WE got the deluxe starter kit for my dad for fathers day a bit early but i was excited to start brewing with him since i been reading and talking to a neighbor who brews about it. We got the Cream Ale since we wanted an easy one to start out with. We brewed it on 6-12-12 and man is she bubbling away. Im still wondering if we sanitized every thing good enough did every thing rite lol. Its gonna be fun brewing with my dad. the only problem is,well i wouldnt call it a problem more lika a dillema, is that we are gonna have to drink more comercial beers to get more bottles for more batches!
Welcome! And yes, collecting your bottles is an added bonus. Don’t be stupid and buy bottles at $13/case. Before you know it, you’ll have a kegging system and you’ll be asking if anyone wants your old bottles.
Dan hit the mark on that comment! I’ve got so many bottles waiting for a big beer but by the time a fresh batch is ready for conditioning, I always seem to find a way to keg it :cheers:
Welcome to a great hobby, and don’t listen to those guys. I’ve been kegging regularly for years, and I still never have enough bottles. I like to give gifts of homebrew, and that’s hard to do strait from a keg.
) Yeah, unless you plan on keeping it a secret everyone wants a piece of the action. My first beer was gone in less than a week, and suddenly (I promised my dad a couple of bottles) I was just back to waiting for my second beer to finish fermenting. Don’t ever plan on getting the bottles back, too. But, the upside is they are great gifts and you make peoples’ mouths happy.
I NEVER bottle anymore, except when I brew a batch of beer for a friend. In that case they are responsible for supplying bottles. And bottling a few beers from the keg isn’t hard at all. Just turn your pressure way down to like 3-5psi and go slow. It beats the hell out of making a priming solution, mixing, filling the bottles with a wand, etc…
And if your friends don’t return bottles, just threaten to cut off the beer supply. They’ll learn real quick like.
Welcome! Yes that does sound like a great father & son activity. By the sound of it you two are on the way so 1. go buy a bunch of bottles of a nice micro brewed beer in non-twist off cap bottles. It will be something good to drink while the painful wait for your beer goes by and gain some new bottles. 2. Order another kit. As soon as your new equipment frees up you will want to get going again. 3. Keep reading here and post as many questions as you like. We love to answer them.
Thanks guys. Ya we dont plan on wasting $13 on empty bottles that would just take the fun out of collecting the bottles our selves. I’d rather spend the $13 on a nice summit, redhook or serria nevada. I plan on going to kegs In the future but I just wanna get more batches under my belt and the experience of bottling. Eve when I do start kegging I’ll probably still bottle.
By the way how the hell do you use the smiliey icons? I clickon them but nothing happens.
If you’re buddies with the folks at a local bar, you might also be able to convince them to let you scrounge in their recycle bin. My brother just bootstrapped his bottle collection that way.
) Yeah, unless you plan on keeping it a secret everyone wants a piece of the action. My first beer was gone in less than a week, and suddenly (I promised my dad a couple of bottles) I was just back to waiting for my second beer to finish fermenting. Don’t ever plan on getting the bottles back, too. But, the upside is they are great gifts and you make peoples’ mouths happy.