This is an Amazon First Read book.  Long time relationship with this author.  I’ve read a lot of his books.  I started this book on 2/4/24. Finished on 2/22/24.  19 Days.  I didn’t really care for this book.  It was long.  Characters were really well written but some of the chapters were really long.  I wouldn’t recommend.  Giving this book a 6/10

Benny, an always nice guy has his life turned upside down by a group of people because he is too nice.  Harper Harper (Yep that’s her name) and Spike (the craggle) is on his side and protects him.  He lived through some horrific things both in his adult life and his childhood.  It was just OK.

`1/5/24 (Day 1)
4 lbs fresh peaches from Rita Smith
1 tsp Fermaid-O
1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1/2 tsp Tannin
3.16 lbs Trader Joe’s Mesquite Honey
More than a gallon of spring water
S.G. = 1.072

1/6/24 (Day 2)
2 tsp DAP Nutrient

1/8/24 (Day 4)
1 tsp Fermaid-O

1/11/24 (Day 7)
S.G. = 1.000 (It’s DONE!)
2 lbs thawed fresh peaches in bag
1 Campden tablet

1/19/24 (Day 15)
Stirred peaches.  I think it may need some stuff added to secondary and clearing.
1/24/24 (Day 20) Stabilized
1/2 tsp Metabisulphite
1 tsp Potassium Sorbate
Racked into new bucket off the peaches.  Gonna cold crash for a few days.  May need more tannin and back sweetened. 9.5% ABV
2/12/24 (Day 39)
Racked into bucket.  S.G. = 1.000.  Back sweetened to 1.020 and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract.  Tastes good.  Gonna bottle in a few days.

2/16/24 (Day 43)
Bottled today.  It’s NICE!  Peachy and sweet.

First Mead of 24!!!!

1/4/24 (Day 1)
2 lbs Golden Lake Honey
1.95 lbs Maple Syrup from farmers market (Left some for back sweetening)
1/2 tsp Tannin
1/2 tsp Fermaid O
Lalvin QA23 Yeast (rehydrated in spring water)
Spring water
S.G. = 1.100 (13.3% if it goes dry)

So I originally had this in a glass carboy but the S.G. was way to high.  I moved to a fermenting bucket to add more water.  I’ve got over a gallon of must.  I pitched the yeast.  No other ingredients today.

1/6/24 (Day 3)
2 tsp DAP yeast nutrient

1/8/24 (Day 5)
1 tsp Fermaid-O

1/11/24 (Day 8)
1 tsp Fermaid-O
1 campden tablet
S.G. = 1.030

1/19/24 (Day 15) Stabilized
Well I messed up.  I racked into clean carboy and stabilized.  I thought we were further along.  I didn’t even take a gravity reading.  Shoot.  Well I got a completely full gallon and then racked 1 more bottle into swing top.  (That swing top is NOT stabilized!!!)  Shoot!

2/12/24 (Day 39)
Racked into bucket.  S.G. = 1.000
Back sweetened to 1.020 with rest of maple syrup.
1/8 tsp Acid Blend
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 cup French oak chips to mellow for 3 days
Flavor is bitter, but somehow still sweet.  It reminds me of a whiskey.

2/16/24 (Day 43)
Bottled today!!!  Still a bit “hot” and has a slight burnt rubber taste.  Gonna let it age for a year and see how it tastes.

10/16/23
MRM ~ Tatum’s Black Currant Masterpiece #5
1 Gallon batch recipe:
28 oz Rebina Black Currant concentrate
1 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp wine tannin
3 lbs plain white sugar
Lalvin RC212 yeast (16% tolerance)
Crystal Gyser water

Mixed all ingredients and topped to 1 gallon with water.  O.G. = 1.140 (potentially 18.8 if goes dry)
This is obviously NOT a mead.  It’s made with sugar instead of honey.  It’s technically a wine.  Just a nice experiment and we shall see how it turns out.
This is not the week we studied Art Tatum but we rated him pretty high so I wanted to do him some justice with this wine.

10/31/23 (16 days)
It’s fermenting nicely.  Not much activity in the airlock but a little.  Couple more weeks and I’ll open it up and taste it.  It’s clearing out OK though.

11/10/23 (26 days)

OMG I tasted this today and OMG!!!  It still has a lot of residual sugar but it feels good in the mouth and is sweet.  The black currant shines through nicely.  It’s not hot at all.  I didn’t take a gravity reading yet.

11/21/23 (37 days)
Um….I took a gravity reading today and it may have stalled.
I added:
1/2 packet 71B
1 tsp yeast nutrient.  S.G. = 1.108

12/1/23 (47 days)
It’s not fermenting at all.  I may try to add this to another gallon of mead or something to see if I can at least use it for something.  Still at 1.108 (yes 1.108)

12/22/23 (68 days)
I added more nutrient.  It’s still fermenting cause it’s down to 1.090.  This is just a very slow fermentation.  It may be June before I get to bottle this.

1/11/24 (a whole lotta days)
S.G. = 1.072
Sweet, good mouthfeel but not very tastey.
2/12/24 (Even more days)
Not good.  I actually dumped it.  There was NO saving this one.

Must be an Amazon First Read.  It’s not in Caliber library.  First time reading the author.  I just finished Mike Omer’s “Please Tell Me”.  Starting this book on 1/24/24.  2/4/24 and I finished the book.  12 Days

Rose, the troubled youth (but not really) is in love with one of her teachers.  She’s keeping a diary on the laptop that the teacher loaned her.  Rose loses the laptop and Emily finds it.  Emily publishes the diary as a book.  Rose poses as “Iris” to get the laptop back from Emily.  Rose is scared because she thinks she killed her teachers wife.  Did she?  Read the book and find out.

I liked the book, characters were well written.  I could totally picture Emily and how “crazy” she was.  Rose, I didn’t have a picture in my head of what she looked like, was well written.  I’m giving this book an 8/10.  Kendra is reading it now.

12/1/23 (Day 1)
4 lbs Frozen Strawberries
1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1/2 tsp Wine Tannin
1/2 tsp Acid Blend
10 grams Fermaid O
5 lbs Golden Lake Honey
2 tsp Bentonite clay
1 packet D47 yeast
O.G. = 1.080  10.6% ABV (possible if goes dry)
Mixed all ingredients.  It’s a little more than 2 gallons so that when racking I should get 2 full gallons.
(This is made BEFORE we listened to Schneider’s work, but I think she’s gonna be good and I think this mead is going to be good)

12/4/23 (Day 3)
I added 1 tsp Yeast energizer and stirred (with sanitized spoon).

12/28/23 (Day 27) Stabilized
1 oz oak chips
1 tsp Metabisulphite
1 tsp sorbate
1 campden tablet
Racked off strawberries
1 Tbsp Sparkolloid mixed with 1 cup boiling water and stirred
S.G. = 1.000

1/11/24 (Day 45)
Added 4 lbs thawed strawberries in a bag. Not much mouthfeel and not much strawberry flavor at all.  Hoping strawberries in secondary changes that.

1/19/24 (Day 53)
Stirred strawberries.  I think it’s read to rack and clear.
1/24/24 (Day 58)
Racked into new bucket.  Back sweetened to 1.030 with Lehua Honey.  Gonna cold crash outside for a couple of days.  10.6 ABV
Initial results: M: 8.5 K: 7
Labels created at work.  Will print at work.

1/27/24 (Day 61)
Labels printed and bottled today.  It’s really hazy and not even clearing in the bottle.  It’s sweet and tastes like a strawberry.