Cellar Craft Grape skins

[ehammonds]

Okay, should've asked before I did this. Started a cellar craft walla walla cab/merlot. For a change, I thought I'd forego putting the skins inside of the bag and instead just pour the skins directly into the must. Figured this would more closely resemble "real" winemaking and allow for greater contact during maceration. I realize I'm creating more work at my first racking and probably extra difficulty trying I punch down this cap, but are there any other problems looming? Bad idea maybe? I've been stirring the must for an hour so far (haven't pitched the yeast yet) and Gravity is already at .100. Not sure if my technique though had anything to do with this.

 

[richmke]

I've done it both ways - in bag, and free. I personally prefer free.

First racking is not that much harder. The bag does make it easier to squeeze juice out the skins. I usually rack; squeeze the skins as I remove them from the bottom; finish racking what was squeezed out.

 

[roger80465]

Only problems occur if you are a lazy wine maker like me I don't see a great deal of difference between letting them float and putting them in a bag. I have done both. Racking to secondary is a PITA when they float. I have seen others use a sanitized strainer and scoop as many as possible out prior to racking. Others have put their racking cane in a sanitized strainer during racking to keep the skins from clogging the racking cane. There are ways to overcome the inconvenience, but they take a little creativity.

The Cab/Merlot it outstanding and worth the effort.

 

[Boatboy24]

I've done it twice and both times, racking to secondary was a pain in the arse. The racking cane kept clogging. For others, its no big deal. As they say, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[olusteebus]

Put a paint strainer bag iin the primary, pour the juice and skins in and ferment. remove bag and squeeze gentlyl

http://www.lowes.com/pd_126394-968-...+gallon+paint+straining+bag&page=1&facetInfo=

 

[SouthernChemist]

Allowing the grape skins to float freely will not have any negative effects on the wine besides making transfer potentially difficult (or very difficult). That being said, you're not likely to get anything more out of them versus putting them in a straining bag given the time frame involved.