Umm...Raiders of the Lost Ark?

So, this has been entombed in my basement for over 2 years, where it was enclosed next to the furnace, drywalled over (as evident by the white dust adorning the carboy), sitting idly while the room was painted and decorated.

You may ask, "what the hell is that"? It's cider that I bought, fermented and absolutely, unequivocally neglected.

I brought it upstairs for two reasons:
1. To make Rachel happy (when it gets dumped)
2. To make Rachel happy that I'm brewing again.

If I dare try it, and don't go blind, I may keg it (violating #1, above). But, as you can tell, that airlock has been mighty dry for a while, so who knows what beasties are swimming in there.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Introducing: Joy's Jinger Ale!

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...