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I have an opportunity to buy raw milk and raw cream at the end of the week! How much should I get and what should I make?!

Shared on FB and on Twitter! If I win this, I can get my stuff into bottles so much quicker! If I don't, maybe I can convince Manthing that this is the best Christmas present he could get me!

I love elderberry so much! I'm thinking one month we need to organize a swap with some of our WOTM club entries.

@Stressbaby, that's some good info. If the yeast is superhappy, then maybe it'll go a couple of % points higher, but yeah, I don't see it hitting 17%. @Cheerfulheart, with the info Stressbaby gives, that's probably going to give you an ending SG of at least 1.02 (which is pretty sweet, but...

Stirring up a bunch of gunk always seems to make it clear quicker. Weird I know, but there it is. Something about binding the suspended matter quickly. If you have any bentonite, adding a little bit of that will make it clear super fast as well.

If you keep step feeding until your yeast hits it's max ABV tolerance and dies off, yes you will end up with a higher ABV mead that will need more time before the flavor smooths out enough to not taste like rocket fuel. I do this if I am making something I don't mind putting away for awhile...

It will probably taste much more like a straight mead and need a wee bit more time to age out until it tastes like something good. Most of mine are questionable until around 6 to 9 months, then shoot up into wonderful rather quickly. I don't think 1 cup of orange juice will add much flavor...

Do you have any berries, or access to any berries, fresh, frozen, or dried? You can whip up your own recipe fairly easily using @ 5lbs fresh fruit per pound for a fruit heavy taste. Or if you can get your hands on some dried elderberries, they are fantastic in mead as well. I personally...

One question...one of your pictures shows an outer fence, a space, then an inner fence. What's the space for?

Hi and welcome to the forum. I loved looking at those pictures. Please feel free to start a beekeeping thread somewhere to keep us updated on all your bee adventures. Manthing and I are planning on buying a house together next summer and I am hoping to begin beekeeping the spring after...

This month, I have a bunch of basil that I needed to use up before it turns too cold. Basil is ridiculously cold sensitive. I've frozen and dried a lot this year. A LOT. And I still have a plant that is going strong, so I wanted to incorporate it into a wildly experimental batch this month...

This informal “Club” is open to anyone who wants to join in. I am still adding names to the list and month is open til the last day. Feel free to join in at any time. All participants make a 1 gallon (or more) batch of wine. Try and think out of the box and come up with a unique and...

Just check the label carefully. As long as it looks like it is 100% honey with no corn syrup or other additives, you should be fine. My first batch of mead was made from Sam's Club honey and it was fine.

I think it probably would have been fine with the pineapple addition. My batch definitely needed something to add a bit of zing to it, hence the ginger addition. I do think that pineapple could possibly take the place of that same flavor profile, once you get past the sweetness of pineapple...

Thanks! I have to thank @WVMountaineerJack for the idea of adding oak. I never would have thought of that one on my own. I do definitely think it needed it and added something overall.

Cleaned this one up a bit so it was easier to read the recipe. 96 oz can of Vintner's Harvest Pear fruit base (rated to make 3-5 gallons) 1/2 gallon of Home Winery Pear concentrate (rated to make 5 gallons) 5 lbs frozen then thawed pears 12-15 lbs of wildflower honey water to 6 gallons 3 grams...

It finished at 1.012, so it's not overly sweet. I think it may be a combination of that and just the pear material that I used for the base. And yeah, I think those legs are dead sexy.

Got this one bottled today. It finished at 1.012. I added some ginger to it and oaked it a bit. Check out the legs in that second photo.

I don't see why not. It's a solid yeast, has a fairly high ABV potential, and works with a wide range of temperatures. I prefer it over EC-1118. I feel like the fermentation isn't quite as violent, I haven't noticed it producing as many funky smells, and it seems to better retain some of...