A great weekend so far!

[LoveTheWine]

Friday I volunteered to harvest grapes at a small local family owned vineyard.
This was My first time doing this and I really enjoyed it, got to sample some pretty nice wines including some straight from the barrel! Got to try my hand at bottling in the winery and even got invited to the crush, which unfortunately I could not attend.

Today my dad brought over 110# of apples from his property. We used my homemade scratter and press to make some Cider for him. This was the first time doing anything like this so It was a great bonding experience.

 

[JohnT]

Nice pics. I really like that press!

 

[roadwarriorsvt]

Sweet. I'm liking the press also!

 

[bakervinyard]

Great idea for the press. I can't wait till I have time to crush grapes.

 

[LoveTheWine]

Thanks for the compliments on the press everyone. It works great for apples and grapes and takes only hours to build! Next year I am going to beef it up a bit more, seal all the inner edges and build a stronger basket probably out of oak.

 

[LoveTheWine]

Here are some pictures of the scratter I built to grind up the apples.
It is just a sloped chute with a cylinder shaped wood held in place with a metal 1/2" rod. I originally used a wood dowel but it broke! The drum has stainless screws drilled in at an angle. These chip up the fruit and send it below. The drum is turned by a 1/2" power drill clamped onto the bar.

 

[HarvestRat]

Nice job! What was your juice yield, and what did you use to ferment? I just produced a carboy from 3 milk crates, and am finishing it through Malo right now.

 

[LoveTheWine]

Nice job! What was your juice yield, and what did you use to ferment? I just produced a carboy from 3 milk crates, and am finishing it through Malo right now.

We did about 100 lb or more. Got about 27L of juice maybe from granny smith and gala style apples.
Used lalvin 1118 yeast.

Did a batch myself earlier. Plan on a slight back sweetning with a non fermenting sugar and then bottle carbonating.

Did your malo start on it's own or did you make it happen yourself?