Do you even brew?

[HoosierLawnGnome]

I once boiled a coyote skull in the kitchen for a couple hours.

"Honey, I'm going to slow cook a coyote's head."

I picked up a bunch of Fischer D'Alsace bottles inexpensively off of Craigslist this week for bottling.

I'm ready for my 5 gallons of Pumpkin Porter to get here!

[bpgreen]

I used a lot of Fischer bottles before I got comfortable using a bottle capper. I like them better than Grolsch since they're amber.

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[HoosierLawnGnome]

I want to find a way to personalize and label my flip top bottles. I have some wax seals I use for writing letters and a custom signet stamp for it - I wonder if I could use that? Any experience on how difficult it is to get wax off of a bottle?

[HoosierLawnGnome]

My pumpkin porter turned out fantastic by the way. The first bottle I got one week into conditioning was a bit harsh, but I let it sit for another week and WOW. Heaven.

[Alan]

Great job. Usually higher alcohol beers need some time to mellow. You should store some in the back of the fridge for about a year and see how much they mellow and mature in that amount time.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

I am having one a week right now - and the first 3 weeks they have been noticeably better each time!

[bpgreen]

If you force carb and keg, the beer is supposedly ready as soon as it's carbonated, but I still usually give a keg 4+ weeks before tapping it. When you naturally carbonate, it takes more time. I rarely open a bottle before it's been sitting at room temperature for 3+ months and 2 weeks or so in the fridge. Of course, if you're not careful with sanitizing and/or you oxygenate the beer while bottling, if you let it sit for 3 months, it may be nearly undrinkable (poor sanitizing can lead to an infection and oxygenating can cause it to turn stale quickly and taste like wet cardboard).

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Yes, I've noticed how much it mellows with some age on it. I enjoy learning that transition with my taste buds! Quite an education!

I'd like to find an inexpensive way to store it longer, but it's hard with such a large quantity.

I am getting into secondary fermentation now, primarily to reduce sediment. I built my own wort chiller as well which drastically reduced chill time on a batch I brewed tonight over about 3 hours.

I am fermenting a batch of "Indiana Maple Amber" right now - made from my own tree juice

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Almost brewing season for me again. I have a nice lager kit ready for me.

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[HoosierLawnGnome]

FYI - picked up a nice Gingerbread Lager to brew and drink in time for Christmas - om nom nom