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@BigDaveK solves that problem by starting at least 1 batch per week. [seriously]
Such a gross exaggeration! There were multiple times when I went as long as TWO WHOLE WEEKS without an active ferment.

But....ummm.....there were also multiple times when I had 5 in primary at the same time.
 
Why you gotta be difficult? Just make six!

A single gallon is

4 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup lemon
1 lb triple berry
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/8 tannin
1/2 nutrient
1/4 energizer
1 gallon water.

5 gallons is the above x5 :d
My two cents...
My first DB used 8 lbs fruit for 5 gallons. My second used 12 lbs. Personally I will never use less than 12 lbs in the future.
 
Such a gross exaggeration! There were multiple times when I went as long as TWO WHOLE WEEKS without an active ferment.

But....ummm.....there were also multiple times when I had 5 in primary at the same time.
It's pretty easy to see which wine you are on, and then check how many weeks it has been since your first post. 52 weeks in a year.

Just sayin.. If you wanna play sensitive, and all. 😇
 
Such a gross exaggeration! There were multiple times when I went as long as TWO WHOLE WEEKS without an active ferment.

But....ummm.....there were also multiple times when I had 5 in primary at the same time.
@welshcookie ... this is the face of your doom.

This is my doom:

doom.jpg
 
No, I just wanted to be accurate. I actually think one per week is more benign and innocent than 5 at once.😅
It's true, actually. The thought of planning and making a wine per week vs me going out and picking dandelions. Then cleaning them up for the rest of the day. Then running to town for ingredients because the yellow lawn was all the inspiration it took to get me started. Then deciding to make different batches to experiment with flavors and techniques. Then sitting down and seeing a post about almond wine on WMT and noting I have all the ingredients, resulting in throwing it all into primary and cleaning up just in time to start a late dinner is certainly a more compulsive reality than respectfully creating a wine each week.

But, hey. That's just me.
 
Welcome!

How much are you planning to make?

I have already done the math for a single and 3 gallon batch, I can post the amounts to save you the trouble.
Thank you! I just saw your calculations and I appreciate it.
For the Dragons Blood I intend on making use of my spanking new 12ltr vessel, its going to be my 'summer drinking in the garden' wine (always optimistic for good weather!). I feel confident-ish.
Saying that, since I made my practice gallon of Mead following a US recipe, it pinged in my brain about 2am that there is a difference between a US gallon and a UK gallon...so my ratios may be a bit off there 😬 I guess that's what "practice" is all about, learning! I'm sure it will be OK...I mean, I'm not baking a cake. I lived in the US years ago and you'd think these facts would stick but I'm getting on in years 😂
 
That looks amazing🤣
It's even more amazing when you realize you need to scare up 300+ bottles to bottle what's in your carboys ... 🤣

As you've already figured out, this is a fun group, and we don't take ourselves too seriously, although we do take winemaking seriously.

If you have a question, post it. The only stupid question is the one you don't post.

Laugh if you want, but a year from now you'll be responding to newbies ....
 
Sauerkraut and Kimchi are the reasons I started to ferment! It's very expensive to buy the 'good stuff' here, I got tired of shelling out loads of cash and gave it a go and never looked back....I know I'll be the same with this venture too!
My wife also ferments those, as well as various Japanese pickles for sushi night.
 
Yes, she pickles her own ginger. But also other things like Japanese eggplant, daikon radish, carrots, etc. She'll take the bottled herring and pour off the juice and repack it the way she likes. She has about 150 cookbooks (serious ones, not this celebrity chef crap) and a reasonable percentage are Asian. She's always has something fermenting. She makes food, I make wine - seems to work out :)
 
She makes food, I make wine - seems to work out :)
They do go hand in hand.
serious ones, not this celebrity chef crap
🤣

I lose my mind every time I pull up a recipe with canned mushroom soup. 'Mushroom soup isn't an ingredient. It has ingredients!'

I am sure it has more impact if you see my passion in person. :cool:
 
They do go hand in hand.

🤣

I lose my mind every time I pull up a recipe with canned mushroom soup. 'Mushroom soup isn't an ingredient. It has ingredients!'

I am sure it has more impact if you see my passion in person. :cool:
Man, growing up in Michigan the first 'punch the clock' job I had was at a Mexican restaurant which used concentrated mushroom soup as the base for its chile verde sauce (one of two choices for what your enchiladas were dipped in). It actually tasted good, we added a ton of jalapenos and other spices to it, but it was weird. Then I went off to college and one of my roommate's signature dishes was 'beef stroganoff' which also included concentrated mushroom soup as an ingredient. Again, it was not terrible teamed up with cooked ground beef but yeah, it is not a real ingredient. Thanks for dredging up those memories!
 
She has about 150 cookbooks (serious ones, not this celebrity chef crap) and a reasonable percentage are Asian.
Most of my favorite cookbooks are 30-40 years old, pre celebrity chef. Though I do confess an interest in Alton Brown.

I lose my mind every time I pull up a recipe with canned mushroom soup. 'Mushroom soup isn't an ingredient. It has ingredients!'
Sometimes I walk the dark path of "convenience" and sometimes not. My first wife used a mortar and pestal for most dishes and every single one was a died-and-went-to-heaven experience.
 
Alton always seemed to be more food & cooking engineer than chef, at least on his shows.

Growing up we always used a lot of Cream of This soup. My wife showed me how making a sauce from scratch was easy and tasty. Main thing I detest in the commercial stuff is the impossible amounts of salt that they add. I love Kraft Mac n' Shells, but I finally looked at the salt content, scared me so bad I threw the other boxes away.
 
Alton always seemed to be more food & cooking engineer than chef, at least on his shows.

Growing up we always used a lot of Cream of This soup. My wife showed me how making a sauce from scratch was easy and tasty. Main thing I detest in the commercial stuff is the impossible amounts of salt that they add. I love Kraft Mac n' Shells, but I finally looked at the salt content, scared me so bad I threw the other boxes away.
Indeed, I had this same experience the other day with other Kraft products. Now I try to do most cooking from scratch. Am I always successful? No way, I have young kids who are picky, and time is sometimes crunched. But cooking from scratch is both more rewarding, and healthier.
 
I use canned cream of mushroom soup on pork chops and occasionally chicken. It's a dish I grew up on. It can't really be duplicated by making a sauce, probably because I won't use that much salt, as ratflinger notes. Sometimes I make a mushroom wine sauce for something more refreshing.

Last night I had no plans for dinner and my neighbor decided to pop over for a beer. Well, he still can't fly on one wing, so when he left at 6 O'clock the dinner suggestions were tuna casserole and other quick throw together's.

I found an interesting recipe making a mushroom sauce from scratch and using a tuna steak in the casserole. I didn't have any mushrooms, so I ended up pulling out a cheese sauce I had frozen, making mac and cheese, and searing a tuna steak. I served that with a bowl of greens, and tomato and avocado slices. It took slightly longer than a mushroom soup casserole, but It was far from the single amalgamated flavor of mushroom soup and canned tuna.

I'm not saying I am above it, just that it is not a single ingredient, and it does not lend to making something uniquely identifiable.
 
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