spiderplanet

On December 20th, we bottled the Taddy Porter. Today we bottled the Grand Cru. Here are some photos of the bottling process.

We use primarily recycled bottles because they're inexpensive and easy to give away. We also have purchased around four cases of bottles, I would guess that we have about eight cases of bottles in the house total. We could easily get away with only recycled bottles, but we didn't know that when we started.

First, the bottles are soaked in hot water.

Then, they're rinsed with the pressure washer, which fits on the end of the laundry tub faucet.

Then, they're sanitized and rinsed again. Here at the Stubby Paws Brewery, each bottle is visually inspected for spiders and other potential impurities. You don't get that kind of quality control at Budweiser, let me tell you, Buster!

Though my username and default icon are from the classic Doctor Who episode Planet of the Spiders, I do not love spiders. I love Jon Pertwee. If Jon Pertwee were in my beer, I would leave him alone.

Here is a picture of the racked, sanitized bottles and the transfer of the beer from the secondary fermenter to the bottling bucket. The spigot on the top of the rack is a pump for squirting sanitizer into the bottles.

I have installed a clever hook in the ceiling. The hook makes the bottling process easier. In this photo, the bucket is already emptied, that's why the hose has been stuck in the top of the bucket so as to not put anyone's eye out. There's a bit of that Marmite goo in the bottom of this one, but nothing worthy of consumption.

I like the clear bottles, that way I can get a picture of the color of the beer. Here's the Taddy Porter, a "Strong Stout."

Here is the Grand Cru, a "Belgian White." It's sweeter than dark beer, but still not flavorless. Below it is the bottled and boxed Taddy Porter, catalogued with a technologically superior system known as "masking tape." In the background is the Irish Red Ale in a secondary fermenter. The towels keep the beer away from the light.