Brewbear said:First thing first, the bad wine might make an acceptable vinegar
Use good wine to make good vinegar. A passable wine can turn into a good vinegar. A bad wine should simply be poured down the drain.
Brian K
What do you say
- Thread starter Miriam
- Start date
-
Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
-
We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Use good wine to make good vinegar. A passable wine can turn into a good vinegar. A bad wine should simply be poured down the drain.
Brian K
I have learned to ask people how much detail they want. 
I try to be as honest and helpful in my suggestions as possible.
Brian K
I try to be as honest and helpful in my suggestions as possible.
Brian K
If you note the motto beneath each message I post, it reflects my approach to meadmaking. And in order to improve each batch, I require criticism, although I (as a human being complete with a full dose of human nature) would like that criticism to be constructive.
At War I got heavy doses of criticism when I sat down with the Barons. I had brought 375 mL bottles of 5 different batches (blueberry wine, blackberry wine, red raspberry wine, red raspberry mead, and blackberry mead) I had in process for their review and comments. Quite bluntly, the red raspberry wine and mead were swill and I was told so. And I agree. My only question was whether there was something I could do to recover the batch. There wasn't. A more careful analysis of the recipe pointed to the problem being with the Oregon Fruits puree I used which will result in changes to my next attempt of the same recipe. But as we carefully went through all five bottles, other members of the household gathered around and also commented while I hastily scribbled notes in my brewing log. I got a mixture of positives and recommendations as well as some blunt negatives. But I feel good about the experience because I learned something about every batch. Next time I will hopefully improve each recipe...
The best compliment I got was from a wife in our camp who said that she "wouldn't be ashamed to serve this to dinner guests" when referring to my cyser. Although that may sound a little less than complimentary, it is coming from a lady that serves things like 10 year old Marlows (sp?) with dinner. And then she asked for seconds...
So I was proud and pleased and yet learned a lot...
Pewter
At War I got heavy doses of criticism when I sat down with the Barons. I had brought 375 mL bottles of 5 different batches (blueberry wine, blackberry wine, red raspberry wine, red raspberry mead, and blackberry mead) I had in process for their review and comments. Quite bluntly, the red raspberry wine and mead were swill and I was told so. And I agree. My only question was whether there was something I could do to recover the batch. There wasn't. A more careful analysis of the recipe pointed to the problem being with the Oregon Fruits puree I used which will result in changes to my next attempt of the same recipe. But as we carefully went through all five bottles, other members of the household gathered around and also commented while I hastily scribbled notes in my brewing log. I got a mixture of positives and recommendations as well as some blunt negatives. But I feel good about the experience because I learned something about every batch. Next time I will hopefully improve each recipe...
The best compliment I got was from a wife in our camp who said that she "wouldn't be ashamed to serve this to dinner guests" when referring to my cyser. Although that may sound a little less than complimentary, it is coming from a lady that serves things like 10 year old Marlows (sp?) with dinner. And then she asked for seconds...
So I was proud and pleased and yet learned a lot...
Pewter
For the folks that are in need of honesty I generally march them through a series of questions like:
What kind of yeast did you use? Is it what you expected? Would you use it again? How would you describe how it influenced the flavor? Are you satisfied with how it tastes, or do you think there's room for improvement? What would you do differently next time? etc.
I just play "Help me I'm dumb and need to be educated" so I can ask people politely to help me understand how they made the mead, what they used, why they did certain things, when did they rack, and if they are happy with what they made. That way they can "educate" me about their mead/wine/beer/whatever and get a little constructive feedback in the process. I just kind of guide people with the questions most of the time because it's a simple and easy way to point out where they can make some improvements, and it makes them feel like they came up with the improvement ideas themselves.
Cheers,
Oskaar
What kind of yeast did you use? Is it what you expected? Would you use it again? How would you describe how it influenced the flavor? Are you satisfied with how it tastes, or do you think there's room for improvement? What would you do differently next time? etc.
I just play "Help me I'm dumb and need to be educated" so I can ask people politely to help me understand how they made the mead, what they used, why they did certain things, when did they rack, and if they are happy with what they made. That way they can "educate" me about their mead/wine/beer/whatever and get a little constructive feedback in the process. I just kind of guide people with the questions most of the time because it's a simple and easy way to point out where they can make some improvements, and it makes them feel like they came up with the improvement ideas themselves.
Cheers,
Oskaar
Jeepers, Oskaar, wheredja get so smart? An intelligent and kindly approach for any occasion (not just related to homebrew) and I'm sure helpful to the person who brewed the Nasty.
Sure you don't want to come to Israel and compete with the new Dale Carnegie course they just set up here?
Your anonymous fan,
M.
An intelligent and kindly approach for any occasion (not just related to homebrew) and I'm sure helpful to the person who brewed the Nasty. Sure you don't want to come to Israel and compete with the new Dale Carnegie course they just set up here?
Your anonymous fan,
M.
Well, I happen to love constructive criticism.
How else to we learn? And I certianly don't love all of my wines/meads (others tend to like them more then me!).
One trick to see if people liked your wine/mead is if they ask for a second glass.
I give constructive crit. in the nicest way possible. I ask questions and give hints about correction of problems.
Some of the best times are when a couple of brewers get togethor and taste/evaluate their homebrews! I love it!
Brian
How else to we learn? And I certianly don't love all of my wines/meads (others tend to like them more then me!).
One trick to see if people liked your wine/mead is if they ask for a second glass
.I give constructive crit. in the nicest way possible. I ask questions and give hints about correction of problems.
Some of the best times are when a couple of brewers get togethor and taste/evaluate their homebrews! I love it!
Brian
Excellent comment Oskaar. Very classy. Truth be told though its got to be pretty bad before I'd turn down a second glass (might not ask for one though). "Hello I am Andrew......"
I have to say that Vicky was very kind in her evaluation of my first batch of rhodomel.
She gave me some great pointers - I bought some rose syrup to add but the rose syrup was nasty and disappointing so I haven't added it to the mead.
I am still very new in really developing and educating my palate, so I still struggle to pinpoint specific deficiencies. However, I find that it helps to compare it to batches of my own with simmilar flaws. One bottle I got was just simply too green to be palatable. When asked what I thought of it, I suggested that it was way too young to give it a fair evaluation and that at this stage there were issues that might well age out. We were able to discuss the benefits of age on integrating the flavors from the sweetness to the acids to the hint of sulphites that I could detect.
I've only ever had one wine that I just could not be diplomatic over. I was given a taste of a dandilion wine that tasted like it was brewed from the roots and leaves in an old gasoline can. I sipped, choked and nearly sprayed the table with it. The joke was on me. He knew full well that it was a "disappointing" batch and was dying to see how I would give it a polite opinion.
David
She gave me some great pointers - I bought some rose syrup to add but the rose syrup was nasty and disappointing so I haven't added it to the mead.
I am still very new in really developing and educating my palate, so I still struggle to pinpoint specific deficiencies. However, I find that it helps to compare it to batches of my own with simmilar flaws. One bottle I got was just simply too green to be palatable. When asked what I thought of it, I suggested that it was way too young to give it a fair evaluation and that at this stage there were issues that might well age out. We were able to discuss the benefits of age on integrating the flavors from the sweetness to the acids to the hint of sulphites that I could detect.
I've only ever had one wine that I just could not be diplomatic over. I was given a taste of a dandilion wine that tasted like it was brewed from the roots and leaves in an old gasoline can. I sipped, choked and nearly sprayed the table with it. The joke was on me. He knew full well that it was a "disappointing" batch and was dying to see how I would give it a polite opinion.
David
