Zymurgist

• Author: admin
• Filed under: Uncategorized
• Date: Feb 7,2008

Zymurgy or zymology is the study of fermentation. The word was originally used to describe the science involved in these processes but it has since become more broadly used to describe the brewing of alcoholic beverages. A zymurgist (or zymologist) is one who studies zymurgy.

Zymurgy is the name of a homebrewers magazine. The word also can be found in the names of several organizations involved in brewing alcohol.

If you want to become a zymurgist:

In England? Grape-growing and wine-making in Britain began in Roman times. British viticulture was stifled with the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century and the import of wine from Europe.

Then what? Commercial vineyards returned to England after the second world war, leading to a major expansion in the 1960s. Since 1980 the number of vineyards in England and Wales has grown to around 380, mainly in the south.

What does winemaking involve? It’s a non-stop year-round process. In England we usually harvest from mid-September to early November, depending on grape variety. The grapes are pressed. The juice is allowed to clarify, or settle. The clear juice ferments and then you make any necessary corrections, like adding sulphur. When the wine is sound, stable and clear, you bottle it, from April onward.

What skills and qualities are required? Patience, perseverance, a lot of energy, and a feel for the process. Wine-making is not an exact science, it’s more of an art.

Why patience? Wine doesn’t always do what you want it to do. Sometimes you’ve got to wait and let it do its own thing. Sometimes the juice refuses to clear. Often it’s best just to wait.

How long? As long as it takes. That’s not possible for producers making cheap wine in large quantities. Then time is of the essence and chemical intervention speeds things up.

What qualifications do you need? None at all, but experience is essential. There are qualifications around. Plumpton agricultural college has vineyards and a winery, and you can do an HND. You can get a BSc in winemaking at the University of Brighton.

What opportunities are there? There are various operations. Some farms grow vines as another crop and make more money from selling the grapes to winemakers than they do from wheat. Some producers open their vineyards as tourist attractions and sell their wine to visitors. And some sell wholesale to supermarkets and the trade.

Is there a reliable yield? Oh yes. The crop varies from year to year, but the big advantage wine has over, for example, strawberries is that you can hold back a surplus in bumper years and sell it in leaner years.

If you haven’t necked it first - er, if you’ve not drunk it all. In our house we can never keep booze for long. Well, add self-restraint to that list of required qualities.