Proper filling of Bladder Press?

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Due to a change in plans I'm going to be pressing with a 40L bladder press instead of an oak basket press.
It was last and I know minimal about bladder presses aside from what I've researched yesterday and today. It's a rental so I really hope I don't break it. I'll be working solo and hoping to get 28 gal of must into the basket for 1 round of pressing.
If I can't fit all the skins in one shot, what would be the better option? To break the pressing into 2 equal pressing portions, or to fill full, press some for enough space for sequential loading?
 
Refresh my memory: do you have an Allinone, or something similar?
 
Sure do. I also made that pvc must strainer thing a little while back for this batch in case I needed it.
But I've got no experience with a bladder press at all. And with a 10g (40L) basket that has the bladder up the center with what I'm assuming could be 12-15 gal of skins I figured I had 2 options of loading as said in the 1st post.
 
How many lugs of grapes are you dealing with? I get 3 lugs into my 18L basket press.
 
fill it at least to half way if more than can be done with one pressing. the bladder will fill the space and still press the grapes. if pomace is still wet put all of it in and go one more time.
 
1st post I said 28 gal of must. It's 288 lbs - 8 lugs.
I'm pretty good I think with estimating how much volume of "solids" I'll have. And I think it'll be slightly more than 40L-- especially with the volume the deflated bladder takes up.
So with that assumed, I just was looking to know which is the better option. To fill it up full, and press some to make room to fit the rest and then continue pressing.
Or to split it in 2 equal amounts and go through 2 pressings instead of 1.
 
Nevermind. Scratch that whole plan out. Due to lack of communication among the workers at this shop the 40L bladder press was rented out by someone else today.
Currently and route to pick up their other press. A freakin 80L! He assured me it would still work out just fine given the size of my batch. Hope he's right.
 
Nevermind. Scratch that whole plan out. Due to lack of communication among the workers at this shop the 40L bladder press was rented out by someone else today.
Currently and route to pick up their other press. A freakin 80L! He assured me it would still work out just fine given the size of my batch. Hope he's right.


You're gonna need some more grapes. :)
 
You're gonna need some more grapes. :)



I certainly could fit em! I'm just hoping I don't actually NEED more grapes though. I'll definitely be able to fill it more than halfway.
I had a whole plan ready for this batch but some changes at work are forcing me to call audibles all over the place. Went from 5 gal oak press to 40L bladder to now 80L. Here goes nothing...
 
@ajmassa5983 if your going to PHB West, ask Jimmy to tell you about his Pinto's - Procacci incident.
 
@ajmassa5983 if your going to PHB West, ask Jimmy to tell you about his Pinto's - Procacci incident.



The next time I see him I'll be sure get that story out of him.

80L Bladder press worked great. First time use I had some trial and error. And I would have done a couple things differently had I known. But nothing major.
Yielded Way more then expected. 28 gal of must from 8 lugs got me a full 14.23 demijohn and a 6 gal carboy. And the cake was still kinda wet too. Definitely could have gotten even more, but no need to push it. Settling out for a couple days I'm thinking a whole heck of a lot will be dropping out.
 
Nice.... you got just over 20gls, yeah there will be a lot dropping out. I racked off of gross lees the second 4 of 8 lugs this morning, in total out of the 8 lugs I have just over 17 gls. But with the homemade bucket press the going was slow(clogs alot), inefficient and kicked my butt. I plan on doing 8+ lugs in the spring, and it will be time to use a real press of some sort.

Would you do the bladder press again?
 
100%. It was fun too, to play with expensive equipment. Just like the crusher last week. Neither broke the bank. $20 for crusher and $35 for press. ($25 for the 40L)
I heard from diff people helping during crush and pressing "this is actually really cool. I can totally see how someone can really get into this hobby". I'm sure the cool equipment made a difference.
Got a great yield and could have gotten even more. The only thing I would have done differently would be transferring as much wine off the skins to glass before pressing as I could. Putting in all mostly solids would have made a cleaner quicker job of it. I put it all through, little messy, and waiting a while for it to come through before I could press. Growing pains is all.
Successful crush and press is very satisfying. There's a good reason we look forward to fall every year!
IMG_6864.jpgIMG_6868.jpg
 
@Ajmassa5983 if your going to PHB West, ask Jimmy to tell you about his Pinto's - Procacci incident.

I stopped by the new location last week. Was talking with Jimmy and got that whole lowdown. Wow.
Those guys keep Italian stereotypes alive and well.
It’s like right out of a Scorsese movie.
Since I use both places, I’m just going to make it a point to not let either shop know I use the other.
I do love the selection at Pintos and plan to get some grapes in spring. Chilean grape opinions are all over the place. But my Chilean cab at 8 months is shaping up to be my best wine yet.
 
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Look at it this way, not only do you get grapes, but you get entertained at the same time by an Italian soap opera.

Same here with using both places, but Procacci doesn't compete in the spring. I like Pinto's fall selection as well, but stay with Procacci due to short distance. Plus all my wines have turned out well from Procacci.

I shouldn't blame the Chilean grapes this year completely, I should have adjusted pH upfront.

My SA Cab at 8 months is turning out very well also, so we should try and swap a bottle of our cab's at some point. Maybe Pinto's in May?
 
Upfront ph adjustment is a lesson I also learned the hard way in September. But lesson learned.
Sounds like a plan for the cabs. But if timing doesn’t allow I’m also frequently in s. Philly too. Even this morning I was at Johns Roast Pork.
 
We'll figure it out......I have not been to John's Roast Pork for very long time. I find myself at Shenk's getting a chicken cutlet with brocolli rabe and sharp prov whenever I'm over that side of town anymore.
 

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