The Chronicle
Latest dispatches
19 results across all types
- news
Mead Architecture: Tannins in Mead Making
Honey is generous. It gives you sugar; it gives you aroma; it gives you that ineffable floral complexity that makes mead worth making. What it doesn't give you is structure. No tannins. None. Zip.
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The Magic of Oak: Wood in Beer, Cider, and Mead
There's a moment in every barrel-aged batch where something clicks. The harsh, tannic edge softens. The fruit comes forward. A faint vanilla warmth settles into the background like it was always there. You didn't add vanilla. You didn't add anything — you just waited, and the wood did the work.
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System Efficiency - Lab-First Principles
In the "Lab-First" brewery, efficiency is not a high score to brag about. It is a diagnostic tool for variable isolation. If you do not know exactly where your sugars are being lost, you cannot reliably replicate a recipe — and replication, not bragging rights, is the entire point.
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Introduction to Mead Making
I've seen so much bad advice given to first-time mead makers that I feel like I should offer a primer that is more respectful, open, and encouraging.
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The Mead Stability Manifesto: Delle Units and Beyond
In the pursuit of the perfect sweet mead, the "bottle bomb" is the ultimate horror story, except maybe broken glass carboys.
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The Lab-First Paradigm: A Framework for Consistent Making
To bridge the gap between a lucky batch and a repeatable masterpiece, we must disentangle three terms that are often used interchangeably but represent distinct physical realities in the brewhouse: Accuracy, Precision, and Consistency.
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Malt Conditioning Exploration
This is a minor revision and edit of the article published in 2017.
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Bochet & Brewing Sugars - Reduction and Browning
Intentional browning of sugars has a long tradition in brewing and mead-making. Here's the science.
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The Lab-First Series: Calibrating the Human Instrument
A guideline to using Sensory and the Lab to troubleshoot or verify common brewing issues.
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High-Gravity ABV and the Precision Gap
A data-driven look at why standard ABV formulas fail in high-gravity fermentation and how to implement higher-precision models.
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Nice to meet you - Again.
Pull up a chair and crack open a beer. Hi, my name is Matt, and I make craft beverages.
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A Change of Venue: Relocating the Brewhouse
After 13 years and a deliberate philosophical shift, I traded corporate demands for a quieter, simpler life. Here is the plan for the new cellar.
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🧪 The Homebrewer’s Mead Yeast Master Table
A practical guide to widely available wine, cider, ale, and mead yeasts — optimized for honey must, not malt.
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SNA vs TOSNA: A Comparitive Guide to Nutrient Addition Methods in Meadmaking
Discover the key differences between SNA (Staggered Nutrient Additions) and TOSNA (Tailored Organic Staggered Nutrient Additions) in meadmaking. This comprehensive guide explores traditional and organic nutrient management methods, helping both novice and experienced meadmakers choose the right appr
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On Brewing Competitions, Competitors, Rules and Ethics
We need an honest and direct discussion about brewing competition. Of course, being a homebrewer, I am mainly focused on amateur beer, mead, cider, and wine competitions, which often also have a commercial or professional track. Here in 2024, competition stakes are very high, and success is critical
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Improving BJCP Tasting Exam Scores - REDUX
There are a few common Examinee mistakes that are easily addressed and should ensure a fairly easy shot at an 80 score. This is pretty straightforward advice that applies to any BJCP Beer/Cider/Mead Tasting exam.
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"Guile Brews" by Peter Symons - a review
"Guile Brews" is a historical treatise on the brewing traditions of Cornwall, Ireland, and England. This reasonably narrow region of focus allows a deep dive into brewers logs, local news reporting, and even into legal records (which are plentiful) of specific breweries in specific locations. This i
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When Perfection is the Enemy of...
With the exit of 2020 and a horrible start of 2021 behind us, I feel the need to address some of the issues hampering my brewing over the past few years and the resulting lack of regular content for Accidentalis.com. Hopefully, this will be cathartic for me and perhaps
- news
Improving your BJCP Tasting Exam Scores
Suggestions for improving your BJCP Tasting Exam scores.