Record Keeping For Homemade Wine Makers

Record keeping for Homemade Wine Makers

Record keeping is a critically important part of making your own wine. If you rely on your memory you’re sure to be disappointed down the road, so the rule of thumb among serious homemade wine makers is write it down.

So what exactly do we keep track of? Well, that’s easy. Everything you do, no matter how insignificant it might seem at the time. If you’re working with fresh grapes or fruits, make sure you keep track of your supplier and the purchase dates and also the prices you paid. It might not be a bad idea to jot down the addresses and phone numbers as well. Even though you’ve saved these things as favorites in your internet browser, computer crashes do happen all the time.

When it comes to the actual making of your wine, record everything that takes place here as well. The date you start is very important, as well as the dates of each racking you do.

Don’t forget to record the room temperature and also the temperature of your juice when you’re starting your batch. What type of yeast can be important too, so make sure you note that as well.

Specific gravity is also a good thing to keep track of all throughout the wine making process. Get to know your hydrometer so you can accurately make readings.

If you’re making wine from fresh fruits, make sure you record the other ingredients you use, and also the amounts of each.

Why do we go to all this trouble? Imagine you’re serving some of your homemade wine to friends or family, and they fall in love with a Merlot you bottled 2 years ago. Now you have people drooling for your delicious homemade wine, and you can’t duplicate the process because you didn’t keep track of what you were doing, or when you were doing it. Talk about frustrating!

Wine making is a hobby that is constantly evolving and creativity and experimentation are highly encouraged. But please do yourself a favor and record all our steps as you’re doing them. This is one way to ensure you can duplicate batch after batch of delicious wine consistently. You’ll be glad you did.