Started on 7/23/25.
I’ve read some books by Gregg before.  Hoping it will be good!

Finished on 8/6/25.
Well this book is based on the true story of Shasta Groenig.
It’s sick.  It’s tough to read.  I didn’t love it.
Serial killer Edward Dunkin kidnapped 2 children after killing their family.

Amazon first read:  Started on 8/6/25 finished on 8/11/25

It was just OK.  Short story maybe 100 pages.  It didn’t really keep my interest very much.

Wolf, the son of a wealthy pod caster is a murderer.  He murders mom’s boyfriends.
Until the night he didn’t finish the murder and his mother called the cops.

Amazon First Read:

Started 6/21/25
Finished 7/6/25
5/10.  I didn’t like this book.  It was all over the place.  Chapters were long.  Characters were well written but the story line just drug on way to much.
Kit and Dianna.  Growing up together, both running cross country, both studying for the same course is school.  Kit does things the right way, Dianna not so much.  She reveals a secret to Kit that unravels Kit’s life for a long time.
They meet up again in the prestigious lab that Kit works in.  Stories come back to haunt and people end up dead.

I’m glad this one is done.  To much fluff and not enough story. 15 days.  5 out of 10.

6/9/25

1 Gallon Batch

64 oz Pineapple Juice
64 oz Great Value Apple Juice
1/2 packet QA23 Lalvin yeast

O.G. = 1.050 ~ 6.5%

Mixed and pitched

6/12/25 (Day 4)
S.G. = 1.000.  Tastes good.  Needs sweetening.  Pineapple comes through nicely.  This one won’t last long in the keg.

6/25/25 (Day 15)
Racked off lease and sweetened with 1 frozen apple juice concentrate and Erythritol.
Added 1/2 tsp tannin to increase mouth feel.
Racked into keg and set carbonation pressure to 20 lbs for a few days to carbonate.
7/7/25
Well I didn’t stabilize before sweetening with the apple juice so it’s still fermenting in the keg. I have to release pressure every day so it doesn’t build up to much.  I didn’t think about that when I added the frozen juice.
The flavor is still nice though from what little I’ve tasted.

8/12/25
Keg is almost gone.  It’s nice with a sweet finish.  It’s a little hot just due to the secondary fermentation.
I’ve already started another batch.  Next time I’ll not let it re-ferment though.

5/13/25 1 Gallon Batch
96 oz Just Black Cherry Juice
32 oz Just Tart Cherry Juice
64 oz Juicy Juice 100% Cherry
1 lbs Great Value Dark Sweet Cherries
2.2 lbs Eucalyptus Honey (from Marshalls)
Lalvin QA23 yeast
1 Tsp Fermaid-O

S.G. = 1.100 (About 12%)

Thawed Cherries.  Added all juices, Fermaid-O and yeast

5/16/25 1 tsp Fermaid-O

5/31/25 S.G. = 1.010

6/4/25
Racked off yeast and berries.
3/4 cup roasted cacao nibs (roasted for 10 min at 350)
Stabilized!

I split this batch in two.  1 Gallon had the nibs and 1 gallon had oak.

6/12/25

Oak flavor not ready yet.  Nib flavor coming through but tastes a little burnt.  It’s kind of thin so some tannin may help with mouth feel.
Needs back sweetened.

6/25/25
Left the oak batch alone.  It needs more time.
The chocolate was racked off nibs and I added honey to back sweeten to 1.038.
The chocolate is ready to bottle>

8/7/25
I combined both gallons.  They taste AMAZING together.  Sometimes you get chocolate and sometimes you get oak.
Bottled and labeled today.  I’d say that after combining the SG is 1.020 so it’s going to have some sweetness to it.

6/9/25 (Day 1)
2 Gallon batch
The goal of this one is a chocolate covered banana flavor.
5lbs frozen bananas that were very ripe going into the freezer.  Thaw them today in a clean bucket.
6 lbs honey
2 gallons tap water
1 packet Mangrove Jacks Mead yeast
1 full cup Cocoa nibs toasted
1 lbs honey for back sweetening.

6/10/25 (Day 2)
I could only get 1 3/4 gallon of water in the bucket with the thawed bananas.  I also added 2 cups of tea (2 black tea bags and 1 caramel bag) steeped for 5 minutes.
1 tsp Fermaid-O
O.G. = 1.110 (~ 13.3 ABV possible)  Mangrove jacks will go to 18% so not worried about the yeast.

6/12/25 (Day 4)
1 tsp Fermaid-O.  No gravity reading today.

7/1/25
Racked off bananas.  Stabilized.  1 cup nibs toasted at 400 for 10 minutes added.
S.G. = 1.000

7/22/25
Racked and back sweetened.  S.G. = 1.022
Let bulk age for a month.

8/7/25
Bottled this beast today.  The chocolate is really prevalent.  I hope it chills over time and the banana starts to come through a little more.

5/31/25
1 Gallon Recipe
1 lb Blackberries (Frozen and thawed)
3 lb honey
2 cups hot Earl Grey tea (2 tea bags in 2 cups of water)
71B Yeast
Mixed all ingredients.  Pitched yeast.
O.G. = 1.080 (~10%)

6/3/25
1 tsp Fermaid-O

6/25/25
Racked and stabilized today.  It’s thin so I added 1/2 tsp tannin.
S.G. = 1.000 or 10% ABV

7/22/25
1 cup black currant.  Back sweetened to 1.040.
Kegged and set to 20 lbs pressure.

8/7/25

This mead is really good.  It’s super sweet though.  Almost to sweet for me.
I’m drinking it though.