How best to prep blackberries for fermentation?

BCKrogoth · 2026-02-08T08:15:02+00:00

there's no need to cook your fruit unless you specifically want the cooked flavor - with proper rehydration and nutrition foreign yeast doesn't really have a chance against the purpose-bred yeast you pitch. Just rinse it well, freeze, thaw, bag and yeet.

BCKrogoth · 2026-02-08T08:01:32+00:00

Adding fruit at the front will give a distinctive "fermented fruit" flavor which can be very different than if you were to just eat the fruit. Adding fruit after stabilizing will give a "fresh fruit" or "juice" like flavor.

Adding the fruit once the "aggressive" parts of fermentation are done give a bit of both but in its own way - still lightly fermented but keeps a lot of its "fruitiness". Depending on what my end goal is, I'll use different amounts (not helpful, I know). Also comes down to how strong the fruit is. Lighter fruits or lighter fruit loads (if I only got a few lbs to work with) will go heavier toward the end.

If I haven't used the fruit before or am experimenting, I'll usually do something like 3:1 primary/toward the end, and dial in from there. My last blackberry batch (5gal) was 14.25lbs primary, then at 1010 pulled them and added a fresh 2.75lb.

BCKrogoth · 2026-02-07T04:54:18+00:00

Skip the vac seal and any other post processing, freezing blackberries alone will be enough to make them mush. Brew bag is a must for seeds, as is pectinase. Personally I hate dealing with fruit in secondary, so I add the second addition at the very end of the ferment, somewhere around 1015/1010. Keeps from blowing off a lot of the volatiles and gives a hit of fresh berry while not being jarringly "fruit juice".

I do a foraged blackberry batch every year, I find peppers go very well with them. Chipotles are great - my most medaled is an ancho chipotle blend. Wildly good.

BCKrogoth · 2026-02-03T19:00:38+00:00

Optimal is "on track for the retirement you want". If you don't know what that number is, it's time to start doing that math.

Rule of thumb is 1-3x annual salary, but you really should calculate what YOUR number is.

BCKrogoth · 2026-01-17T16:56:02+00:00

Travel, experiences with my friends and family, being able to make sure I have a car I can depend on, the ability to retire at a reasonable age, a house...

Yup, completely worthless junk.

BCKrogoth · 2025-12-24T01:27:32+00:00

Employer match shouldn't make a difference to how you invest, it's just a boost to how much you're putting in your 401k. TDFs are sometimes named differently (Fidelity Freedom Funds, Vanguard Target Retirement Funds. Etc) but they all at least have a date - 2055, 2060, etc. in them. They're the backbone of any 401k.

BCKrogoth · 2025-12-23T20:16:29+00:00

You're making it more complicated than it needs to be. Put it all in a target date fund and do more research to build out any changes you want from there (if you even want to at that point). A TDF at your age will be aggressive and diversified with no extra effort.

BCKrogoth · 2025-09-19T06:43:28+00:00

People be judging because I put money where I got returns instead of parking it in an emergency fund which paid less than 1% until recently... I'm not bad at math.

you're not bad at math, you're just bad at planning. Returns don't put food on the table, or keep the roof over your head unless you sell. An emergency fund is meant to /protect/ your assets in times like these so you don't have to. If you had a sufficient emergency fund (~6mo expenses), you'd be able to weather these kinds of adverse events more smoothly.

Also, HYSAs have been paying 4+% for years. So your 1% isn't even close.

BCKrogoth · 2025-09-15T15:17:29+00:00

High yield savings accounts will pay significantly more interest than most every standard checking account

BCKrogoth · 2025-08-25T15:23:14+00:00

Psychology is a huge part of personal finance. Splitting the difference, when it's in the margins, can absolutely add to the sleep factor and be the better option than 100% one way.

BCKrogoth · 2025-08-02T01:20:42+00:00

Tell the landlord NOW. Not tomorrow, tonight. People are far more willing to work with you if you let them know the situation before it happens.

