Dragon Blood in 15 days!!!

[jamesngalveston]

where your from ckvchestnut....upper east coast...

 

[dangerdave]

I stopped snowboarding when i was in my 40s, when I turned 55 i was determined to do it again...It did not turn out well.
Then I decided to surf...That did not turn out well either.
Then I tried to water ski again...
Now I make wine..sit on my porch swing with company, have dinner and go to bed...
lol

I didn't take up snowboarding until I was 38 (it replaced kayaking), and I still love it at 50! Can't wait for some snow! I hope to do a couple more trips out west to the big mountains before I give it up.

Sounds like that better be soon!

 

[jamesngalveston]

lol, dave....the turns are really hard at 55.....

 

[Tess]

I didn't take up snowboarding until I was 38 (it replaced kayaking), and I still love it at 50! Can't wait for some snow! I hope to do a couple more trips out west to the big mountains before I give it up.

Sounds like that better be soon!

I broke a hip just reading this! lol

 

[LoneStarLori]

55 ain't so bad. It's when I learned to take up a new hobby. Winemaking. CHEERS~~!

Had to leave my DB fermentation on day 5 for a few days, so I threw 1/2 lb of dried cranberries in it yesterday morning to keep the yeasty orgy (as James put it) happy. Oh wow! The color was gorgeous this morning.
Can't wait to get back and rack it Sunday.

 

[ckvchestnut]

where your from ckvchestnut....upper east coast...

Close! Eastern Ontario near Ottawa and the Quebec border! Well I'll have to MAYBE try my hand or body a something old or new but very carefully lol! I've always been a pretty careful type even though I have been known to engage in somewhat dangerous sports lol! just how do you carry out extreme sports in a careful manner?? Haha it too is a balancing act like wine making

 

[hawk022499]

Just kicked off my attempt at a "holiday season" variation. I used Ocean Spray Cranberry-pomegranate juice and added 6lbs cranberries and 7 pomegranates. Sweetened with 5 lbs honey (ran out) so I had to finish with sugar to 1.080. Pitched Montrachet yeast 24 hrs after letting must sit with Kmeta added to fruit.

Sure smelled good this morning when I left for work. You can smell the hint of honey under the fruit smell.

 

[dangerdave]

Cranberry-pomegranate melomel? Never would have thought of that! Very creative, Hawk. Let us know how that turns out.

 

[wineforfun]

Awesome awesome awesome James I really appreciate your time to send that to me! I pm'd you a big thanks! I'll be posting my experience with that one no doubt! Carolyn

I too got James recipe and will get it going tomorrow. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[ckvchestnut]

I too got James recipe and will get it going tomorrow. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[Tess]

James recipe?? What your recipe James? I want to try it. Other then Dave himself I cant see anyone knowing anymore about the Blood!!

 

[iVivid]

I racked to secondary yesterday; looking good the top 2-3 inches is clearing. I'm degassing (vacuum) like crazy; drawing close to 25Hg about 6 times today (sore hands)... how much should I keep doing? What I'm asking is, when is it enough; I don't know what signs as I'm used to degassing by leaving in the carboy for a year or 2 lol. I'm getting big bubbles as opposed to tiny; and they still cover the whole surface if I pump like crazy; the top 2-3 inches is still clear despite the vacuum degassing. I haven't added the finings yet, is it good to add them now do you think or degas for another few days?

 

[jamesngalveston]

wait till you get about 1/2 of lees on the bottom and rack.
bottom rack...meaning....stick your hose all the way to the bottom of what you will be racking too....
after a few times of this, there will hardly be any co2 at all.

 

[Tess]

I sheet rack my DB. Hold the hose to the top side of the carboy and let it wash down the side. I dont have to do much degassing at all after that.

 

[sour_grapes]

Haha! Sounds just like us! I bet I couldn't even get up out of the water again for water skiing! My girls snowboard and I said I would never try it - ever! I value my previously broken tailbone too much lol

When I was young, I used to skateboard constantly, and I used to ski a bit, too. Nothing serious, just east-coast skiing. Snowboards, of course, had yet to be invented.

Fast-forward 20 years, and I was at a conference at a ski resort. I skied (conventional) a couple of days, but then some non-skiing friends said they wanted to try. I decided to accompany them to the baby hill, and I would finally try snowboarding while they tried skiing. I was confident that with my skater experience, I would take to snowboarding like a duck to water.

Well, not so much. I fell down over and over and over and over again. Finally, I landed funny with my fists between me and the ground, and broke a rib. On the baby hill, mind you. Now, on the rare occasions I get to ski, I just do conventional skiing; I figure that I will never have the time to learn to snowboard, so I might as well just ski conventional and enjoy it!

 

[sour_grapes]

The nickname, "Danger" was given to me by a good friend back when I used to be an avid whitewater kayaker (in my 20's and 30's). I don't kayak much anymore, but the name stuck---as such things do---and it makes me pine for my younger days.

I assumed it had something to do with that sledding accident you showed that beautiful, bittersweet picture of!

 

[ckvchestnut]

When I was young, I used to skateboard constantly, and I used to ski a bit, too. Nothing serious, just east-coast skiing. Snowboards, of course, had yet to be invented. Fast-forward 20 years, and I was at a conference at a ski resort. I skied (conventional) a couple of days, but then some non-skiing friends said they wanted to try. I decided to accompany them to the baby hill, and I would finally try snowboarding while they tried skiing. I was confident that with my skater experience, I would take to snowboarding like a duck to water. Well, not so much. I fell down over and over and over and over again. Finally, I landed funny with my fists between me and the ground, and broke a rib. On the baby hill, mind you. Now, on the rare occasions I get to ski, I just do conventional skiing; I figure that I will never have the time to learn to snowboard, so I might as well just ski conventional and enjoy it!

Exactly my point I prefer to avoid broken ribs altogether

 

[dangerdave]

I assumed it had something to do with that sledding accident you showed that beautiful, bittersweet picture of!

That was an early indication of things to come. I have never broken a bone (knock-knock), but I had nearly 1200 stitches before I was 18 years old. My doctor used to joke that they were going to build a suture wing on the hospital with my name on it.

 

[LoneStarLori]

I'm curious. Has anyone ever used a wine conditioner on DB?

 

[dangerdave]

Lori, a wine conditioner is a sweetener and stabilizer all in one----usually potassium sorbate and sugar. I much prefer to control each one separately. You wouldn't want to add too much sorbate (yucky!) while trying to get the sweetness you want, nor come up short on the sorbate while holdong the sugar back. You would be lucky, I think, to find the balance of personal taste plus security in one bottle.