Sharp as a Marble - Helpful Homebrewing Tips

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Helpful Homebrewing Tips

Brewsky

Neighbors whose kids come over for beer every day are a perfect source for extra bottles.
Upon soaking the bottles in a cooler full of bleach water to remove the labels and any gunk on the inside, it is wise to pay attention to the bottles with cigarette butts inside them.
Soaking bottles with cigarette butts inside them leaves your water quite nasty.
Although your neighbors appear to be run of the mill Budweiser and Miller Lite drinkers, don't be surprised to find an ocasional bottle of Bootie U95 beer amongst the stash.
If the bottles have been sitting in the garage for several weeks, pay close attention to the interesting foliage growing in the bottom. Some of this stuff grows so much that it exhibits basic intelligence traits and can hold small, if not dull, conversations.
Said material can also cloud up the bleach water along with the tobacco and fuzz from the cigarette butts.
Another neighborly trait may cause problems in soaking your bottles, namely snuff users. The mass left at the bottom of a snuff user's bottle does not get along well with the tobacco and assorted foliage floating in the water.
Never, under any circumstances, ever describe said material to a woman experiencing morning sickness.

More on my homebrewing exploits as they come around.

posted @ 11/25/2004 11:42:00 AM

Comments

alanstorm says:

on 11/26/2004 8:22:00 AM

Suggestion for removing beer bottle labels: soak the bottles overnight in hot water with a scoop of dishwasher detergent dissolved in it. Most labels will slip right off and leave a tiny bit of residue, easily removed with a nylon scrub pad. Suggestions for soaking containers: 5 gal buckets, utility sink, or my favorite, a large ice chest. I have one with no lid that's perfect. It's big and deep enough to hold 32 12 oz bottles upright and submerged.

Robb Allen says:

on 11/26/2004 8:43:00 AM

I usually use hot water but since I had left the bottles in the garage for so long, they kinda needed that bleach bath.

Of course, I still have to wait until after Christmas to start brewing, but it never hurts to get a jump on things!

Nathan says:

on 11/27/2004 11:38:00 AM