Can I age in primary bucket?

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zack67360

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Has anyone ever done this and how did it turn out? This is the first year I had grapes of my own to make into wine, froze them, thawed and crushed with my hands and a new paint mixer and drill. Ended up with 2- 5 gallon primarys of juice, which is now converted to wine. The trouble is that the sediment was so thick on the bottom, it would not siphon so ended up siphoning off the top into a glass carboy so ended up with one glass carboy and one primary bucket full of thick sediment. Tried running it through a cheese cloth which didn't work well, but there is still alot of juice left in the thick sediment. My thought was could I leave the lid on with the air lock, set it aside and let it settle out in the bucket for a month or two and then siphon off the good wine? Will this work or will I end up with something nasty and undrinkable?
Thanks in advance,
zack
 
you might try one of those fine nylon mesh bags, im not sure what the spacing is like in comparison but im thinking it may be more fine.

as for aging in the primary you can probably do that but you run the risk of oxidation unless you primary seals really well and no air gets in. other than that i dont see anything wrong with it
 
Answer is no.

There are 2 stages of fermentation - aerobic and anaerobic. The primary is aerobic, meaning it should ideally be left open to the air, IMHO, covered by a cloth or towel only. Even if you use a lid and airlock, you introduce large amounts of oxygen every time the lid is opened to stir or whatever. Oxygen is your friend in primary, where must becomes wine.

Secondary is anerobic, and oxygen becomes your enemy. That is why carboys topped with bubblers are used. That is also why the mantra "top up, top up, top up" is recited. In anaerobic fermentation, the yeast undergo a change in the way they process the wine. Further, oxygen will oxydize your wine, can promote the growth of unwanted bacteria, mold and yeasts if there is still adequate sugar present, and can stress your chosen yeast at a crucial time when it should be settling down and mellowing out. All of those mean bad tasting wine and/or vinegar.

These are proven steps in successful use for thousands of years in a variety of forms. Even though literally every other aspect of winemaking has changed, the aerobic/anaerobic cycle has not. There's a reason. ;)

If you plan to use grapes, ideally you'd invest in a press and press the juice from them. Put the grapes in a strainer bag and then press them and press again until no more juice comes out. Use that juice to make your wine.

If you wish to avoid a press, put the crushed grapes into a nylon 5-gallon paint strainer bag from Lowes or HD and tie off the end. Squeeze out the bag gently when fermentation is done and discard the whole thing - they're cheap.

If you had a pail of grape mess, you could have used another bucket with the 5-gallon strainer attached and poured through it to get the same result. Squeeze the bag out when the pouring is done. I have used loose fruit, too, and this works fine for that. But it really is better to get the crushed fruit in a bag from the beginning.
 
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Thanks Jim and Dend. I will have to pick up some of those 5 gallon mesh bags at lowes next time I'm down that way to keep on hand.
zack
 
If you take all that sediment and place it in a large, clear glass container, and seal it up, in a few days the sediment will settle and leave the clear wine at the top. You can then siphon the wine off the sediment.

It is important to fill that container as close to the top as possible until it settles, as the wine can oxidize.
 
Snap on a lid then unsnap one tab. Invert it at an angle and rest it into another bucket. Wine will seep out. You could do this for about a half hour.

Use sediment and make a skeeter pee
 

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