Bucket Press Revisited

[Enologo]

I wanted to add some fresh grapes to the juice pails I was making but I didn't have a press to use for when it came time in the process to take that step. I had read on the forum about several different versions of home made presses so I thought I would give the bucket press a try. One thing about doing juice pails you wind up with plenty of extra buckets. So I took one of the buckets and drilled a couple dozen holes in the bottom. Another bucket would be the receiving one and another would be used as the pressing part. I crushed the grapes by hand and added them to the juice, fermented my must and when the time came put the grapes into the bucket with the holes which was sitting in the receiving bucket then inserted the third bucket and began to press. It worked. I was so happy to have reached a new level and couldn't wait to try it again. The second attempt was with a 36lb lug, the previous had been Chilean grapes which I didn't realize at the time was only 18lbs. Now the lager volume of grapes highlighted some problems that I had noticed the first time but again being so thrilled to actually have accomplished it I overlooked them. The things I was not quite happy with were, pressing seemed to get the buckets so squashed together it was difficult to separate them again due to the suction created. Also the way the buckets nested together it only allowed a few inches of space in the receiving bucket for the juice that is pressed so that I had to switch buckets to have enough capacity. This spacing also was a problem in that the bucket being used to press could only get down so far so not able to fully press the pulp. So here is what I did.
To address the suction problem I drilled additional holes in the side of the bucket.

To address the receiving bucket capacity I made spacers by cutting the top portion off two other buckets.

When added to the bucket with the holes and inserted into the receiving bucket this will give me about an additional 8 inches of space.

To be able to fully press the pulp I added some wood to the bottom of the pressing bucket so I could get some more of that precious juice out.

When not in use the whole thing stacks together nicely and gets tucked away in a corner out of the way.

I think this should work for me for small batches until I can restore the press I just acquired.

 

[sour_grapes]

Enologo, that rig looks great! It looks like you made large improvements on the deficiencies with relatively easy changes. Nice work!

 

[ou8amaus]

I recently went through your exact thought process on the deficiencies of the bucket pressing method! Difference is you really brought some great innovations to the table. I do not have enough buckets yet to follow through on your improvements... but plan is on place and next year I will. Thanks!

 

[GreginND]

Love the innovation. But wondering why you didn't use a larger tub as the receiving container rather than a narrow bucket.

 

[Enologo]

Love the innovation. But wondering why you didn't use a larger tub as the receiving container rather than a narrow bucket.

Well to answer your question there were a couple of reasons. Firstly the buckets were handy since I already had them. I thought of using a larger tub but storage space is tight in my basement and I also thought if I had it sitting in a tub the pulp would still be in contact with the juice and I wanted to keep them seperate which is why I added the spacers but there is always more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[richmke]

It took me a day, but I finally figured out that you are using a 3 bucket method: press bucket, grape bucket w/ holes, receiving juice bucket - press into juice bucket; whereas I was envisioning a 2 bucket method: bottom bucket holds grapes, top bucket w/holes presses down on grapes - pour the juice out into the fermenter.

In the 3 bucket method, I would worry about blowing out the bottom of the grape (middle) bucket.