Epic Fail : (

It's been two weeks since my first batch of IPA went downstairs to ferment, and a lot has happened.... well, a lot of waiting and drinking beer anyway.  Last Thursday night Christian and I went to happy hour with another associate from work.  We started out at Fratello's, and had three rounds of their Scottish Ale to get started.  Feeling a buzz, and not wanting a good time to come to an end, we moved to Chadwicks on College Ave.  First, I'll admit Christian likes this bar a lot more than I do, but he discovered something that changed that;  Upland Brewing Komodo DragonFly Black IPA.  Apparently it's named after a mysterious flying dinosaur reported to have attacked a man in the area of Lake Monroe near Bloomington Indiana.  This beer really threw me!  It's pitch black like a stout or porter, but hoppy as any IPA.  It's 6.5 ABV and 65.5 IBU was malty, and had plenty of snap for this hop-head.  It tasted really good, and upstaged the Scottish Ale in my opinion.  I had to go back for a few more sample pints, which left me a little worse for wear at work on Friday.  This brings us to Friday night, TK brought 2 more growlers of Central Waters in to work.  I was not feeling the greatest, but I was not about to refuse.  One was a their Satin Solstice Stout, and the other was Happy Heron Pale Ale.  I say "was" because Christian, Nick, and I polished it off.  Not bad for coming off a hangover.  

Tonight has been two weeks since my first stab at brew went into the fermentation vessel, and it's time to bottle the beer.  I've been very excited for tonight to arrive, but my enthusiasm has thinned like a glass of Budweiser Select 55 full of ice cubes in the sun : (  Bleh, that description made me heave a little.  This step was not easy!  I'd practiced siphoning over the weekend, and I was glad that I did.  I thought I had it down pat, and was ready. 

At first glance it looks about right.  It's the color of beer, with a thick layer of trub at the bottom.  Everything was sanitized, and I mean everything.  I heated and dissolved some honey in water, and filled the tubing with sanitizer.  I had a few problems siphoning.  If that 2 foot long piece of tubing wasn't completely full of sanitizer from the start, it wasn't going to provide a continuous flow.  It took me a couple of attempts.  The real key is to not allow the sanitizer to flow down the raking cane into the beer, which would ruin everything.  I've decided that I'm going to deviate from the instructions a little next time around... if there is a next time.  Rather than transfer the beer via siphon to a pot with diluted honey, and transferring it from there to the bottles, I'd rather pour a little dissolved honey in each bottle, and transfer the beer directly.  Why?  The kitchen pots I used were not ideal for the raking cane.  I had so much trouble keeping it in the pot due to the angle it was at.  Also, I think it makes more sense because the honey is going to be metabolized by the yeast to add more alcohol, and also add a fizz of CO2 when you open the bottle.  Why not make sure equal amounts of that solution make it into each bottle?  Honestly, tonight really made me question the process of bottling altogether.  I think TK was right about using a corny keg, CO2 tank, and a keg-o-rator  from the beginning.  TK is wise.  Another conversation he and I had today was regarding the quality of water used for brewing.  He suggested using spring artesian well water rather than PUR charcoal filtered city water.  It's makes sense.  City water is treated with chemicals that might not lend to brewing.  This is something I'll keep in mind next time. 

Epilogue:
Tonight was frustrating.  Home brewing is not an economical way of filling your fridge with brew.  You have to enjoy making it, and experimenting with the recipe.  If two weeks from now I don't open the first bottle and taste an IPA as good as or better than anything I've tried in the past month, I'll be considering changing the title of this blog to "The rise and fall of home brewing".  Due to evaporation during the mash, I have less beer than I believed I'd end up with.  I think I have an hour of work stuck into each bottle I've produced; not to mention all of the weeks of waiting.  I can purchase a six pack of Central Waters for what $9.  I'm saddened that this is where my mind is at, but it's the truth.  Tonight's blog beer has been New Glarus Moon Man.