Thanks Sabsosa

[Darren]

Thanks to the guys at SABSOSA and all the generous sponsors of the South Australian HB competition.

I was expecting to only get a trophy but to my surprise Grumpy's, (sponsor of the Strong ale) and the Belgian Beer Cafe (sponsor of the Belgian ale) added a $50.00 voucher to be used in their stores.
And to think I nearly didn't enter.
Thanks again guys!

cheers
Darren

 

[GMK]

Weel Done Darren and to all the other place getters...

 

[jayse]

it must be your shout at the BBC tonite then darren.
I suppose your spending tonite making a new cabinet for your haul of trophies though. B)


Jayse

 

[Darren]

I suppose your spending tonite making a new cabinet for your haul of trophies though. B)


Jayse

Probably a good reason to clean the bar up though. Looks more like a construction site than a bar at the moment

 

[Jazman]

I would also like the thank sabsosa to was a great comp and some well known judges too i be in it next year

 

[roach]

For those award winning brewers, such as Darren in SABSOSA, I wonder about what method of bottling the winners use. eg do they fill from the keg with or without a counter pressure bottle filler, fill from the fermenter into the bottle and prime with sugar etc. or some other method????

If you fill a bottle from a keg without a counter pressure filler, what effect does it have on carbonation? Does it go completely flat??

Cheers

 

[Jazman]

i rack to a secondary yhen bulk prime and bottle i dont keg yet

 

[Gulf Brewery]

Hi Roach

If you fill a bottle from a keg without a counter pressure filler, what effect does it have on carbonation? Does it go completely flat??

I fill my bottles for the competition from the keg. I start with a bit more carbonation than what I need and fill the bottle so that it foams over to drive off a bit of the oxygen. This is fine for local comps, but the beers do not travel well after doing this and lose a point or two in the nationals because of the combination of heat / travel and oxgen oxidising the beer.

A counter pressure filler is on the wish list.

Cheers
Pedro

 

[roach]

Thanks Pedro. I find if i fill from the keg with the carb level high, even when the pressure is turned down, the foaming generated means it takes a while to completely fill. That's what happened with my 'Pedro Pils'.

CheersRoach

 

[Gulf Brewery]

Make sure your bottles are the same temperature as the beer, so leave them in the fridge for a while before you bottle.

I just use the pluto gun and put it in as far as it will go into the bottle, tip the bottle on the side and fill slowly (low pressure, gun open wide)

Cheers
Pedro

 

[Darren]

Howdy Roach,
My Tripell was bottle conditioned. Barley wine was filled from a keg. I use the same methodas Pedro to fill from a keg. Takes a couple of days ahead to gas the keg to its maximum, bleed off head pressure (slowly). Turn on gas enough to have the beer flow. Pluto gun into sideways tilted bottle. I bit of foaming is good as it clears all the oxygen out of the bottle. Cap immediately.
I can't imagine a CFPF would be easier or more effective unless you are filling hundreds of bottles.
cheers
Darren

 

[roach]

Thanks Darren and Pedro. Will try your method and if successful might even enter in SABSOSA next year. Maybe I could enter an Irish Ale Pedro :lol: h34r:

 

[Justin]

I freeze my bottles before filling them by the same means described above. Works well.

Cheers, Justin

 

[roach]

thanks Justin - great tip!! Will try the freezing method

 

[jayse]

Hi guys,
I bottled mine straight from the keg but mine started of with low to very low carbonation to start with and by the time they got to the judges they were all pretty much judged as flat. So i lost up to ten points simply because i didn't bottle correctly.
Next time the plan is to bottle conditon for the best results, or if i do have to bottle from keg again for a competion i will insure that the beer in the keg is reasonbly carbonated more than this time.

One thing i think with pouring a very low carbonated beer from a keg your can still get a nice head and head retention but poured from the bottles it sounds like mine didn't pour to well at all.
I have noticed this with a few beers that i have bottled and taken to brew gatherings, they never pour with the nice dense head like they do from the tap.

Anyway the bottle filling the way i did it(not well) did cost me dearly
as i was only a few points of the first place getters in the styles i entered, those few points coming of because the beers where flat and had no head to start with so no points for head retention at all.
Next time i'll be aiming to get those extra 5 or so points by bottling much better.

Jayse

 

[Gulf Brewery]

Maybe I could enter an Irish Ale Pedro :lol: h34r:

I won't that make mistake with nitrogen again.

 

[Kai]

Well, I got my SABSOSA results today. There was some interesting feedback there, but not much that surprised me. I poured myself a bottle of the beer I entered and sat down with the tasting forms to do my own comparisons. Took a sip, then poured it down the sink as the bottle was autolysed :wacko: So much for that.

But yes, thanks SABSOSA. It's interesting going through the results and comments and correlating them with deficiencies in my technique and my ingredients.

And thanks, Pedro, for convincing me to enter, even if it wasn't exactly a beer intended for show material