Home > Media > Books > Cyril J. J. Berry - First Steps in Winemaking: A Complete Month-By-Month Guide to Winemaking (Including the Production of Cider, Perry and Mead) in Your Own Home, With over 150 Tried and Tested
Cyril J. J. Berry - First Steps in Winemaking: A Complete Month-By-Month Guide to Winemaking (Including the Production of Cider, Perry and Mead) in Your Own Home, With over 150 Tried and Tested
Pros: Detailed instructions. A variety of typical and unusual recipes.
Cons: Unstructured with no table of contents or chapters
The Bottom Line: First Steps in Winemaking offers excellent explanations of the ingredients, equipment, and chemicals used by wine makers. I recommend it for beginners.
Kris.'s Full Review: Cyril J. J. Berry - First Steps in Winemaking: A C...
Setup of the book
This book does not have chapters, rather there are many short sections delineated only by the bold headings. If you need to look up specific information, it has to be done through the index instead of browsing the table of contents.
Directions
First, the authors tell you the basic equipment needed. They assume you know nothing about brewing so they are very detailed. For example, they do not just say 'you need a pot to boil the juice'. They say to use an aluminum or unchipped enamalware pot, and to "avoid containers and utensils of iron, brass, or copper, which may be affected by acids and impart hazes or flavours to your wine". As a beginner, I appreciated the fact that the book was so easy to read and that they went into explicit detail about every step. There was no real opportunity to ruin the wine I was making.
Next, there is a glossary of terms used in winemaking. This is helpful for understanding the instructions in the following sections.
The authors move on to the purpose and types of ingredients used in winemaking - yeast nutrients, tannins, acids, sulfuring agents, and such. The authors walk you through the process of preparing a must, fermenting, racking the wine, and bottling the finished product. They address problems that could pop up (stuck wines, hazes, a variety of unusual odors and tastes, and infections) and offer solutions.
There is a short section where the different types of wines are described. This is the only area of the book that lacks details. They seem to assume that if you chose to make your own wine, you already know the different styles.
Recipe Section
I really enjoy the way the recipes were organized. They are separated by month, and each month uses fruit that is in season. This not only ensures that you use fruit that is at its peak, but conveniently helps you cut costs by buying fruit when it is cheap.
Some wines do not really have a best season. For example, the ingredients for raisin wine are available year-round. These recipes are mainly placed in the winter months when other fruits are scarce.
There are over 100 recipes ranging from the typical (peach, cherry, pear) to the unusual (pansy wine, coffee wine, meads). They also included a few recipes for other alcoholic beverages, like the Summer Rumpot or Irish Cream. The recipes are given in English, British, and metric units.
The book ends by explaining the rules for entering your wine into competitions, or how to arrange your own competition.
Conclusion
First Steps in Winemaking not only walks you through your first few batches, it also gives you the knowledge to start experimenting. After reading this book I felt I had a thorough knowledge of the chemicals and ingredients, and I am now able to create my own recipes. If a problem does arise, I know how to correct it.
This is an excellent resource for winemakers. Although more attention should have been given to the organization of the book, the quality of the information makes up for any inconveniences.
*Note that the book pictured is not the correct book.
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