All Bottled Up in May

The scene at Park Winery was a blur of activity for all members who played the card that reads, “Go to DBF meeting. Do not pass sink to wash dishes!”

The main focus of the meeting centered on bottling homebrew. The original plan had been to bottle Vic Minetola's first-ever homebrew, a Classic English Ale, and A.H. Dave's recreation of the Detroit Brew Factory favorite, Centennial Ale. Our plan broke down, however, due to the unpredictable nature of yeast and homebrewing in general. The event proved to be a good lesson learned, though, for novice and experienced alike.

First things first: Al Minetola brought his American Cream Ale for club members to enjoy and critique. For a moment, he managed to fool them all by mistakenly referring to the brew as Steam Ale.

“I must have made mine way differently,” remarked Jay Bradley upon tasting the concoction.

Brother Vic had been present at the brewing event in May when Al selected and brewed the kit, and he swiftly and correctly identified the beer style for the group, which responded with nodding heads and stern looks at Al. Apparently, homebrewers do not like to be fooled.

So how was the Cream Ale? Smooth, with fine carbonation and hints of malt. The hops added bitterness without much aroma. A very drinkable ale.

John Wolfahrt treated us to his first attempt at all-grain brewing – something he called Pike's Pale. The all-grain process really brings out the maltiness, as this Pale Ale imparted an excellent aroma and flavor. While John experiments with his brewing process, we will cheerfully assist him with tasting.

Time to bottle. We placed the two carboys on the counter and began the bottling process for Vic's English Ale. Vic bought 22oz bottles at the Park Winery, so we only needed to sanitize them. We dunked then in iodophor, and then placed them on one of Park Winery's bottle trees to drip-dry. I asked how I can do this at home without a bottle tree.

“You buy a bottle tree!” came the reply.

Sure enough, Park Winery sells a small version of the things, just the right size for a homebrewer.

Next, we sanitized the remaining equipment and bottle caps. After dissolving priming sugar in microwaved water, we were ready.

Skip showed how to initiate the flow of beer with a very interesting device. (See photo.) It looks like an orange udder. The bottle filler tube goes into one hole, and you merely blow into the other to start the siphon.

Vic filled several bottles for practice, and then he began capping. To start, he tried Al's stand-up capper. Ed Stone pointed out the pre-drilled holes in the base, noting that the device would be easier to use if it were bolted to a board, allowing a person to place a foot on the end for added stability and leverage.

The capper has a magnet in the crown to hold the cap, and there is a circle of rubber in the base to help keep the bottle from slipping. Other DBF members took turns with this capper, just to get a feel for its functionality.

Next, Ed showed his hand-held capper. This device latches onto the bottle's neck, and as the two handles are separated and pressed downward, the crown places force onto the edges of the cap while indenting the center. Those who tried this hand-held capper felt that it was easier to “feel” when the bottle was completely sealed. When properly seated, the cap exhibits a discernible circle in the middle. Matt Falor observes this indentation to pop back up as the beer carbonates.

After we finished bottling the English Ale, we turned our attention to Dave's Centennial. No, we didn't! We sampled some more homebrews!

The Three Amigos were not able to join us for the meeting, but they kindly sent a bottle of their latest creation – a Vanilla Sweet Porter. According to the brewer's notes, they added vanilla extract in the bottling process.

Vanilla Night! Matt brought his version of Vanilla Porter. He added three whole beans in the brewing step. Now I gotta tell ya, I get a little nervous around vanilla, having had a bad childhood experience with some syrupy sulfa drugs. But I have to say, this brew was nice to me! No gag reflex or anything! All joking aside, both porters were very good beverages.

Ed treated us to a bottle of his Holy Spicy Christmas Ale. This spiced ale has aged nicely in the bottle for six months, exhibiting a very complex balance of spice flavors and aromas. Ed plans to enter this ale into a competition, just to see how it stacks up against other home brews.

Someone brought a bottle of Classic English Pale Ale. Mmm! Plus, Matt poured a Really Extra Double Hoppy IPA. This one makes you taste hoppy and feel hoppy at the same time!

And then, we returned to Dave's beer. Matt and Skip noticed bubbles wiggling their way up the inside of the carboy.

“Hey, this one's still fermenting,” someone said.

Matt and Ed recounted stories of bottles blowing their caps because the yeast remained overly active at the time of bottling. So, for the benefit of the less experienced, Ed and Skip demonstrated tertiary fermentation. The two racked Dave's ale into a clean, sanitized carboy to wait for the yeast to finish its meal.

Y'know, that's OK. Dave was unable to attend the meeting. Like me and other DBF members, Dave had only bottled beer at the Factory, so he needs to experience this part of the homebrewing process.

“You'll never go back to bottling,” several club members told me when I announced that my very generous former neighbor (and honorary DBF member) Dan White gave me his keggerator upon his relocation to Florida.

I'm not so sure that I'm ready to give up the bottle just yet, however. Bottling may be a great way to age bigger ales, or to store and serve more unusual varieties, while I use the keg to serve popular styles that are more likely to “go” faster.

After all, I don't know how many of my friends will come over for a pint of Wee Heavy Belgian-style Russian Imperial Vanilla Oatmeal Stout. And I do like sharing my homebrews just as much as I like making them.