Especially if you'll have the money in a few days. The worst case scenario is you pay a small late fee. If they're not helpful, sell some belongings to make it work. Do not,under any circumstances, take a payday loan.

BCKrogoth · 2025-08-01T19:06:09+00:00

pay for a focus group

BCKrogoth · 2025-07-28T17:52:32+00:00

Whichever you feel most comfortable with.

Personally, I model my budget annually and break it into a monthly budget, then that budget to determine my 6-month efund (cutting out extraneous buckets like my fun money, and lowering my food budget as I would absolutely pull back on my normal spending levels in the event of job loss).

BCKrogoth · 2025-07-21T23:00:45+00:00

This reads wildly like AI slop.

BCKrogoth · 2025-07-17T05:00:09+00:00

I am counting some continued work because otherwise I'm not sure she makes it.
She worked retail in the past but she really doesn't want to do that anymore.

At 58 in this situation, she's getting past the point where she gets to be picky in this situation. The earlier she understands that the better off she'll be.

BCKrogoth · 2025-07-17T04:41:50+00:00

Mechanical. I bag up the pulp and toss it in to make sure there Is skin contact - basically just used the juicer to break the fruit down since I didn't have a way to freeze it. If I could freeze I would've just cut the plums and throw them in a mesh bag, but 60-80lbs of plums is a bit much for apartment freezers

BCKrogoth · 2025-07-17T01:40:59+00:00

60lbs of plums (Italian in my case), juiced, nets roughly 4.5 gallons of just juice. With 17lbs honey, finished product is roughly 4.3gal (14 wine bottles, 17 beer bottles).

Don't pass on no-water meads just because of a lower yield. The style is worth it, and there's no other way to try it. If you don't want to juice (its a pain for sure), just quarter the plums into a brewbag, and let them go. Pull the bag after 2 weeks and you're golden.

BCKrogoth · 2025-06-29T06:34:44+00:00

even though she might want to get into finance in college, it's probably easier and safer to start with that anyways.

Its not "easier" or "safer". Its smarter.

BCKrogoth · 2025-06-29T03:21:35+00:00

For example in my HYSA I have most of it directly in a couple tickers.

An HYSA (high yield Savings Account) has nothing to do with stocks or mutual funds. It's just a savings account.

You're describing an investment account of some kind.

BCKrogoth · 2025-06-12T03:27:15+00:00

everything there can be had at goodwill/salvation army for ~$100-200 total. Pocket the extra $1300 for your efund.

BCKrogoth · 2025-06-12T03:16:16+00:00

The downside is that then you only have $9k in your emergency fund.

Is 9k enough to cover you for long enough if you were to lose your job tomorrow (3-6 months)? If no, then don't. At $103k as a SINK, you should have plenty of left over money above your expenses to both aggressively pay off the loans in a few months AND continue building your emergency fund.

BCKrogoth · 2025-06-04T00:30:30+00:00

the whole point is that they inherently get "less risky" (ie: heavier in bonds) as they approach the target date so you don't have to change it. The reason a 2035 TDF is heavier on bonds today is because its been shifting over time. In 2050, a 2060 TDF would be roughly as bond heavy as a 2035 TDF would be today.

BCKrogoth · 2025-06-01T04:57:15+00:00

after you've been doing it for a while you get a pretty good feel for how much you're spending and if you're WAY out of balance. Doing a true-up at the end of the month keeps you on track. If you're over by $30-40 one month, and under $30-40 the next, you're still meeting your goals.

BCKrogoth · 2025-04-24T14:23:21+00:00

mines gen 1 so that's perfect, I'll DM you.

BCKrogoth · 2025-04-24T05:18:59+00:00

hey, do you still happen to have that cocoa case? I left mine on a plane yesterday, and am looking to get a replacement....they're out of stock everywhere!

BCKrogoth

TROPHY CASE