Winemaker's Academy

Welcome

Jim Stevens — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 01:12:43 +0000

At Winemakers Academy our Goal is to help you learn to make a better bottle of wine no matter where you are on your wine making journey. Everyone is welcome no matter what your experience level. Our group includes everyone from new beginners to professional winery and vineyard owners. To learn more about wine making …

Continue reading "Welcome"

3 x 3 in 3 Kit Wine Making by William Forsch

admin — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 23:55:48 +0000

Winemaker’s Academy is built on members helping each other make a better bottle of wine. One of our members provided a very helpful presentation for the beginning kit wine maker. As the title states you only need a 3′ x 3′ space and 3 hours of time to start your wine making experience. Bill has …

Continue reading "3 x 3 in 3 Kit Wine Making by William Forsch"

Vacuum System for Home Winemaking

admin — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 23:07:04 +0000

A vacuum system for amateur home winemaking David W. Vehar There are a number of pre-built vacuum systems available for the home winemaker, and there is no reason to disparage any of these. However, during my 40-year career as an engineer making equipment work in a laboratory, I have found it considerably more satisfying to …

Continue reading "Vacuum System for Home Winemaking"

Choosing a Wine Kit – Part 2

admin — Sat, 25 Jun 2016 00:14:39 +0000

Winexpert kits from smallest to largest. Each kit makes 6 gal. of wine In part one of this article (Choosing a Wine Kit – Part 1 Overview) we discussed the characteristics that differentiate one size/price range of kit from another. In part two we are going to look at how each of the product …

Continue reading "Choosing a Wine Kit – Part 2"

When and How Often Should I Degas My Wine?

admin — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 16:35:58 +0000

This is a seemingly straight forward question I get asked quite often. The answer, however, depends a lot on your wine making methods and what tools you use to degas. I recommend degassing a wine only once. It’s a lot of work, especially if you use the agitation method (with a drill attachment), and there’s …

Continue reading "When and How Often Should I Degas My Wine?"

Choosing a Wine Kit – Part 1 Overview

admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 16:59:45 +0000

Selecting a wine kit can be a little daunting especially if it’s you’re first one. A lot of factors come into play including the type of wine, cost, kit complexity, processing time, minimum aging time and feedback from other kit winemakers. In this two-part series I’ll try to demystify the process. In this first article …

Continue reading "Choosing a Wine Kit – Part 1 Overview"

Questions on Wine Fermentation & More – WMA039

admin — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 16:50:40 +0000

[ Podcast not currently available. Podcast content has been lost. We are attempting to recover them. If you have any of this content saved please contact the site administrator using the Contact Us form on this site. ] In this episode of the Winemaker’s Academy Podcast Matt gets back to some listener and reader questions …

Continue reading "Questions on Wine Fermentation & More – WMA039"

Always Use Airlocks On Carboys

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 16:50:20 +0000

It’s a fairly common mistake to use airlocks only during fermentation and switch to a solid plug or bung for bulk aging in a carboy. Why wouldn’t you? After all fermentation is over so there really shouldn’t be anything going on in there. The truth is that there are other forces at work that can …

Continue reading "Always Use Airlocks On Carboys"

First Time Winemaker – Part III

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 16:40:57 +0000

[ Podcast not currently available. Podcast content has been lost. We are attempting to recover them. If you have any of this content saved please contact the site administrator using the Contact Us form on this site. ] Alas, here is the third and final installment of the First Time Winemaker series where Matt walks …

Continue reading "First Time Winemaker – Part III"

Fermenting Wine in Open Containers

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 00:35:31 +0000

There’s a lot of discussion around open fermentations. Beginners especially wonder why some recipes call for open fermentations and kit instructions call for an airlock to be placed on the fermenter as soon as you’ve pitched the yeast. The truth is, you can do it either way. When you’re first getting into winemaking I do not recommend …

Continue reading "Fermenting Wine in Open Containers"