Even Beer Can't....

Convince her to say yes... but she did :)

Liz and I are officially engaged, and we celebrated with some bubbly, I guess it'll do :)

Kegerator - Party On

So the Wright has been kegged, linked, and sampled... and oh so delicious.

After boasting to my friends this success it was time to have them over for a sampling. And sample we did! :) pictures don't do this evening justice. (pics courtesy of Drew)

I need to come clean with you, the devoted readers of RogoBeers.

I've been holding out on you.

Last Sunday I actually purchased a kegerator. It's truly been a long process (as disturbed as this sounds). Following Uncle Charlie's prophesy, if you really want to do homebrew then you should do it via kegs and bypass all the bottling hassle. I agree, not that bottling is bad or undesirable, but it's simply going from learner's permit to license.

So my search for kegerator started young. I wanted something with character, something that would keep the beer cold, and something that "fit"... whatever that meant. A newer, white straddle fridge/freezer combo? No. Brown or green doors? ... maybe. Floor freezer converted to kegerator? Perhaps.

But then, low and behold I'd found it. And where else to find such a gem than Craigslist! Although it hasn't been a smooth process, as I needed to upgrade some connectotrs and ancillaries... I can tell it's the "fit" I was looking for.

Only my parents knew before you, though here are her first photos.

IPA Racked to 2nd

Finally was able to get some time today to rack the IPA into the second carboy. It's been 15 days about and the activity is done. Racking went well and had quite a bit of trub but was able to tipthe carboy enough to get most of the liquid.


Reading on the hydrometer is 1.08. Quick taste of the brew and it tastes incredible. I think I should have dry hopped it for a little more bitter but it'll do for now.

Think I'll leave it for about a week then bottle or keg it.

Still Chuggin Away

Got home tonight and had a chance to rack the IPA to the secondary carboy but looking at it there still was plenty of activity. The airlock wasn't as active but the internals were. So I've decided to just leave it be for another few days then rack it on Sunday. I think I will dry hop it as well. Hydrometer is close to 1.09.

IPA Hydro Reading

Gave a good look at the hydrometer and it's sitting at about 1.010. Clearing nicely with the moss. Was tempted to rack to the secondary carboy as it's already been a week, but it's still fermenting quite a bit. Of course I have little time this week to rack it over, at best would be Saturday which would be 12 days in the primary. Hmmm.

Taste o' the Honey

Taste o' the honey... it's been sitting in bottles for a 15 days now just conditioning. I had a taste last week with Drew but was still too early. And I've been a little skeptical since the Amber Ale never really got going. But the Honey Wheat was much further fermented and I had a good feeling on this one.

I grabbed a couple of bottles and put them in the fridge to chill so Liz and I could try one. Just cracked it and immediately noticed that there was actually carbonation! And when I poured it even some head! Whoa... much different experience than the Amber Ale, and really a product of the yeast.

How to describe the taste... honey is there and the carbonation really hits. Mouthfeel is complete, not overpowering. Scent is reminiscent of the early blow off tube smell, but nothing to worry about. Taste is friendly and floral, fresh buzzing aftertaste. A deeper color than the wit beers, which you'd expect and a good wheat taste as well. Overall very nice!

Even the most critical judge (Liz) was pleased.

Flash Taste - Wright Stuff

Finished at 1.09. Great color, bitter. Nice. Giving me a about a 5.8% ABV (OG = 1.054).

After going back and forth on whether to keg or not I decided to just keg it. So this will be the first time kegging. I don't have a fridge, but the heck with it. Just means more pressure since the temp is higher.

Racking it into the keg couldn't have been easier. No problems there.

Took the beer thief to it to grab the SG and have a taste.... what a beer! This is easily the best so far. Just a divine taste, quite pleased.

What... me worry?

It's fermenting fine, and nothing overly aggressive. The 6.5 gallon kept everything in place.

Wake Up!

The one thing I had failed to mention on the IPA was I didn't get the smack pack right. So overall I'm 1 out of 3 on the smacks. Of course I cut the outer package and carefully cut the inner package then shook the heck out of it before I emptied into the carboy.

I'm using the 6.5 gallon since I figure this will be a pretty violent fermentation and I'm trying to prevent having to use the blow off tube again. But what I didn't expect was nothing's really going on. Hope I didn't screw it up, but would have expected it to start fermenting pretty heavily and then tomorrow morning really give me a good look at what's going on.

Nothing really so far, a few bubbles but not like the Pale Ale. We'll see. -

Charlie's Secret IPA

So my Uncle Charlie was kind enough to package up all the ingredients to his secret IPA recipe. Of course as fate would have it I was looking for an IPA to brew so couldn't have come at a better time. And tonight I was determined to get it going.

7:05 pm
water is on, 3 gallons up

7:11 pm
Grains are in, I set the burner on low to slowly get the grains to 160 instead of shooting them up there.

7:44 pm
Still waiting, up to 100F

8:30 pm
Great grains... it's all done and squeezed the sack to get more out of it.

8:46 pm
All the malt extract is, back to a boil, then throw the hops in

9:08 pm
Still waiting for boil...

9:15 pm
Finally, now we begin.

9:25 pm
About the only thing different this time is I'm going to boil with the lid on. Seems to make a much more violent boil as you'd expect. Hopefully the end result is better. I could boil without the lid on and let it roll. Not sure which is best or if it even matters.

9:45 pm
My only alteration to the secret recipe is to put in some Irish Moss. I'm a huge fan after what it did to the Pale Ale so throwing them in here.

10:05 pm
All done, now it's time to chill in the basement.

10:28 pm
Basically all chilled, temp's reading high 80s, when I add it to the other 2 gallons should come down nicely.

10:48 pm
Trying to strain the wort into the carboy, is taking forever. Clogging up the strainer ever 2 minutes then I have to spoon it through. What a pain.

11:05 pm
All done. What a pain!

11:36 pm
Finally done, cleaning and all. Right now it's looking like a nice OG of 1.057.

Hope I didn't screw anything up.