Two weeks after the yeast was pitched, the Autumn Ale was ready for bottling.   The beer had settled down from the intense foaming that occurred early in the primary fermentation phase.

Insider information:  there was a request for Mike and me to brew a beer for a birthday party happening this month.  Any time I brew beer for a wider audience, I go to extra lengths to ensure there are no issues at bottling that could ruin the beer.

Each bottle was cleaned well and time was taken to sanitize each bottle properly.  If you’re going to bring homebrewed beer to a party, you have to make sure it’s good and not ruined by laziness.

When bottling for parties, I use 12 ounce bottles.   More bottles means more fun, right?  No, not really, but that size I feel is necessary for a party atmosphere.  It’s easier for people to crack open a smaller bottle.

Also, brewing for parties is a good excuse to make up labels and have some fun with the look of your beer.   I don’t do it often but along wit the smaller size, a good label goes a long way for party homebrew.

The beer was a nice color coming out of the siphon.  I was going for a nice bronze color that goes with the season.

As for the flavor, well.  I was hoping to taste more hops in the beer.   Throwing over an ounce of hops into the kettle at flame out should give you more hops flavor.  Of course, I was using homegrown hops so who knows what I was going to get.  Thankfully, the hop flavor was clean and not unpleasant just not strong.

With some carbonation, maybe the hops aroma and flavor will pop out more.  We’ll see.  At this point, I am happy that the beer is clean with no off flavors.

So here’s to brewing for parties.  Here’s to brewing with homegrown hops.  Here’s to ensuring that beer doesn’t get ruined because you cut corners.

Brew On.