winemaking: usamrd
This page isn’t a wine recipe. The source content pulled here is a profile of the U.S. Army Medical Research Detachment — the military unit that studied laser and radio frequency hazards at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio. It lived on Jack Keller’s site, apparently because Jack worked there. There is no wine to make here, no fermentation to manage, no fruit to crush. Just a proud nod to the day job behind one of the internet’s greatest winemaking archives.
The beginner trap: Trying to ferment something that isn’t a recipe will leave you with nothing but confusion and a sticky floor.
Ingredients
None. This is not a recipe.
Method
- Visit this page, appreciate the context, and move on to any of the hundreds of actual recipes Jack left behind.
- Raise a glass of whatever you made last batch to the researchers who kept soldiers safe from radiation hazards — and to the winemaker among them.
Why this works
Jack Keller spent years at USAMRD while simultaneously building what became the most-referenced home winemaking website in the English-speaking world. Science and fermentation share more DNA than you might think: both demand careful measurement, controlled conditions, repeatable process, and honest observation of results. It tracks that a man who studied the biological effects of non-ionizing radiation would also obsess over Brix levels and sulfite additions. Precision is precision, whether you’re protecting soldiers’ eyesight or coaxing a blackberry must through primary fermentation.
Notes
If you landed here looking for a recipe, head back to the recipes index. If you landed here because you were curious about the man behind the site, now you know a little more. The archived USAMRD home page link no longer resolves, but the wines Jack documented still ferment just fine.
