Welcome to my wine and beer making site!
I made my first batch of wine (a forgettable Rhubarb wine) in May 1981 and my first beer in January 1984. On these pages I record my adventures in these areas:
- wine making records
- beer making records
- liqueur making records
- white papers on wine and beer making
- posts that describe my experiments
- kombucha (new in 2023!)
The above items are accessible through the menus above, and related posts are organized in groups (see links in left sidebar).
Please note that I am an amateur winemaker with no formal training. I’m self-taught and have the experience of making numerous types of wine since my first batch in 1981. I read a lot of research papers, conduct my own experiments, discuss topics with the folks on WineMakingTalk, and continue my self-education. The wine & beer making records are what I have done, including errors and failures. The blog posts and white papers are my take on things, and are open to question. Most things in winemaking have more than one valid answer, and what you read are my choices.
If one post seems to diverge from or disagree with another? Look at the publication dates. My techniques have changed over time, as I learn new things and try different techniques. Winemaking is not a destination, it’s a journey, with (hopefully) good wine along the way.
Note: I get questions regarding distilling. I can’t answer such questions as I have never distilled.
Most recent updates
Instead of making people hunt through the following sections, I’ll list the most recent updates here, typically things posted in the last month.
Warning: This list is not guaranteed to be up-to-date, as I have to remember to manually update it!
Whitepapers:
- Added: How To Make K-Meta Solution, 09/20/2023
- Added: Sanitizing Bottles and Corks, 09/20/2023
- Added: How to Make a Yeast Starter, Part 2, 09/01/2023
Mental Meanderings:
- Added: Wine Label Creation Process 03, 09/12/2023
- Added: Wine Label Creation Process 02, 09/05/2023
Winemaking in Detail:
- Updated: 2023 Metheglin (Mead) in Detail, 09/09/2023
- Updated: 2022 FWK Kit + Grape Pomace in Detail, 08/26/2023
Wine Labels Progression:
- This was a Mental Meanderings post, but has been revamped to be a category: Wine Labels Progression
Whitepapers & Posts
One of the things I find difficult on most blog sites is finding anything. A prolific author will produce dozens or even hundreds of posts, and the blog software lists them in reverse chronological order. Search works, if you know what keywords to search for, and if those keywords are not in dozens of posts.
To address this problem, I created pages that group posts by topic, to (hopefully) make it easier to find things.
| White Papers | A lot of questions on WineMakingTalk are repeats — newcomers ask pretty much the same questions, so I have been taking the time to record detailed answers to common questions. These whitepapers cover numerous aspects of winemaking. | Updated 09/01/2023 |
| Mental Meanderings | These posts don’t really fit other categories, are more opinions than facts, and meander all over the place; hence the name. | Updated 08/09/2023 |
| Wines … in Detail | These posts provide a deep dive into the winemaking process of selected wines. Each post is intended to address a different facet of winemaking. | Updated 08/23/2023 |
| Wine Labels Progression | My labels are posted in groups by the year the wines were bottled in. This shows the progression of my label making “talents”. This took a big jump in 2021, when I started using a graphic as a background, so there’s no white space. | Updated 08/28/2023 |
| Ongoing Plans | These posts list what I have planned at different points in time, and illustrate how plans can change. | Updated 06/15/2023 |
| Site Updates | I document significant changes in this site, mostly to help me keep track of things. | Updated 06/2021 |
| How to Make Wine | This is a series of posts I wrote in 2019, a stream of consciousness of what was happening at the time. While it was intended to be a complete primer on winemaking, in retrospect, I meandered off and didn’t fully meet the objective. However, the posts provide a view into the process and challenges of winemaking. | Updated 06/2020 |
<—— Note that links to these pages are in the left sidebar
Current Updates
This section lists wines currently in production.
| 2023 Metheglin (Mead) | updated 08/25/2023 |
| 2022 Rhone Blend | updated 04/07/2023 |
| 2022 Tempranillo | updated 08/23/2023 |
| 2022 Grenache | updated 08/23/2023 |
Wines in the Racks
These are wines currently present in my racks:
| 2022 Merlot / Tempranillo | updated 08/26/2023 |
| 2022 Merlot / Grenache | updated 08/10/2023 |
| 2022 Blackberry | updated 10/06/2022 |
| 2022 Strawberry | updated 10/05/2022 |
| 2022 Sauvignon Blanc | updated 10/04/2022 |
| 2022 Pinot Noir | updated 10/04/2022 |
| 2022 Chocolate / Raspberry Port | updated 10/15/2022 |
| 2022 Elderberry | updated 07/18/2023 |
| 2021 Port | updated 12/17/2022 |
| 2021 Super Tuscan | updated 11/27/2022 |
| 2021 Rhone Blend | updated 11/27/2022 |
| 2021 Chardonnay | updated 05/21/2022 |
| 2021 Barbera | updated 01/17/2022 |
| 2020 Meritage | updated 02/12/2022 |
| 2020 Meritage Plus | updated 02/12/2022 |
| 2020 Red Blend 2nd Run | updated 10/13/2021 |
| 2019 Zinfandel | updated 08/21/2020 |
| 2019 Merlot | updated 09/27/2020 |
| 2018 Coffee Port | updated 03/03/2019 |
| 2018 Black Forest Port | updated 08/18/2018 |
Navigation
Current posts are displayed on the right, with the most current ones first.
Wine Making: Lists of current and finished wines, along with various lists of everything I’ve made.
Beer Making: Lists of current and finished beers. I don’t have an overall list as I don’t make a lot of beer.
Liqueurs: Posts regarding liqueurs I’ve made using commercial vodka, cognac, and EverClear.
Kombucha: Posts regarding kombucha I’ve made.
Posts: Another avenue to the post groupings listed in the left sidebar.
Documents: I host some commercial documentation as a service to fellow winemakers.
Links: The typical page of links that I find useful.
Enjoy!