Updates

 Sometimes things in the fermenting business are quiet except for the sound of an air lock.  I have some ideas brewing in my mind, like a coffee stout.  For the moment all is quiet.  Last night I racked the concord wine for the second time.  I lost a lot of volume the last time I racked it because the amount of yeast sediment from the champagne yeast was so much.  If I placed the auto siphon the bottom of the carboy it was below the yeast cake.  I held on to the auto siphon to keep it above the yeast and it's clearing up nicely. It started out with a gravity of 1.100 and it is now 1.000; the champagne yeast is very aggressive.  I was told this would help with removing some of the musty flavors of the concord grapes.

  I wonder if blending the concord grapes with some frozen Welches grape juice might help with that as well.  I'm not sure I like using the champagne yeast but time will tell.  According to some things I've read from Jack Keller, a red wine like this needs to age 2 years in the bottle.  

 The dandelion wine has been in the bottle for a while now.  I did notice a tiny amount of sediment in one of the bottles yesterday, but it was very small compared to the first time I tried a dandelion wine.

 Now I'm looking at the sugar pumpkins I have and thinking about a pumpkin wine, maybe for next Thanksgiving.  Cheers to you.