Making Wines From Grape Concentrate - 2

The first step in making wine from a grape concentrate, or any other fruit concentrate, is to gather your materials. For a one gallon batch of wine you will need twenty four ounces of grape concentrate, one pound of sugar, one tablespoon of wine yeast and about a gallon of water.

In addition to the ingredients you will need the following supplies. A plastic or glass bowl or other container safe for food products which will hold more than one gallon. A plastic or glass funnel. An eight or twelve ounce drinking glass, a one gallon glass or food rated plastic jug, a bit of plastic wrap and a rubber band. Save the cap from the jug for use later. If you use a vinegar jug to make the wine from concentrate in, make sure it is rinsed very, very well.

Once you have these materials on hand, make up a yeast starter. Dissolve one tablespoon of sugar in the drinking glass filled with warm water. Make sure the water is just lukewarm, and not hot. Now pour the wine yeast into the glass and cover with a paper towel secured with a rubber band. Place this glass in a warm spot for a few hours. After the yeast has begun fermenting you will see a white foam on top of the water. Now you are ready to make your grape concentrate wine. Back to Home Wine Making © 2011 THC Toys, Hobbies and Crafts

Making Wines From Grape Concentrate

Drinking wine is a very pleasurable experience, and making the wine you drink can be even more enjoyable. After a long hiatus from this wonderful hobby, I recently began making wine again. Since I started in January, finding grapes to make wine with, I opted to make wine using a frozen grape concentrate. Since wine grape concentrates are not readily available locally, I decided to use frozen Concord grape juice concentrate from the grocers freezer display.

I have done this before, but it has been a long, long time. The wine made using this procedure is quite acceptable for a vin ordinaire. Making wine from concentrate is a pretty easy process, and you don't need a lot of fancy equipment. The next several entries will cover this fun little project in detail. When finished, you will be able to make wine from grape, or any other fruit juice concentrate, quickly and easily.

Coin Collecting - American Eagle Silver Dollar

The United States Mint has announced that American Eagle Silver uncirculated coins are available to buy on their web site. The coins have the "W" mint mark, testimony to their striking at the West Point mint. The American Eagle Silver Dollar coin is billed as the collector's version of the bullion version of this silver dollar and has a similar finish. The 2008 American Eagle One Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin's official beginning sales date is March 17, 2008 and any orders placed before that time will not be honored. You may buy this new coin issue at the United States Mint web site. © 2011 THC Toys, Hobbies and Crafts Back to Coin Collecting

Kite History - World War 2

As late as World War II, kites had a role to play in warfare. Sauls' Barrage Kite was a sort of double box kite which was a strong, stable flying kite. A man named Harry Sauls designed the kite to be used to fly advertising banners over tourist areas. The kite found a use during World War 2 as a means of protecting merchant ships from enemy airplane attacks. A wire, similar to piano wire, was used to hold the kite aloft over the ship. The wire was invisible to enemy warplanes and was strong enough to destroy the prop or cut off a wing. Strategically placed, these kites deterred enemy dive bomber attacks. In addition, explosives or bombs were attached to the wires to further deter attack.

Lieutenant Commander Paul E. Garber served on the aircraft carrier USS Block Island during World War 2. An avid kite flyer, he watched as the carriers gunnery crews practiced target shooting using clouds as targets. He decided to find a better method, so he built a kite and threw the gauntlet down to the gun crews. Hit the kite, was the challenge. The gunnery crews found this to be a difficult task. The ships captain, seeing the improvement in the accuracy of the gun crews shooting, ordered Garber to build more kites for target practice. He eventually came up with a design which allowed him to mimic an airplane's movements as it approached the ship. It became standard practice for gun crews to use kites to practice and much credit is given to the target kites saving many ships due to the gunnery crews improved accuracy.

Another device used during the war was called the Gibson Girl. It consisted of a box kite, antennae, and hand crank radio. It was packed in with life rafts, to be used in an emergency. The kite both acted as a beacon to signal rescue aircraft to the location of the raft, and as a support for the antennae. The hand cranked radio, of course, was used to signal rescuers. Back To All About Kites History of Flight and Avaition © 2012 Hobby Hobnob

History of Kites - World War I

During World War I, kites were used for various military purposes. The French assembled a kite corps which consisted of a trailer, car and a motor driven winch which was used for observation. Kites were used by infantry divisions of all the combatants to observe enemy positions. When the airplane came into general use, these divisions were disbanded.

The kite continued to be useful at sea. Germany devised a box kite which would fit in a U Boat to be used at sea. An observer elevated on a kite to an altitude of 400 feet can see almost 250 miles over open ocean. Similar systems were used on sea going warships of other nations.

Back To All About Kites History of Flight and Avaition

© 2012 Hobby Hobnob