The Scales Of Justice

Everything went fine with this last batch of wine, that's why it's been a while since you heard from me (plus I've been really busy).

I took a sample early last week to make sure it was good, and it is very good. It has a weird color, not red, not white, not pink, it's just weird; kind of a dark yellow I suppose is the best way to describe it. It is a bit cloudy, but not that it matters all that much. Who the heck cares what it looks like anyway?!

I took a bottle over to Les & Lori's today for a BBQ. It has a kick to it. More than any of the other batches I have made. So it at least has some alcohol. I don't think the second batch had much at all.

Anyway, I need to get it bottled. I don't think I'll start another batch right away. My sister-in-law is not going to use any of my wine for her wedding (which is in a week and half), so I have plenty of wine for several parties.


Useless tidbit of the day
The whites of your eyes are called the sclera.

All Broken Up

I finished bottling the rest of the wine. My sister-in-law wants to use some for the toast at her wedding in May. I'm extremely honored for her to pick my wine to use for her toast.

I also started a new batch today. Same thing as before (pomegranate). I know, I know; I said I wasn't going to do pomegranate again. Everyone likes it though, and it's almost good for you! Well, maybe not so much after I add the 12 lbs of sugar to it :) We can pretend that it's good for you though right?!

I did manage to get about 12 lbs of sugar in this time. I don't know exactly how much because I had a partial bag left over from before. I purchased two 4 lb bags of sugar, and about 1/2 of a 10 lb bag. So somewhere between 10 and 15 lbs of sugar is in this batch. I mixed the water/sugar heavy to get all that in. I didn't like doing it quite that thick because I'm a bit worried about the sugar settling on the bottom of the container. It's very difficult to shake up a 5 gallon glass container after it's full to try and do a "finish mix". I got it all in though.

Oh, I also didn't get to put a full gallon of pomegranate juice in because Target didn't have 4 quarts of it. So I improvised and put 3 quarts of pomegranate and 1 quart of pomegranate/blueberry/cranberry mix. I did the best I could; at least I kept some pomegranate in it. I'll keep you posted on how it works out.


Useless tidbit of the day
It took 20,000 people 22 years to build the Taj Mahal.

Roll Call

It's been a while, and close to the end of the year, so I thought I'd drop a line to let you know how things went.

I've been bottling a few bottles here and there, and so far the response has been positive on the taste. I'm going to try to get the rest of the wine bottled this week.

I've been asked a few times if I transferred the wine to another container and/or filtered it. The answer to both of those is NO. Everything I did (which isn't much) is documented here. I will say that the wine is just a tad cloudy from what my very first batch was (that batch had such a pretty color). Filtering might have cleared that up, but the stuff still tastes good :)

I'm going to try to get another batch started as soon after the new year as possible. I don't know what fruit I'm going to use yet, but I want to try something different than pomegranate this time. I might try some just plain old grape wine.


Useless tidbit Of the day
According to many psychologists, fingernail biting is a sign of stubbornness.

Sunday Funnies

I checked the wine yesterday, and the condom was laying over on it's side, so I think the wine is about done working. I'm going to give it at least 2 more weeks to make sure, but very soon we should have some fresh wine to drink.

Just over 3 months from start to finish, not too bad, and not a lot of work either. This is my kind of hobby :)


Useless tidbit of the day
Sharks are immune to every disease - including cancer.

Amazing Luck

The other day I pushed all the air out of the condom just to make sure it hadn't gotten stiff over time (like rubber tends to do), and to make sure it would re-inflate if the wine wasn't done cooking.

It worked like a charm. I checked the next day, and the condom was standing upright once again, so we're still cooking along like clockwork.

That's all I have for now!


Useless tidbit of the day
In 1920 Detroit became the first U.S. city to put in a stoplight.

Taking The Plunge

It seems that the bubbling has slowed considerably. The condom is still upright, so there's still pressure there, but the bubbles have slowed down a lot. I guess we'll be having wine sooner than I thought.

My thoughts are that I'll wait for the condom to go down completely, then wait at least 2 weeks before I start bottling the wine. No need to have the bottles start exploding after it's bottled. I have nothing but time for this, and there's no reason to rush it along.

Anyway, that's about all for now. I'll be on vacation next week, so no updates during that time.


Useless tidbit of the day
Egyptians used urine tests to diagnose pregnancy as early as the 14th century B.C.

The Bear Facts

Nothing much new to report, just checking in. Everything is going along just fine. Bubbles are still floating to the top, and the condom is still sticking straight up.


Useless tidbit of the day
Left alone, 1 ton of iron can turn into 3 tons of rust.

A Food Is Born

Nothing much new to report. Things are bubbling along nicely.


Useless tidbit of the day
Foggiest place on the U.S. west coast: Cape Disappointment, WA (107 days per year).

Seat Of Learning

At the urging of my lovely bride and some guests we had for supper last night, I thought I'd try my hand at making a blog instead of just a web page. So here goes.

The wine is still bubbling along just fine. It's not all that exciting to watch; watching paint dry might be a little less exciting, but not much. The condom is doing it's job, and the previous pic is pretty much still how it looks.

I probably won't post here much, maybe once a week to keep things updated. The exception to that will be if something exciting happens: the condom breaks, the glass jug busts, or I shower the basement with a sticky icky mess of unfermented wine.


Useless tidbit of the day
Edgar Allen Poe's The Murders In The Rue Morgue was the first detective story ever published.

Wordplay

Everything is coming along nicely. It seems that my small hole is working great. The condom is enough air, it automatically seeps out. I checked it last night and this morning, and this is what it looks like.



Nothing too spectacular really, but it's exciting to me that it's actually working. I've got a couple of extra condoms (purchased a 3 pack of non-lubricated) just in case this one actually does fail, so I'm ready with a backup. I'll be checking it daily just to make sure that everything is still intact. As long as it's cooking along nicely, I'm going to leave well enough alone.


Useless tidbit of the day
Medial note: mental patients suffer from far fewer headaches than the general public.

Uncle John's Almanac

Checked the wine before I went to work. Condom was REALLY full of air this morning. I let all the air out. I put a small hole in the towards the bottom of the condom so when it gets full enough it should automatically let the air seep out. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed today and hope for the best.

This pic was taken about 2 minutes after I let all the air out, so you can see that it's building pressure good, and rather quickly.












Useless tidbit of the day
Blood travels 60,000 miles a day as it circulates through the human body.

Tube Talk

Started the wine. I could only get 10lbs of sugar in for some reason (I probably needed to put at least 12lbs). I dissolved as much sugar in the water as I could, but in the end, only 10lbs made it in. Used 1 gallon of pomegranate juice that I got from Target.

I Did something a little different than last time. I put a condom over the jug instead of just putting a rag over the neck. We'll see how that works out. At least this way I'll know for sure when it's done fermenting.

Checked on the wine before I went to bed (curiosity mostly). The condom was already full of air, so at least it's working. Let the air out. Went to bed.

Useless tidbit of the day
If there are 10 books on a bookshelf, they can be arranged in 3,628,800 different ways.