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Illusions of Bottling
Today we hand bottled four bottles of Illusions straight from the barrel. Now don’t get too excited, this fine wild ale is months away from its matured glory.
I sample from the barrel about once a month to track the flavor, aroma, and structural changes of the beer. These tasting give us great insight into the road wild ales take to maturity (and a great way to end a day!) The one big piece missing while tasting is the presence of carbonation. Carbonation is a huge ingredient in beer. It provides additional structure, mouth feel, aromas and flavors. I love the way a fresh poured pint bubbles up sending the amazing aromas to my olfactory before hitting my lips.
So today we gravity fed four beautiful 750ml bottles adding a spritz of Belgian yeast and sugar. Of course I had to go all out using champagne corks and wire hood cages. Through the next two weeks the fresh yeast will consume the sugar creating natural carbonation. After another week in the cold cellar the bottles should be ready for a testing. I can’t wait to pop the cork and try the carbonated version of young Illusions which will make a great Brewer’s Brain entry.
The picture is our cellar man/keg wrangler, Matt Williams, filling the bottles.
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