R J Barley.

How this began.

I built the Fermentation Series around a problem every home fermenter recognises: notes scattered across phone, notepad, scraps of paper, and memory — and then forgotten when the same decision comes up two batches later.

The brief I gave the volumes was narrow on purpose. I designed each one as a logbook first and a reference second. Fifty batches per book — enough to span a year or two of serious work, more than enough to spot patterns. I included the data points that change between batches and left out everything that doesn't. I compiled the back matter from primary sources: brewing science texts, the standards used by professional analysts, the references that working makers reach for.

I focused each volume on one craft. Beer in Vol. I, mead in Vol. II, wine in Vol. III, cider in Vol. IV. Vol. V — the Mastery Journal — is the cross-craft record, structured so a fermenter working all four can compare attenuation, fault patterns, and finishing decisions across them.

The byline carries no claim of personal practice. The series is an editorial product, compiled and organised — not a memoir.