New from East Berlin....PA

[ceeaton]

Hello all. All Grain brewer since 1990 recently bitten by the Wine making bug. Made a Niagara/raspberry in November for my wife, shouldn't of done it because I'm now making more wine than beer. Had to move a few batches around yesterday just to free up a carboy for a bitter I just made. I used to have several empty carboys, not anymore. Actually had to buy a few.

Just fired up the computer today to look for a Cranberry w/white grape base recipe, which I know I'll find so many that it will be hard to decide which one to do! I love the information you'all share on this forum and am happy to be a new member.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[Bergmann]

Welcome, From another Pa wine maker

 

[Runningwolf]

Welcome aboard, PA rocks here.

 

[bkisel]

[Copied and pasted from "New from PA" thread.]

Welcome to the forum!

Wife and I are planning to put our house here in CT up for sale (April?) and move to the Mansfield area of PA where we have family on my wife's side. Besides getting to PA to see family around Mansfield and Williamsport I get to PA 4-6 times a year to hunt (deer and turkey) my brother's property near Burnt Cabins in Fulton county.

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT, Craig. Sounds like you are way, and have a great head start from brewing, to boot!

 

[Julie]

Hi Craig,

welcome to winemakingtalk

 

[vernsgal]

Welcome to the forum Craig!

 

[heatherd]

Welcome!

There is a recipe section of this forum. You can also find a lot of recipes on Jack Keller's website.

Heather

 

[ceeaton]

[Copied and pasted from "New from PA" thread.]

Welcome to the forum!

Wife and I are planning to put our house here in CT up for sale (April?) and move to the Mansfield area of PA where we have family on my wife's side. Besides getting to PA to see family around Mansfield and Williamsport I get to PA 4-6 times a year to hunt (deer and turkey) my brother's property near Burnt Cabins in Fulton county.

Bill,

Great place to live. My Grandparents/Great Aunts & Uncles etc. were from the Wellsboro area. My Grandmother was born in Morris, just South of Wellsboro. The family (Great Aunts and Uncles) owned a dairy farm before I was born (Eaton-Croft Dairy & Creamery). We still have a cabin on Pine Creek near Ansonia. I just love that area, so beautiful. If I can talk my wife into it I'd love to retire there. Winters can be brutal but that is what good wine and a fireplace are for!

Craig

 

[ceeaton]

Welcome!

There is a recipe section of this forum. You can also find a lot of recipes on Jack Keller's website.

Heather

Thanks Heather. I love combing through the recipes here. Lot's of great ideas.

I've been on Jack's site. That's where I got my first recipe for the white grape/raspberry wine I just bottled today. Could use some more body, but my wife loves it (had a few glasses left in the carboy after bottling; stuck them in a pitcher and we've been enjoying all evening; even got her to stop studying (she's trying to get a BS so she can be a RN, and I can retire early)).

I've since learned to use 3 or 4 containers of concentrate per gallon and some added fruit in a bag so I don't need a huge F-pack for flavor after fermentation.

Craig

 

[bkisel]

Bill,

Great place to live. My Grandparents/Great Aunts & Uncles etc. were from the Wellsboro area. My Grandmother was born in Morris, just South of Wellsboro. The family (Great Aunts and Uncles) owned a dairy farm before I was born (Eaton-Croft Dairy & Creamery). We still have a cabin on Pine Creek near Ansonia. I just love that area, so beautiful. If I can talk my wife into it I'd love to retire there. Winters can be brutal but that is what good wine and a fireplace are for!

Craig

Temps are not to different then here in CT once you get inland. Most winters that area gets less snow than here. CT will often get hit with winter nor'easters. We'll be looking for a tighter home than what we now have whether we build new or buy old. I'd make a move to warmer area but wife wouldn't unless there were family there.

 

[ceeaton]

Temps are not to different then here in CT once you get inland. Most winters that area gets less snow than here. CT will often get hit with winter nor'easters. We'll be looking for a tighter home than what we now have whether we build new or buy old. I'd make a move to warmer area but wife wouldn't unless there were family there.

Bill, the cost of living in Mansfield should be far less than were you are now. Should free up some resources for more batches of wine. I don't blame you for wanting to move after the winter you've appeared to have this year. Every time I look at the forecast, you are getting another N'oreaster.

 

[bkisel]

Bill, the cost of living in Mansfield should be far less than were you are now. Should free up some resources for more batches of wine. I don't blame you for wanting to move after the winter you've appeared to have this year. Every time I look at the forecast, you are getting another N'oreaster.

CT is a beautiful State in many respects but it is a tough one to retire to with a fixed income. A quick estimate has us saving somewhere between 4-6K a year in state and local taxes. There are likely a few things that will cost more in the Mansfield area of PA, as compared to where we now live in CT, but not many.

 

[ceeaton]

Bill, hope you do get the opportunity to retire in Mansfield. At some point you would be close enough that we could get together and enjoy each others company and a few wines/beers. Hopefully, through the great information on this site, I will make wines as good as the beers I've been able to make. That's if you like a good English bitter or pale ale... The cabin has a porch that overlooks the creek with a number of rocking chairs that are hard to leave once in them, other than to get another beer or glass of wine.

Cheers,
Craig