What R you doing today?

[sour_grapes]

I took a much-needed dive into the winery. Racked 17 gallons of Washington state Merlot. Racked 6 gallons of Washington Sauv. Blanc. Racked a WE Reserve kit of Yakima Pinot Gris from primary to secondary. Racked 9 gallons of a "Bordeaux Blend" (Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Merlot) from Brehm buckets. I was a bit disappointed in the Merlot and the Sauv. Blanc, although it is too early to tell. I was pleased by the Brehm buckets.

 

[Darrell Hawley]

I bake bread year round but in the winter I venture into other baked goods. Chocolate cake with Kahlua buttercream frosting. Since it's from scratch and no preservatives it has to be eaten quickly, right?

For some odd reason the pants I wore in November never seem to fit in April.

View attachment 83997

How many licks does it take before the kitty has too much Kahlua ?

 

[crushday]

Do you ever vary the amount of free SO2 to correspond with the pH or do you feel the 50 ppm is a "sure shot" number that fits all? ...or are your wines consistently in the same pH range?

That's a very good question. The answer is yes, but I really treat the charts - and they vary depending on your source - as a "don't go below these FSO2 (free SO2) levels". For instance, a red wine with a pH of 3.7 would be protected at 40 FSO2 on the chart that I use.

The commercial limit for FS02 is somewhere in the order of 300-350ppm and is virtually undetected even at what seems like an enormous amount - meaning 300%+ higher than what is needed to preserve the wine. Some people get a headache from commercial red wine and this is the reason. It's the higher levels of FSO2.

By adding to 50, I'm generally going to be in the ballpark I need with lots of headroom.

 

[TurkeyHollow]

That's a very good question. The answer is yes, but I really treat the charts - and they vary depending on your source - as a "don't go below these FSO2 (free SO2) levels". For instance, a red wine with a pH of 3.7 would be protected at 40 FSO2 on the chart that I use.

The commercial limit for FS02 is somewhere in the order of 300-350ppm and is virtually undetected even at what seems like an enormous amount - meaning 300%+ higher than what is needed to preserve the wine. Some people get a headache from commercial red wine and this is the reason. It's the higher levels of FSO2.

By adding to 50, I'm generally going to be in the ballpark I need with lots of headroom.

By adding more FSO2 than the minimum, do you generally decant to off-gas some of that SO2? Sorry for all the questions - I usually just sit back and read what other ask (I find I learn more by listening than speaking).

 

[winemaker81]

Some people get a headache from commercial red wine and this is the reason. It's the higher levels of FSO2.

All the sources I find say SO2 is NOT a source of headaches -- high levels may cause respiratory problems, but not headaches. The typical cause is histimines.

By adding more FSO2 than the minimum, do you generally decant to off-gas some of that SO2? Sorry for all the questions - I usually just sit back and read what other ask (I find I learn more by listening than speaking).

Nope. At the levels we are discussing, the SO2 is undetectable by normal humans. Given what is allowed in the food industry, the levels we're talking about are also very low.

 

[TurkeyHollow]

All the sources I find say SO2 is NOT a source of headaches -- high levels may cause respiratory problems, but not headaches. The typical cause is histimines.


Nope. At the levels we are discussing, the SO2 is undetectable by normal humans. Given what is allowed in the food industry, the levels we're talking about are also very low.

I wasn't really going to get into the source of headaches since that may be too controversial for a forum like this. I guess there's more SO2 in raisins than most heavily dosed commercial wines. I always leaned toward dosing toward the minimum end of the tolerance and keeping the pH toward the lower end as well. I have a few wines I'm aging long term but most I look to be consumed within around (4) years. I'm always questioning my own choices and like to compare to those like @crushday (and MANY others) who I believe have more knowledge on the subject. BTW - thanks to ALL!

 

[Jan]

Looking for D - 39

 

[Mcjeff]

Finished Greenhouse… iCloud (click the iCloud link)

Crushday. You said assembling..was this a kit? Looks very nice. The wife and I have talked about putting in a greenhouse, just curious about yours.

 

[BigDaveK]

How many licks does it take before the kitty has too much Kahlua ?

Well, I think that's kind of subjective. One cat's too much might be another cat's not enough!

 

[crushday]

Crushday. You said assembling..was this a kit? Looks very nice. The wife and I have talked about putting in a greenhouse, just curious about yours.

Yes, it’s a semi custom kit - you pick a style and accessories and they build to order. I ordered it in April 2021 and it was delivered in pieces the Wednesday before thanksgiving. We also had the chore of sealing each piece for waterproofing between the rain storms that plague our region every fall and winter. We’ve had 80 inches of rain since November - thus the rented dry box. I ordered the greenhouse from sturdi-built in Portland, Oregon. They are one of the best in the industry if you want wood, which we did.

 

[mikewatkins727]

Looking for D - 39

What laboratory produces this yeast?

 

[winemaker81]

This wasn't today -- it was 7 years ago today. I spotted a post in Facebook memories, and decided it was worth re-posting.

A "professional" is someone who gets paid to do a job. It doesn't mean they know what they are doing. ALWAYS check references!

...



Ya know how people often say, "get a professional to do that. Don't do it yourself."?

