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I didn't know that about onions! I fry the shoots like asparagus, in a cast iron with butter and salt and pepper. 2-3 mins a side. At a certain point they get too bitter for my taste so I compost them. My bines are around 8 feet tall now. Zone 5b but with global warming I feel like it might be 6...

The theory is that mast (fruit and nuts) abundance leads to population explosions of both mice and deer (and others I presume) who are excellent tick hosts. Ticks like to wait on tall grass for something warm blooded to brush by. I have a few hop plants and like their cousin marijuana, they...

Supposedly a really bad year for what it is worth. Last year was mild tick-wise. The year before terrible. May have something to do with acorn production and subsequent host population explosion, though typically not in that calendar year. Also encourage possum habitat (kind of a joke but not...

I have a Breville burr grinder, not the best but more than up to my needs. Better yet the Aeropress fits under the spout perfectly! Can't say enough about the Aeropress for a one cupper. Also have the Hario manual grinder that works great but was really surprised by the amount of work involved...

I don't have an educated opinion to counter with but from a distance the various leagues don't seem to be on an equal footing. If I were a PSG or a Juve I would be interested in a bigger money more eyeballs scenario. At the moment this doesn't seem to be true for atleast the top half of the...

Sorry bout the late reply. I bottled my first sparkling rhubarb quite recently. I left it in the carboy (well re-racked a few times) until just over 5 months. This has been my strategy for bottling cider. The idea is that you bottle before 6 months and there will hopefully be enough residual...

Hi Steve, Im no expert but 2 weeks or a bit earlier is a good ball park. I always recommend filling one plastic bottle so you can feel when its hard, carbed and ready to go. The idea is to NOT have to refrigerate unless you have added too much sugar when bottling. People say you have to...

To be clear I don't boil my must but do add boiled sugar water to the fruit. I was led to believe that boiling was good practice for sanitation when using tap water but bow to those with more experience if this is an unnecessary step when also using k meta (which I also always add to my frozen...

Hey Bernard I really appreciate your opinions and ruminations on the art of wine making. I think the idea of hot water being added to the fruit has been promoted as a way to set the colour (Terry Garey) and maybe additionally a means to get the must to a good temp for the yeast. For me...

Welcome to the forum! Two steps you missed, that are not necessary but helpful, are to added a campden tablet per gallon of fruit and before that to add pectic enzyme to help clear the haze. I have never done strawberries and everything I have read is that they are a little more difficult than...

Another dumb suggestion. Add a teaspoon of sugar to the carboy and watch the activity for a week or two before you bottle.

I have an old cider from the end of september that I haven't bottled yet.

6 inches from the opening is bad for long term storage with wine. Get a 5 gallon carboy and maybe an extra little bottle with an airlock for a future racking.

I agree with the too much headspace comment! My cider this year had a slight pellicle which I sprinkled with metabisulfate tho not really sure yet if that helped!

Without more info it's hard to give advice. However, things are likely just fine and you should still have some residual sulfite in your wine. A lot of natural wine makers use no sulfite additions. You might not want to age it too long to be safe. Skoal?!

Yeah kinda looks like a pellicle. I used a small amount of campden when i racked.

So it has been a while since posting this thread. The perry looks and tastes ok. It's a little cloudy and the taste is thin. My biggest problem is that it only fermented to 1.010ish. I did have some minor mould issues and used campden tabs sparingly because I intend to bottle carb. I bottled a...

This is my fourth year making cider. Every year has seen some improvements. All have aged for 4 months in a carboy, I would age longer if I wasn't bottle carbing. Cheers.

Honestly regular sugar is best and cheapest. Smallest amount of water is best too. Pour it in hot the higher temp will help the yeast get going faster.

Hey goose it's pretty simple but you are probably going to have to add a lot of sugar. You want to test with your hydrometer and get to 1080 - 1090. I usually boil chlorine free water and add sugar, mix and then add to juice. You can also add pectic enzyme to help clear it but really the biggest...