Two weeks ago Marji and I brewed batches 37 and 38 at Let’s Brew. Today I am bottling those beers, and just in time, too, because today is my last day in Portland.

A bottle sanitizer machine is used to sanitize the bottles, which are moved to a tree when the wash cycle is complete. The beer is transferred from the fermenter to a keg and priming sugar is added. Unlike Ghallagher’s and Bedford, where the beer is force carbonated, here the beer is bottle conditioned, so it won’t be drinkable right away.

Let’s Brew has a handy CO2 valve at the filling station. Before filling each bottle from the tap I shoot CO2 into the bottle, forcing out the air, which reduces the amount of oxygen that comes in contact with the beer and helps prevent oxidization as the beer ages.

The keg is connected to a tap and the bottles are filled from the tap. My workflow is to fill six bottles, cap them, then repeat. This process is hassle-free and I’m finished with both batches in about an hour and a half.

Tomorrow I’m flying to Los Angeles and, unfortunately, I cannot take any of these delicious new beers with me. The cases will be left with friends in Portland and Seattle for them to enjoy. It’s too bad I won’t get to taste any of what I bottled today, but returning to LA means brewing on my own equipment again, so I am looking forward to that!

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It’s gypsy brew day #3 and we’re doing it in Beervana — Portland!

Today we’re changing it up. Instead of brewing a 10 – 12 gallon batch of someone else’s recipe we’re going to do two 5-gallon batches at the same time, each one a different beer, each one our own recipe! For this brew day we’ll be brewing our flagship, Bushi (武士) – the Warrior’s Ale, and Tanuki (狸) – the Legendary Shapeshifting Porter. This Tanuki features Stumptown’s Holler Mountain coffee. Yum!

My dear friend Marji is joining me today and we’re brewing at Let’s Brew in Portland. She has been a big supporter of Bushido since we met and I’m happy to have another set of hands in the brewing kitchen. We’ll also be receiving help from Kim, one of the co-owners of Let’s Brew and the boss of the kitchen. (She won’t be pictured, though. She doesn’t like photographs!)

The kitchen in the back is exactly what you want for a small scale brewing setup. Dual gas burners for boiling partial volume small batches, a commercial sink and dishwasher, large sanitizer sink, plenty of shelf and counter space, and all of the tools and utensils readily at hand.

Since Let’s Brew is more than just a brew on premises destination – it’s also a full-fledged home brew store – we measure out and purchase all of the ingredients for today’s recipes right here in the shop.

OK, let’s brew!

It feels great to be brewing Bushido’s own recipes again. Some last minute changes are made to Bushi due to hop availability and to bring the starting gravity down so the fermentation will complete in time for the beer to be bottled before I move on to another city. The base recipe for Tanuki remains the same, the only shift in its shape is to use a different coffee roast.

Bottling is in two weeks!

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