The Wildabeast Has Been Caged

Today was the first ever "bottling day" at the Willoughby Brewery. In preparation I rose early and scrubbed the heck out of 60 beer bottles. I expected to use about 48 but wasn't sure, so wanted to be prepared.


After they were scrubbed, and rinsed in a disinfectant, it was time to bring out the guest of honor. The carboy full of Wildabeast Weizen.


A thing of beauty, to be sure. Rick and I gazed on it lovingly, like proud parents. Now for the hardest part of the whole thing, how to get the luscious brew from the carboy into the bottling bucket. Rick's first attempts failed. He mentioned sucking on the tube which elicited a big "hell no" from yours truly. I excused myself to go check with my good friend, YouTube, to find out the proper way to prime the siphon. Once we'd got a handle on that little dilemma, the rest went smoothly.


Isn't that a sight for sore eyes? Rich, deep, dark beauty. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!


Once the beer was mixed with the carbonating sugar, it was time for the last step. Bottling.




We ended up with 46 bottles, with a little left over for sampling. This was the BEST flat beer I ever had the pleasure to drink. Absolutely fabulous. I can't wait to taste it when it's actually bubbly.


After taking all the time to remove labels, there's no way in hell I'm gonna put labels back on each individual bottle. Instead, I put a code on each cap. WW for Wildabeast Weizen. And I enclosed a label in each box.


We'll let these set for a week and then we plan to sample a bottle next Sunday, just to see how things are progressing. It will probably be 2 to 3 weeks before it's all done and ready. Stay tuned.