5gal paint strainer bag 4 GP kit

[v1rotate]

I have my 3rd GP kit going now, the CC Rosso Fortissimo. I decided to try using the paint strainer bag for the skins this time. It is working great! The skins are floating on top of the must and I am stirring them up 3 to 4 times a day. The must is fizzing mightily now when I stir, sweet!!!!

I modified the CC directions a little because I wanted to stir up the must with the bentonite and oak very thoroughly before I installed the strainer bag and dumped the skins in. So the last 3 steps I took after mixing with my mixstir tool and drill were:

Install bag
Dump GP in
Pitch yeast

Worked great, although it took 4 days for the ferment to get going well. Today is day 5, must temp is up to 81' vs ambient of 78' and here is a picture of the cap:

 

[Tom]

Most if not all of us who do fresh fruit wines use the paint strainer bag. In fact I am using 2 right now for my Blackberry. Makes it so much easier to remove. BTW I use a zip tie to keep the bag sealed.

 

[RickC]

Would you ever consider putting the oak in the bag with the grape pack?

 

[Tom]

NO,
Skins you want in the primary for a short time
Oak you want in for 1-3 months

 

[v1rotate]

Actually, I put the oak dust in the bag this time. I think it mostly gets left behind when you rack to secondary anyway, so this way there is a tiny bit less lees perhaps? My Rosso Fortissimo kit didn't come with any cubes. I'll put some med toast Hungarian beans into the carboy at the 2nd racking.

 

[Tom]

Oak dust mostly dissolves in the wine. It's the fastest way to get oak effectin a kit wine.

 

[JimCook]

As a note, the oak doesn't dissolve but rather goes into suspension into the wine. The difference is whether something exists separately in liquid or becomes 'part of' the liquid. Salt crystals dissolve in the liquid but wood particles move around as the wine is fermenting and then settle out to be left behind at some point with the lees at the point of transfer/racking. If wood dissolved in water, there would be a lot of falling down houses after a rain and perhaps we'd be livingin houses inspired themovie The Graduate ("I've got one word for you - plastics.")


The oak dust provides oak flavor infusion quickly because of the large amount of surface area compared to the volume of wine (think of oaking in a 1-gallon barrel compared to a 60-gallon barrel as a point of example) but the oakness is depleted rather quickly for the same reason. Most kits use oak dust because of this rapid oaking before the first transfer (WE notes to leave the sediment behind when moving the wine into secondary fermentation, for example) and because of the lower cost of these products.


Jim- you are correct, the oak dust will be left behind when you are racking and will still have provided its benefit whether in the bag or not.


- Jim

 

[barryjo]

I am confused. You put the bentonite in while the wine is still actively fermenting? I thought that step was after the wine had been racked several times.

 

[AlFulchino]

those bags indeed do a wonderful job in saving time in small batches and increase clarification speed...well worth it

 

[Wade E]

Bentonite can also be added in the beginning for different purposes like ridding the wine of a protein haze and dropping the heavier solids out so as not to carry them over to secondary.

 

[herbenus]

Where have you guys been all my life? This is the firstI heard of the paint strainer bags. Wish I had these two weeks ago when I started my pears. Are there different mesh sizes or jus one? I'm looking for a Sherwin Williams right now. I use the mesh bags but frankly they don't always hold enough.


Great tip.

 

[Tom]

Make sure you get the 5 gallon paint strainer bage. I get mine from Depot.
Remember if making 6 gal batch of pear you will need TWO fermentors and TWO straining bags. I use 36-40# for 6 gal.
How many #'s per gal you use?

 

[joeswine]

TEPE is wight depending on the volume of the powder load most will dissolve into the wine and even thought you can't see it with the human eye,some stays in suspension,that's the nature of the product,if it didn't dissipate into the wine you would not have good control over the making as one does,when using this product,at least that's my view on it.

[/QUOTE( think out side the box]

 

[herbenus]

Making a 5 gallon batch. Used 25 lbs (before coring) of pears. That was recipe I found. But I suspect after straining it will be way less than 5 gallons. I made a 2 gallon a month back using the boiling method. Boiled and squeezed out juice and let go in small primary. This 5 gallon I'm doing different, leaving all the pears in. It's been a week. I haven't decided if I want to strain now or let them go another week. Still plenty active.

 

[Tom]

Here's the trick for splitting into buckets.
U R Light in pears but you will need to add a f-pac
Add 2 gal +of water in each bucket
Split the #'s of pears in 2 straining bags in the 2 buckets
Add Pectic Enzyme. wait 24 hrs and take gravity.
Use WineCalc to figure how much sugar to add to get 1.085
U notice added only 4 gal total. The sugar and juice the pectic will extract should get you 5 gal. I make more as there is alot of sediment in fruit wines.

 

[herbenus]

Can you give me the complete recipe? This 5 gallon is already started. I am expecting I'll need to add some grape juice or Fpaclater but I can deal with that. But there's still pears on my tree and I believe I have enough for another3 gallon batch, maybe 5. (I have a primary sitting there doing nothing and that'sjust wrong.)

 

[Tom]

Get at least 50 #'s first then get back

 

[barryjo]

If it is practical, you might want to freeze some of the fruit for later use. This not only peserves the fruit but makes it easier to crush for the must.
This works especially well for small berries like chokecherry,etc. Also black plums from Walmart. I pit them and freeze in gallon ziplocks. Be sure to label weight and date.

 

[barryjo]

Another thing with the bags. I have trouble holding them open and dumping in the fruit. So I did some scouting and found these neat "holders". They are used for holding the material when people do crossstitching. Round, 2 part hoops with a screw adjuster on the outside hoop. A 10 inch is good for the straining bag. I also use a 5 or 6 inch one for kneehigh stockings. Found mine at a thrift store but they should be available at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. Very inexpensive.

 

[Bartman]

That sounds like a good device for the bags, but can't they be found somewhere (anywhere) else? I mean, no self-respecting, red-blooded American male is going to be seen entering a Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

I would have to send my wife for me, and I just know she would find all sorts of wonderful "treasures" at either of those stores.