other legitimate reasons which I will gladly explain in person if you have questions.  Don't fire me.  OK.  Now.  Move along!