It took 2 months, but it was well worth the wait! In honor of our daughter's birth, I brewed a special ale. It was originally going to be a gingerbread ale; however, I didn't go with all of the spices one would include in a gingerbread. Instead, I made a straight ginger ale (6% ABV), where I added 1.5 ounces of freshly ground ginger (courtesy of our microplaner) in the last few minutes of the boil. Even though I was outside, and using a propane burner, the aroma of ginger was powerful, wafting through the air, piquing my neighbors interest in what I was making.
Last fall, I had gone to Annapolis Home Brew, where Jim (one of the owners) was nice enough to stay with me to get me set up with the right keg kit.
I also went to Best Buy and bought a small fridge that came without a freezer. This became my little project - to convert it into a homebrew kegerator - when Rachel took our daughter to visit the grandparents.
With the ginger ale fully fermented, I noticed that it was a bit cloudy in the car boy, sooooooo, I remembered back to Lonnie M. over at Ale Nuts.com using unflavored gelatin as a filter in his kegs. Armed with a little more research and knowledge, I filtered and carbonated 5 gallons of awesome beer. I know it's good because it got the official Rachel Seal of Approval!
I think tomorrow may lead me to brewing a Bitter for the 4th of July...
