Hoppy Pale Ale is bottled

Well, after 50 days in the fermenter, I finally bottled my first all-grain beer. I did a lot of firsts in this one:
1. First all-grain brew
2. First time doing first-wort hopping
3. First time doing a full boil
4. First time chilling the wort in the refrigerator overnight (problem with my chiller)

I was going for a very hoppy pale ale. I love those hoppy IPAs, but after 4 or 5, I’m about dumb as dirt, so I thought I’d do one with IPA range bitterness and a pale ale grain bill. Based on the hydrometer sample, I think I may have achieved success. We’ll know once it is carbonated…

Next up is a hoppy (seems to be the theme lately) wheat beer if I can find the time. I also bought a basic kegging system this week from MoreBeer. I still need to figure out what I’m going to do about a kegerator, but once I get that straight, I should be able to brew more. You see, I dread bottling, so kegging should make brewing more fun, plus who doesn’t prefer a great beer that’s on draft?