The ceiling fan in our living room stopped working. It's 20 years old so we figured the light kit was dead, but I decided to check the switch. The electrician who did our house proved to be less than diligent, and I've had to fix a lot of loose wires over the years.

I shut off the power, pulled it out of the box, and found this. It's broken, badly cracked, and the wires were loose. From the look of it this is nothing recent, it was broken when it was put together.

A professional electrician did this. I have a hard time believing this has been like this for 20 years. I knew the guy was slack ... but this takes the cake.

Now I'm opening up every outlet/switch in the house and checking them. Had to replace some items already as wires were not tight and the parts used were the cheapest possible.

 

[jswordy]

This wasn't today -- it was 7 years ago today. I spotted a post in Facebook memories, and decided it was worth re-posting.

A "professional" is someone who gets paid to do a job. It doesn't mean they know what they are doing. ALWAYS check references!

...

View attachment 84058

Ya know how people often say, "get a professional to do that. Don't do it yourself."?

The ceiling fan in our living room stopped working. It's 20 years old so we figured the light kit was dead, but I decided to check the switch. The electrician who did our house proved to be less than diligent, and I've had to fix a lot of loose wires over the years.

I shut off the power, pulled it out of the box, and found this. It's broken, badly cracked, and the wires were loose. From the look of it this is nothing recent, it was broken when it was put together.

A professional electrician did this. I have a hard time believing this has been like this for 20 years. I knew the guy was slack ... but this takes the cake.

Now I'm opening up every outlet/switch in the house and checking them. Had to replace some items already as wires were not tight and the parts used were the cheapest possible.

Electrical stuff always works best before you let the smoke out. People forget that "professional" literally means ONE THING: someone getting paid to do something. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with skill level. I know about the trades by doing, and the number of times I have had to stop professionals working on my place and tell them that is not acceptable work is not insignificant.

 

[winemaker81]

I know about the trades by doing, and the number of times I have had to stop professionals working on my place and tell them that is not acceptable work is not insignificant.

Overall, I've had good luck working with competent tradesmen, but as I said, check references. The guy who wired our addition and the HVAC guy were fantastic.

I framed, insulated, wired, plumbed, and walled our basement, and installed the drop ceiling. It's amazing what we can learn to do if we try! [It doesn't hurt to have friends and know how to look things up!]

 

[jswordy]

Overall, I've had good luck working with competent tradesmen, but as I said, check references. The guy who wired our addition and the HVAC guy were fantastic.

I framed, insulated, wired, plumbed, and walled our basement, and installed the drop ceiling. It's amazing what we can learn to do if we try! [It doesn't hurt to have friends and know how to look things up!]

Around here, "good enough" rules. SMH, I have stories.

 

[cmason1957]

For what it is worth and merely looking at the picture you posted. It is possible it was fine when the electrician pushed it all into the box and the plastic broke at that time or it had a hairline, hard to see crack. It sort of looks like the switch itself was fine. But I understand the pulling all others out and inspecting. I would do the same.

 

[winemaker81]

For what it is worth and merely looking at the picture you posted. It is possible it was fine when the electrician pushed it all into the box and the plastic broke at that time or it had a hairline, hard to see crack. It sort of looks like the switch itself was fine. But I understand the pulling all others out and inspecting. I would do the same.

I considered this, as the contractor used the cheapest possible components. However, it's a 3 gang box, lots of room and not a lot of wires. There was no need to push hard.

One of the overhead boxes in my crawl space was so over stuffed that I have no idea how he got the cover on. I have opened every box in the house ....

 

[winemaker81]

I rebuilt my 8 yo PC tonight. A couple weeks ago I discovered that only half the RAM (memory) was working, and my first attempt to fix it failed. I thought it over, it's not worth putting money into an ancient PC, even though it's been fine for my needs. At this age, it's more likely to be a money pit. So I decided to replace the necessary components.

This gets technical, so if anyone non-technical is experiencing insomnia, keep reading ...

I purchased a new motherboard, CPU, memory, and hard drive (M.2 and SSD).



I was surprised how heavy the motherboard is, it's twice the weight of the old one.

Putting the CPU, cooling fan, RAM, and M.2 harddrive on the motherboard was easy, as was installing it in the case. It took a LOT longer to do the research to figure out what I want and what I can afford (I had to justify to the budget director, AKA Mrs WM81).

There's a bunch of small connectors for the power switch, reset switch, front audio, etc ... a real PITA to install, especially as the connectors are an old style so I had to translate the instructions to figure out what went where. The eyes are not quite what they were, but with the aid of a 3 AAA battery LED flashlight (this one is so powerful it turns vampires to ash instantly), I figured it out.



I thought the cooling fan for the old motherboard was big ... this one is on steroids!!!



Windows 10 is installing (current version is really easy) so next I get to install software ....

All of this explains why I don't build a new PC all that often.

 

[ChuckD]

Show off .

I can wire the house but if I cracked open my PC it It would be like the models in Zoolander . I am a computer user. What goes on inside the box is only one step removed from magic.

 

[BigDaveK]

All of this explains why I don't build a new PC all that often.

Ah, brings back memories of late nights, reading manuals, setting DIP switches, 5 1/4" floppies.