As I mentioned in the last post, bottling a hazy is always an adventure for a homebrewer. Oxidation is always a worry, and with hazys, it’s even more of an issue due to the large amount of hops and how easily the style can be ruined by oxygen. Thanks to a wonderful r/homebrewing post from user rhymeswithoranj, Rod’s Lazy Hazy Pale Ale was packaged up successfully.
As you can see, this thing looks fantastic. There is absolutely zero sign of oxidation. And it is 100% juicy. The process for bottling is pretty simple, honestly it’s actually easier than my normal route. There are just a few key pieces to keep in mind.
- Ferment in vessel you can bottle from. Whether it be a fermonster like I did or a good ol’ bucket, just use something that doesn’t require you to transfer to a bottling bucket.
- Use carbonation drops and not priming sugar. Once you dry hop you don’t want to open your fermentation vessel again.
- Be sure to fill the bottles to the very top. You don’t have to overflow them. No need to waste any beer.
- CAP IMMEDIATELY!!! Don’t fill a bunch of bottles and then cap. Fill, cap, repeat.
Now in the guide on reddit, u/rhymeswithoranj mentions not to cold crash the beer. I ignored this as they mentioned they said this mainly because they hadn’t tried it before due to not being able to. I cold crashed Rod’s Lazy Hazy Pale ale to help drop everything I could and it turned out just fine.
I did follow the suggestion of trying a bottle after five days of conditioning and sure enough the thing was carbonated. I will say around day eight is when the beer started tasting the best.
I had avoided brewing northeast style beers due to bottling issues in the past. Now that I’ve gotten this one under my belt, the future is hazy. Well after this pilsner is done at least. Thanks again u/rhymeswithoranj!