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The Gravity of Patience: A Winemaker's Guide to Outliving the Clearing Process(Post)
If you are a winemaker who works from fresh fruit and you do not like using fining agents to clear your wine, you may have seen a carboy that looks like a lava lamp - darker and clear at the top, lig ...
Why You Need a Healthy Relationship With Your Hoses(Post)The Need for Frequent Replacement Let’s talk about hoses. Flexible. Clear. Innocent looking. Always hanging there quietly, like they have never done anything wrong in their entire lives. They l ...
Too Many Carboys Around? Invest in a Filtering System. (Post)As you make more wine and wait for gravity to clear it, carboys are probably encroaching on your living space. The faster you get your wine in the bottle, the sooner you can drink it. The Buon Vino ...
New to Wine and Beer Making? Try Kits.(Post)If you’re interested in making beer and wine, but you’re worried about how to start, you’re not alone. From the outside, it can seem very daunting. You might follow social media pages or forums and f ...
The Essential Brew Pot for Stove Top Homebrewing(Post)If you are brewing beer at home, this is the bare minimum you should have. A dedicated brew pot is not a luxury or an upgrade. It is foundational equipment. A 20 quart brew pot like this one is speci ...
If You're Not Using Yeast Energizer?(Post)People like to say that little things mean a lot, because sometimes they really do. When you are preparing a batch of wort or must, small details can matter most for your yeast to transform them int ...
Avoiding Sulfites in Wine? You Likely Ate Two Bottles Worth by Lunch(Post)Most people consume more sulfites before dinner than they will ever get from drinking wine. If you are avoiding sulfites in wine, it is worth taking a closer look at where sulfites actually appear in ...
To Barrel or Not to Barrel? Alternatives for Oaking Your Wine(Post)Oak has been an important part of winemaking for centuries, and its influence can be felt in many of the world's most beloved wines. Oak aging, or barrel aging, gives wines complex flavors and aromas ...
Should You Check your PH before Fermenting?(Post)If you think you’ve taken every precaution, yet you are still getting stuck fermentation and/or spoilage, your problem is probably low acidity. Unlike sugar measurement, acidity is often overlooked.
Merlot: A Misunderstood Marvel, Unfairly Maligned by Sideways(Post)You remember that flick, Sideways, don't you? The one where our protagonist, Miles, has a bit of a meltdown over Merlot? "If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any (insert expletive ...
Barley: The Muscle Man of Beer Making(Post)Barley, the humble grain, has been the cornerstone of beer making for centuries. Its first documented use dates back to 5,000 BC in ancient Iran, making it one of the oldest cultivated grains in huma ...
How to Select Yeast for Beer and Winemaking(Post)Yeasts are not the same. There are many choices and there is a good reason for it: each has its own special style. Yeast makes beer and wine, not us, so it is important to get the right one for the j ...
The Art of the Boil: How Timing Can Make or Break Your Brew(Post)So, you've done your homework. You have the right grains, hops, and yeast all lined up, ready to create your next award-winning homebrew. But wait! Before you dive into the boiling pot, let's talk ab ...
Mastering Must Preparation for Apples, Stone Fruits, and Berries(Post)A Practical Guide for Late Summer and Early Fall Harvests As the late-summer harvest arrives, many home winemakers look beyond grapes to apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and berries. While th ...
How Much Oxygen Does Your Wort Really Need?(Post)There is a moment in every brewer’s life when the hobby stops being “boil sugary grain tea and hope for the best” and becomes something sharper, stranger, and more satisfying. Maybe ...