Recent content by EelfinnTy

You will know if it goes bad. Lol I've tried watermelon twice. The first time was a mess and it got tossed out before it cleared. The 2nd time I fermented it in my garage during the winter. Ambient temp was about 50F. It took quite a while and there is still a little funk when you smell it, but...

Cocoa powder might be difficult to clear. I used a baking chocolate that was 100% cocoa unsweetened. Just adding a bar of Hersey dark chocolate would probably do it but it would also add some fat, and other things. I spent a little more $ on a quality chocolate. Having only attempted it once...

I combined 6oz Ghirardelli 100% dark cocoa chocolate, brandy, and a finished cherry wine in 1 gal carboy for 1.5 months. The chocolate was bland when I racked the wine off it in January. It overwhelmed the cherry flavor to begin with. After sampling and topping off it is excellent.

When I made cherry I used about 50lb and came up with about 4 gallons of juice. All but 8lb was from tart cherries.

I tasted it the other day while back sweetening a couple other batches. It smells like chocolate and honey. The only cherry I taste is a little bit at the very end. Next time I may start with a smaller amount of chocolate and add more later if it needs it.

I put my 6 oz to 1gal. Last time I tasted it the chocolate had overwhelmed the cherry flavor. I'm hoping the cherry will come back as it ages.

I just pulled my cherry off the chocolate yesterday. It sat for over 5 weeks on a 6oz, 100% dark chocolate bar. I also added some brandy to make a chocolate cherry "port". Between the sorbate, brandy to make it 20% abv, and 100% cocoa it didn't restart. The leftover chocolate solids don't...

Thanks for all your suggestions. I think I'll backsweeten it just a bit and try a little oak in my jar of extra to get a feel for what it will add. When I cooked it up I planned on bulk aging for a year.

byathread I like the way you think, but I'm not sure I have the space at the moment. How much oak do you typically add to your meads? Deezil thanks for your suggestion. WVMJ I didn't have any varietal honey and wanted something more interesting than alcoholic honey. It's a beautiful red brown...

I started a Bochet mead at the end of november, moved it to secondary 2 weeks later and have let it set ever since. Yesterday I pulled it off the lees and had a "little" taste:dg. I'm liking where it is headed but there was an unpleasant way it coated my tongue. After sprinkling some wine tannin...

I wanted to thank you guys for the help again! On Aug 25 I checked the TA on a couple of cups I froze and thawed a couple of times, and ended up with a TA of .85 and ph of 3.6-3.7. After some taste tests I added some malic acid and 2lb of brown sugar. The final ph was about 3.4. Tonight I...

I'll have to remember that come spring. My wife and I love going wine tasting, but the closest winery is in Superior, NE. If you end up this direction let me know! We are always up for setting on the deck and enjoying a bottle or six! I used to help my grandmother pick wild plums by laying...

Another Kansan! I'm in Concordia, not far from Arne's hangout.

I think the dissolved carbon dioxide is throwing off the ta test. According to this site, "Titrate the must before fermentation begins. Carbon dioxide created during fermenation will produce inaccurate results."

Ph strips. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/winemaking-ph-paper.html