Extended Maceration

[pete1325]

Morning, I added a lug of fresh crushed grapes to my Chilean wine buckets to add more body. It's been cooking now for 4 days, all appears to be progressing nicely. I punch the cap down twice a day. My question is how long should I macerate the skins in juice? I was going to wait until it hit around 1.00 SG, but it's moving slower then I thought. any thoughts on if I should press the skins now or wait a full week or longer to extend the maceration and get the most out of the skins?? Thanks.....

 

[FXibley]

i would def wait at least a week especially if you think it's a slow ferment. i think what im gonna do this oct, since i finally got a press, is wait until fermentation is complete, the skins sink and no longer form a cap and then press.

 

[pete1325]

Thanks.......that's what I was thinking too. Not sure if I'll pull the press out for these two 6 gallon batches. I have them in a large strainer bags. Might just lift and squeeze. Thanks again.

 

[jsbeckton]

I have fermented buckets that I dumped on freshly pressed skins from a all grape batch. They fermented really quickly due to all the yeast on those skins (3-4 days) and came out thin. My thought are the longer they are on the skins the better so if I ever do a bucket again I’m not pressing for at least a week no matter how quickly it finishes.

 

[winemaker81]

I'd treat it like fresh grape wine -- press at ~1.010 (or whatever your preferred threshold is). Get as much from the pomace as you can. Longer is better.