[Emerald]

I make my own wines and most of them are aging in the one gallon glass jugs cuz I don't have enuf wine bottles at the moment. But lucky for me I do have about 8 empty gallon jugs that I can rack my nearly finished wines into so that I can start over again... But I am down to only one packet of good yeast.. Most folks use on whole pack for one gallon of wine but me I have learned to take just a bit of the juice(or fruit) and start some yeast in a smaller amount and when it takes off I then can dump it into the bigger amount of juice/fruit. I can make several gallons of wine with only one tiny packet... Now to learn how to "wash" my lees and get the yeast back out... You can start wine with the left overs of the first batch and you can do that a few times before any bad yeasts start to take over.
One good side product of wine is also vinegar... I have made my own vinegar but it was only just Okay-I needed to take better care of it and it molded on me before it turned all the way...

 

[Emerald]

Emerald, you are so cool! I've learned so much from you!

I bet a person could drop in at a bar or other place that serves wine and liquor, especially toward the end of the evening, and ask for empties? At least I'm pretty sure our local friendly tavern/restaurant/community-gathering-place bar would. You know, if you need some bottles right now.

I've never made wine but it sounds like something I could and should learn. I like the idea of being able to make vinegar too.

Do you use regular baking yeast? I've heard of "champagne yeast", like for making root beer. I wasn't able to find any back when we were going to try to make root beer. I bought the root beer extract and that's where it stopped.

I've thought about checking one of the big wedding venue places here to see if they would save the champagne bottles and wine bottles but the gas prices are a bit too steep to run and get them every Sunday. I don't mind the gallon jugs but that is a bit of drinking to do at one sitting so most of the time I only take it to big family events.. My wine tends to be a tad "high octane" too... gotta work on that... lol. I buy a couple different types of wine yeasts.. one is a champagne type. one of the ones I like the best makes a high alcohol content yet also retains a really nice fruity/floral flavor. Lavlin LC-1118. I want to start brewing beer this year as I am getting quite a few hops on my bines.
I heard that bread yeasts do better with beers if you run out of other yeasts. as most beer is yeasty anyhoo.

 

[Emerald]

I'm with Turtle with one addition. 190 proof Everclear. Kind of a catch-all booze and can also be used as an antiseptic.

It would be good for making tinctures of good medicinal herbs too. Plus if you put a bit in home made wines it would fortify them and make them last longer without using sulfites.

 

[Emerald]

On the subject of coffee -beans will hold their flavor much better than pre-ground coffee-Just last year I found a small mason jar of vacuum packed coffee beans that I had been given as a gift for the holidays and it was marked from 07'. The vacuum had held and we ground and drank the coffee and it turned out really nice considering the age of the beans. But that was the longest that I've ever held coffee cuz normally we drink it too fast.. But it was really good coffee from Hawaii that my Mother got us.. So if possible start out with the good stuff-cuz cheap coffee is still gonna just be ok.
I also have loose tea that has been vacpacked in small amounts and I've opened them and they taste fine too. It is very strong English tea.. that way I can use smaller amounts mixed with the mints and herbs from my garden to make it last longer.

 

[Emerald]

On the last Doomsday preppers the one fella was buying large quantities of alcohol and mentioned ON TV that he was going to use it for barter.. Many states will consider this to be "reselling" and if you don't have a liqueur license it can really put the hurt on ya AFT will come a knocking! .. just wondering if anyone else thought about that episode?

 

[Emerald]

I think shows like "Dommsday Preppers" and Moonshiners"....et al are all pure BS.

Well Doh' of course they are out there for ratings but these are real folks who are being screwed by nat geo..
please remember to read both threads here about the doomsday preppers and the fact that two of them are members here and have responded to our threads..

 

[Emerald]

I think it's not smart to show your preps on TV. Most of these people are actors anyway.....IF you want to be on TV and you get busted (like one of them just did!) then you get what you asked for when crawling into bed with the Liberal media.

These people are not actors. and it is totally apparent that you did not bother to read any of what is written here and other interviews with these folks.. Must suck to have to live like that.. all that paranoia and negativity.