Festa Brew "Continental Pilsner"

So, I made beer earlier this year. However, this wasn't "hardcore" beer making. I started with a Festa Brew kit that my local Wine Kitz store sells. The store happened to have a sale on kits, so I bought one for $60.

A Festa Brew kit consists of a 23 L bag of pasteurized wort, a packet of yeast, and instructions. In beer making, the messy and complicated part is the wort preparation. If you don't have to make your own wort on the stove-top, you get to avoid all the mess of splashing sticky wort all over your stove and kitchen, and the anxiety over getting temperature control exactly right. A Festa Brew kit, then, is kind of a "Fisher-Price" version of a beer kit. Sounds like an easy way to make your first beer, doesn't it?
 

Festa Brew kit - A box of wort, a packet of yeast, and some instructions.

As it turns out, it really is easy if you follow the instructions. In essence, the instructions are:

1. Transfer the wort into the primary (white bucket)
2. Add yeast.
3. Loosely close lid on primary and wait 5 days.
4. Transfer wort to secondary with air lock. Wait a week.
5. Transfer wort back into a bucket and stir in some dextrose (sugar).
6. Bottle.

Wort in secondary.

23 L (5 gallon) of wort is a lot of beer. The yield on this kit was 40 bottles (330-mL recycled Stella Artois bottles) and 8 1-L growlers. After two weeks of fermentation IN the bottles (for carbonation, of course), the beer was ready to sample.

On sampling, I wrote in my notebook: "This is a good beer. Similar to Stella, but has more flavour - darker, more of the caramel sorts of flavours as opposed to hops. Hops are mild."

Cheers!

This kit was a little too easy, and I'm eager to try making beer the hard way next time (i.e. make my own wort). On the other hand, there is something nice about a kit that is just that easy. All you need is the basic set of wine-making equipment (bucket, carboy, airlock, siphon...) and some recycled beer bottles and you're ready to go. Bottle capping was easy because the Wine Kitz store loaned me the bottle capper. I plan on purchasing my own capper for future beverage projects.

The Limitations of EZ Cap Bottles

For about two weeks now, my cider has been sitting in those cool looking EZ Cap bottles.  Two days after bottling the first batch, I noticed tiny bubbles rising to the top, inside the bottles.  I thought this was a good sign, as it meant that the secondary fermentation was working, and the cider should be nice and carbonated when it was all over.  The problem is that the bubbles have not stopped.  That can only mean one thing:  the EZ Cap bottles leak.

Bubbles can only form if there is somewhere for the gas to go.  If the bottle is under sufficient pressure, the CO₂ stays dissolved in the liquid, and there are no bubbles.  However, as soon as the pressure drops, CO₂ becomes gas, and bubbles become visible.  This is exactly like opening a pop bottle.  When you unscrew the lid, the pressure inside the bottle drops, and CO₂ is released.

In exactly half of my 1 litre EZ Cap bottles, tiny bubbles are still forming in the cider.  Last night, I decided to open one of the leaky bottles and test it.  When I popped open the lid, there actually was an audible pop as if the bottle was under a small amount of pressure.  When I poured a glass, however, the cider was clearly not carbonated.  (So, I added some club soda and proceeded to enjoy!)

I really like EZ Cap bottles.  They look nice and they are easy to use.  I think they are perfect if your goal is to make still cider (i.e. non carbonated).  But if you want carbonated cider, you will need to use beer bottles and bottle caps, or maybe a plastic pop bottle with a tightly screwed lid.  Now, my experience might not be a total failure.  I still have hope for the other bottles of cider that don't have bubbles, because that suggests they are under pressure.  But here's the thing - a 50% success rate of getting a strong seal just isn't good enough for this purpose.

Here's my question:  Is there a trick to getting a good seal on EZ Cap bottles?

Bottling Cider

Yesterday, once I concluded that the fermentation was complete, I racked apple cider v.1 into a clean 1 gallon jug.  A secondary fermentation is required to carbonate the cider, so I stirred in some extra sugar - recipes often call for 1/4 cup of sugar per gallon.  I added a little less than this and stirred it until it was dissolved.  Then, I siphoned the cider into three 1 Litre EZ-Cap bottles.  The plan is to wait 2-3 months before I crack open a bottle.  This should be plenty of time for the secondary fermentation to be complete, and the lees to mostly settle out.

EZ-Cap Bottles.  Don't they look good?

Homemade Labels

However much I like the peel and stick labels you can get for wine kits, it's much more fun to make your own.  I like to employ children to help with this.  They love it.

First, ask the young person to draw something related to the type of beverage.  When they finish, scan the image and then make up your label in Powerpoint by inserting the image and adding text.  Resize the label and print!

To stick the label on the bottle, I simply use glue stick.  It keeps the label on just fine.  When you are finished with the bottle's contents, it's very easy to wash the label off because glue stick is more or less water soluble.

It's that easy.  Take a look at the mead that was bottled a few days ago.  The label adds a sort of professional touch.  (Also, notice how clear the liquid looks.  The fine solids have settled out!)

Sunnyside Mead 2014