Relax, don't worry . . .

. . . have a homebrew.

That's Charlie Papazian's motto, and ours as well when we bottle a batch. Bottling is a bit of a pain, but worth it, I think. Kegs are handier and easier over the long haul, but a bottle of your own beer is something special. We bottled up the RYE-P.A. this afternoon, and I think it will be a unique and tasty brew. The final gravity was a tad under 5 degrees Plato (1.018) and the beer will have around a 7% abv. That is a BIG beer for my tastes, and a big beer for FSB. Only had a final yield of 3-1/2 gallons, so a case (12) of 22-oz. bottles and a sixpack of 12-oz. bottles took care of most of it. I used one of my very cool swing-top 2-Liter jugs, one 0.5-L Grolsch bottle, and one clear 12-oz. "Newky Brown" for the rest of it. I like to have a clear bottle to watch the conditioning process. The 2-L jugs are very nice for a dinner party, they have an elegant look. We tasted the dregs as we cleaned up. The pale, light brown ale has an interesting crispness--can't wait to crack the first one!