George:
Thanks for your kind words and making available this fine board we all use to help each other. I am faily new to wine making, about 7 months now. I have done a lot of reading and a lot of following. I will say that there are only 2 people anywhere that I have ever come across who truely have the experience and ability to help others. Jack Keller and Hippie (no particular order). Jack is a great guy, unfortunately he is way over my head and I sometimes feel, NOT RIGHTFULLY SO, that a guy like Jack doesn't have the time for a wine maker like me. Again, NOT RIGHTFULLY SO! Jack try's to help everyone, he just can't be everywhere at once.
Hippie makes guys like me feel comfortable in what we are doing, or in most cases, not doing, and has the manorisms to explain to the layman in terms we (I) can understand. More importantly to a beginner like me is the availability of help when we are still in our "impatient stage" of wine making. Hippie just always seems to be there. And when he isn't, we have friendly people to step in and lend a hand. I always thought that being on a board with a kazillion members would be better than a board with a few hundred........... Another lesson learned in my progress in making wine. I'm glad to be here and hope I can benefit as well as assist when ever I can.