Learning How to Make Mead

Mead was the first fermented beverage ever produced. It’s production dates all the way back to 7000 B.C which predates wine by three thousand years. To make mead is to partake in the oldest of traditions.

While mead is not technically wine, the process of making mead is very similar.  And as a winemaker, you can learn a lot from doing it.

Simply put, it involves creating a must that you add yeast to and let it ferment. After fermentation, you rack it, age it, and then bottle it.

Why You Should Make Mead

Continue reading “Learning How to Make Mead”

3 Keys to a Creating a Useful Winemaking Log

Keeping a winemaking log is critically important to your growth as a winemaker. However, if you’re not logging useful information it won’t do you much good.

Short and Long Term Benefits of Keeping a Winemaking Log

A winemaking log doesn't have to be fancy. Just use something to record all your winemaking activitiesIn the short-term a well-kept winemaking log can help you keep the timing of each step straight. It also serves as a double-check of how much of what additives you’ve put in and when you did it.

The long-term benefits, however, can be much more valuable. Continue reading “3 Keys to a Creating a Useful Winemaking Log”

How to Evaluate Your Wine

Learning to evaluate your wine is critical to becoming a great winemaker.Being able to evaluate your wine objectively is vitally important to successful winemakers. You should know how to discern whether your wine is of good quality or not. Whether you like your wine or not is much less important.

It’s possible to make a high quality wine that you just don’t like personally. I for one am not a fan of Sauvignon Blanc, regardless of how well made it is. But as I wine maker you and I both should be able to tell if it’s well made. Continue reading “How to Evaluate Your Wine”