/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>339029
>5th year brewing

Nice. I'm closing in on my 5th year this January.

>72 gallon batch

Wow, is that all one container or more than one?

>>339026
>raisin date wine, and the other was blueberry wine.

Nice. I need to do a blueberry wine again.

>The freebies took the pressure and I was able to save them in time.

You are referring to the 1-gallon glass jugs? Are you sealing them off for carbonation purposes or was it just a freak accident?

>>339020
>Considering I've never tried it before, it went pretty well!

Great to hear! Congratulations! Now you'll never stop!

>The mead doesn't taste as good as the beer or wine I would buy from the liquor store, but its certainly drinkable, and makes a nice sangria.

Keep trying. The slightest thing can change it from one batch to the next. Even the ambient temperature of the room can do that. It makes things interesting and when there's a solid winner it makes it all the more special.

>a) rack once, and b)let it age a bit longer.

I normally rack as many times as I need to, until there's no more sediment falling out to the bottom. I may wait a month between rackings to let it do that. Although, racking too much without some argon or CO2 in the container can put too much oxygen into the brew. Aging with mead is extremely important. Always age it at least a year no matter what. Always save out one bottle and let it age a long time if you are so impatient that you need to drink all the rest in a short amount of time.

>wine
>Anybody recommend a good variety?

A real wine or a country wine? A real wine is one made with grapes and a country wine is made with everything else. How about a half and half? Cranberry and grape?

>>339003
I also second >>339005 midwestsupplies. I started out with one of their wine kits. Get one with all equipment and no ingredients.