Crushed grapes

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Danml

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This is my first time at this. Yesterday we crushed 240lbs of concord grapes into a 20 gal fermenter and a couple of 6gal fermenters. All containers have spigots on them. When we tried to get some juice for a SG reading the spigots cloged up quickly. So my question is...when it comes time to transfer to carboys what do I do. Using the siphon method will create the same problem as the spigots. How does everyone work around this. Anyone want to give up some tricks of the trade. :D
 
Dan, this happens a lot. As the wine ferments, the skins will float to the top (and become the "cap") and you will punch this down a couple times a day. If I need to draw a sample, I take a large kitchen strainer and push it down into the wine, not quite submerged. The wine in the strainer will be free of skins and most debris and can be drawn out with a wine thief or kitchen baster. At the end of fermentation, when I move to a carboy or barrel, I scoop the cap off as best I can with the strainer (and press these skins) and draw out the wine through the spigot. It will still clog now and then and have to be cleared with a long spoon from the inside, turning the spigot on and off a few times or you may have to siphon with a large diameter hose. I have seen a device, not sure what it was called, but was a little mesh protector that you would have to put around the spigot inside the fermenter before you start the wine. I have never used this nor do I know how well it would work.
 
And in the future, you can bag the grapes as they come out of the crusher. Then you have all the seeds and skins contained. We use knee-length hosiery for bags.
 
I saw a thing on TV that i thought was a great idea.

They took a section of PVC - drilled very small holes up and down all over - stuck it in the primary - then put the racking can inside that - it acts as a filter - and all you get is juice racked over..
 
I saw a thing on TV that i thought was a great idea.

They took a section of PVC - drilled very small holes up and down all over - stuck it in the primary - then put the racking can inside that - it acts as a filter - and all you get is juice racked over..

I have been using exactly that for 20 years. Works very well.
 
I saw a thing on TV that i thought was a great idea.

They took a section of PVC - drilled very small holes up and down all over - stuck it in the primary - then put the racking can inside that - it acts as a filter - and all you get is juice racked over..


I just finished making one. Will get to try it this weekend. :D

Thanks for the tip.
 
Anytime - i thought it looked like a nice invention...

Glad to see some folks using that and it works...
 
I saw a thing on TV that i thought was a great idea.

They took a section of PVC - drilled very small holes up and down all over - stuck it in the primary - then put the racking can inside that - it acts as a filter - and all you get is juice racked over..

If you covered it with a stocking or something... Could you even exert pressure on the top of the "cap" toward the end of the transfer?.. Basically.. Press without a press?
 
If you covered it with a stocking or something... Could you even exert pressure on the top of the "cap" toward the end of the transfer?.. Basically.. Press without a press?


Hmm - good thought - not sure - would have to try it out...
 

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