OK, I found a winemaking/beer brewing place right near my house! The salesperson was very helpful; he, too, is interested in permaculture, and he remembered the line from the movie "The Martian": "I'm going to have to science the sh*t out of this." He, of course, had his own recommendations for yeast; he recommended Lalvin 1122 or 1116, which I bought, along with more dried elderberries, four one-gallon jugs, and various and sundry other items. When I got home, I realized that the yeast that had been sent with my kit wasn't some random yeast but was Montrachet. He was meh about adding chopped raisins to the dried berries. Now that I have a total of five one-gallon jugs, I am thinking about the following: two jugs with Montrachet and dried berries, one with and one without raisins; two jugs with 1116 (recommended for berry wines and concentrates, according to the Kraus catalog), one with and one without raisins; one jug with 1122 or 1116 and the canned concentrate. Interestingly, the recipe in the C.J.J. Berry book (how's that for a pseudonym!) that came with my kit calls for the addition of cooking liquid from green beans to the fermentation. I don't think I want to try that now; maybe in the future. Hopefully, in one year, when my shrubs are heavy with berries, I will have hit upon a good recipe. My husband is willingly giving up a table in the man cave and is thinking about installing a potboiler faucet connected to a water filter; he was so impressed with the prices that he may buy a grape wine kit. I am looking forward to the long rainy weekend; I need to make more kombucha, set up the Wine Experiment, and knit stuff.
