So now I have to make more . . .

Having just extolled the virtues of how cheap this hobby can be, I now have to admit that I am planning another run to DeFalco's this weekend to plunk down over $100 on more equipment. Well, see . . . it's like this. I would really like to make a bunch of brews in order to have some ready for bottling and giving out this coming holiday season. And I am moving, so I am trying to use up the food I have in my refridgerator and freezer (freezer cooking is great for this, it makes you only purchase what you will actually need for a given time period - mine time period is two weeks, payday to payday). This includes a TON of frozen fruits that an ex-roommate had bought saying that he would make us smoothies for breakfast every morning. Needless to say, I still have most of the fruit.

What better way to make use of it than to brew it??? *big grins* So here are my plans for my frozen bounty:

Peach and Grape Wine
Frozen Strawberry Wine
Cranberry Mead
Cherry Vanilla Mead - yup, that's right. I'm trying to make up my own recipe already

The wines won't be done in time for December bottling, but if I hop to it, the meads should be. So what I am planning on getting as far as equipment goes is a one gallon wine making kit plus extra primaries, secondaries and bags, as well as a copy of The Compleat Meadmaker and First Steps in Winemaking. I will also be getting a bunch of different yeast strains, plus additional additives if I don't get enough of what I need in the kit.

I can't wait. *grins*

Also, many home brewers tend to make up names for their "brewery", "meadery", or "winery", and make some great labels to go along with it. There are many who have said that while their product is wonderful, adding a good looking label not only means you don't have to wonder which brew you are drinking, but really enhances the experience - especially if these are to be given as gifts, as mine are. So, I have come up with my own name, and have some ideas for naming some of the brews I have planned. I am going to use the name "BellaDonna Brews" - after my two cats - yeah, Bella came with the name, but I did name Donna intentionally for a pun. And Brews is cuz I am not planning on making just wines or just meads. Not planning on making any beers at the moment, though. Think "brew" as in "Witch's".

For the peach, I am thinking of maybe calling it Potion of Immortality - I dunno. Kinda pretentious, but that is what the ancient Chinese thought of peaches. For the strawberry, I am thinking something like Royal Mark - you know that strawberry birthmark that always shows up in the last scene to prove that some pauper is really the prince. The cranberry mead is going to become Yule Mead - I just can't get the image of strings of cranberries on fir tree out of my head when I think about it. And the cherry vanilla mead? Nectar of the Goddesses, of course. Because I think Freyja would like some a little more refined. *grins* Either that or "Mahna Mahna".

Okay, time for me to go make lunch for the munchkin . . . . mahna mahna *grins*