Removing Raisins?

[fiat84]

Hi:

Ran into some serious clogging during racking issues with blendered raisins
which kept clogging up the J-tube. My not very easy solution was to bend a fine mesh
strainer, then insert the racking tube tip into the strainer, then lowered both
into the wine. Had removed the floating raisins
with a strainer but there were still enough sunken raisin bits to keep on clogging.



Realize now when adding raisins why people use woman's nylons or paint straining bags for the easy removal before racking. I tried wrapping some cheesecloth around the racking tip but that clogged as well. Perhaps solution is to add the raisins whole so they all float but thought chopped raisins would make a better wine. Adding raisins to improve red wine kits is new for me so curious about other people's experiences/solutions.

 

[summersolstice]

Hi fiat - I use a paint straining bag any time I have anything loose, other than oak, going into the must. I buy 3-packs at the store and they're cheap enough that I can throw them away after using them. Sometimes I use marbles to keep the bag submerged if I'm going to be gone for a couple of days during the primary stage but usually I punch the bag down once a day to keep everything from drying out. This really does save an enormous amount of work and headaches during racking.

I also drill a 1" hole 2-3 inches from the bottom of the primary and install an inexpensive plastic spigot, available at any LHBS. You can attach a tube to the spigot or let it pour straight into the secondary. This also save a lot of work.

 

[maize]

I've always added raisins whole. They float and can be skimmed off when racking. Also, after fermentation and squeezing the skimmed skins, there doesn't seem to be much to the taste if you try eating them. I never even thought about shredding them in a blender!

 

[fiat84]

Raisins comment in the Mosti section by masta: "After making a few of the MM kits with raisins and tasting the raisins
after removing from the primaryI would say there is no need to chop
them. All thesweetness is gone and since the sugar was extracted then
the added flavor, tannin and any other goodies would be also.
The key is to stir the batch daily as per the instructions to help with proper extraction."
http://www.winemakerstoystore.com/Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4359

 

[pkcook]

Maybe I'm off-base here, but I would think you would treat raisins just likefresh grapes. When you crushgrapes for wine making, you don't ferment them whole, and you don't pulverize them. You only need to break the skin; the yeast will do the rest. I have made wine using whole and minced raisins and I can tell you that a minced bag of raisins will not leave much behind after fermenting, but a bag of wholeraisins will weigh more than when you put them in. I'm not a scientist, but if I'm removing more weight than I'm putting in, I would conclude that I'm not getting as much from the raisins as I could if I mince them. Is my logic flawed? Edited by: pkcook

 

[NorthernWinos]

I have 5 pounds of Zante Grape raisins [fake black currants] Was wondering what to do with them???


I thought of getting another can of Vintners Harvest Black Currant fruit base and adding them to that...at least that's whatI thought when I bought them...now they are just sitting here....winter is coming...time for experimenting.


Maybe lots of muffins????

 

[Joanie]

That would make a LOT of muffins! How about some of each? Or you could make a plain muffins and dunk them in your Black Current wine?

 

[ras1]

I have 5 pounds of Zante Grape raisins [fake black currants] Was wondering what to do with them???


I thought of getting another can of Vintners Harvest Black Currant fruit base and adding them to that...at least that's whatI thought when I bought them...now they are just sitting here....winter is coming...time for experimenting.


Maybe lots of muffins????

I use these in primary on any kit I make that does not come with grape pack.


I do a quick chop to break the skins, then put them in a Cheese Cloth with Marbles in the sack then tie the cheese cloth end in knot


Several good aspects:


1) Keeps them submerged
2) Easy to give them a nice strir duing primary and keeps them all together
3) One quick toss and your ready to rack to secondary without any mess



Edited by: ras1

 

[Wade E]

I leave them whole and skim them off with a small strainer. Letting them float with no bag gives them more surface to leach out but is a little more of a mess later.

Edited by: wade

 

[smokegrub]

I put them in a paint straining bag, tie the bag and cut off the excess. Once the bag floats during fermentation I give it a good sqeeze daily.

 

[texasermd]

I have used an entire 680 gm container of raisins in a ice-wine type wine I have been experimenting with and when I stopped the fermentation, I used a large sterilized fish net to remove the raisins, placed them in a mesh bag and squeezed them as hard as I could by hand to get every last bit of goodness out of them before we ate several of them and discarded the rest. My 4 year old actually thought the plump, somewhat alcoholic raisins tasted good. Strange.