Recent content by ArdenS

Love the labels. (I do confess, though, to a bit of printer envy.)

I agree that degassing can be a pain. Lately, I've been letting time do its thing combined with using a stirrer on my drill. Letting it sit seems to have reduced the effort I have to put into stirring. Seems to have worked okay so far.

I often end up with just a little extra than will fit in the carboy I'm using, so I put it in a wine bottle or two under airlocks. They come in handy for topping up later.

I just moved a cranberry mead to secondary in which I used local raw, unfiltered honey. My first time with raw, unfiltered honey, so I've been following the posts here with interest.

I often use a free pdf to Word converter that I downloaded from http://www.hellopdf.com/ Usually works reasonably well.

It's nice to see you on here vcasey. :br

Just be glad that he's not on the second row.

Keep up the testimony. Remember, God's in charge. Arden

I prefer to wait until post-fermentation to make adjustments. (Having said that, I did adjust one mead mid-fermentation because the pH was dropping to a level that it was adversely affecting the fermentation.)

I agree with vcasey on that cider suggestion, I love a spiced cyser.

Actually mead is fermented honey, not just wine that has been sweetened with honey. Some people call it "honey wine". In order for fermentation to take place, the honey has to be diluted because undiluted honey will not permit bacterial (or yeast) growth. That's one reason why wounds are...

Good point about "regain[ing] control" of spending, Gekko4321. I have found that this is a hobby that can very easily become an obsession that sucks up more resources than I have disposable income. I found it necessary to work wine making into my budget and stick to my budget in this area as...

There's also the issue of money. I'm barely able to afford to buy only 2-3 kits / year (and they aren't high-end ones either). It's reading posts about all the money people throw at their wine making that just about convinced me not to start. I'm happy with the wine I make; I'm not trying to win...

You could try the strategy used for the Tactical Nuclear Penguin. Freeze it and drain off that which doesn't freeze. Probably would be pretty crappy tasting mead, but after a couple of glasses who would notice? I won't attest to your ability to shoot anything straight at that point.

Just don't forget to sanitize the spoon (voice of experience).