Handling fruit other than grapes

[GreginND]

Hi folks. For those who are working on larger than home winemaking scales, I'm wondering how you go about dealing with fruits other than grapes in quantities. Specifically I am interested in how you crush chokecherries. I think they are too small to be effectively crushed in a standard grape crusher. I know when I press them later they will break apart then but I think the best color and flavor extraction occurs if you can break the cherries before fermentation.

So, how do you crush chokecherries?

And on a broader note, what other fruits/non-grape ingredients have you found require equipment or techniques to handle the fruit that is different than standard grape wine equipment?

Thanks.

 

[Norske]

Hi 4 Elements,
We are a fruit winery in Alaska. We were FINALLY permited last December so are still growing.
I can only suggest freezing the chokecherries first, then when you put them in your fermenter, their cell walls will rupture and with a lees tool, you may be able to lightly mash them.

We grow saskatoons, haskaps, blueberries, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, and rhubarb. We make wine from them all. When we harvest the berries, we clean them and they go directly into 5 gal food grade square containers, and then to the freezers. Once they are frozen, we then just dump them into our primaries and once they are thawed and we have went thru our pre fermantion adjustments, they are pretty well broken up. We usually will leave the fruit in for 5-6 days, then depending on the fruit, will run them through the bladder press.

 

[mmadmikes1]

What he said. I freeze all fruit except grapes. I don't have top crush or juice them the freezing breaks them down and fermentation finishes the job

 

[GreginND]

I freeze them too but when I scale up to my commercial operation it will be more difficult. I don't have freezer space for thousands of pounds of fruit.

My last batch of chokecherry wine came out great but they didn't break up much after being frozen and thawed. I had to really work to get them broken open.

Thanks Norske. I would love to visit your place some day. I tried my first haskap wine last night made by a winery in Montana. He did a great job. The wine is so interesting. Now I think I need to plant some haskaps.

 

[Runningwolf]

Greg, I don't know what a chokeberry is and appoligize for not looking first but, with blueberries we freeze and then crush. Then just like reds we ferment on skins then press.

 

[GreginND]

Chokecherries are smaller than grapes. And smaller than blueberries too, I think. I am not sure but my guess is they would go through the crusher and not get crushed. Maybe you can tell me if the crusher distance is variable? If not, what is the typical crush distance?

Here's some Canada Red chokecherries from last summer. The wine is coming along nicely.

 

[Runningwolf]

Good catch Greg. Yes the crusher is variable and we did have to make the adjustment. The choke berries appear to be about the same size.

 

[Norske]

We don't have freezer space for thousand of pounds either. We deal with this 2 ways. Our berries ripen at different times so we can harvest, freeze, then send to the fermenters to keep our freezers avaialble. Once we are maxed out on our freezers and fermenters, I have a 90 agreement with our local ice supplier to store in his huge walk in (24x40) freezer. I have a great deal with him. He only charges me a small amount per pallet and I can stack the pallets as high as I dare. Each food grade bucket will hold 20-25 pounds of fruit and I can get a lot of them on one pallet. We go down and get them when needed and just continue the process.
You must have been to Tongue river winery in MT. Bob is a good man and long time wine maker. He was the first to ever commercially produce Haskap wine in the USA. We will be #2 You are correct in the wine is very unique and I believe it will become the "northern grape." We now have 3 acres of Haskaps growing and this will be our flagship wine.
If you ever make it to our part of AK please stop by. I'll do the same next time I am in your neck of the woods..er plains.
If you don't have saskatoons you may want to give them a go. We grow several varities and they make a good wine. They would grow well in ND.

 

[GreginND]

That's a good idea. I should start making friends with the folks here who have some big walk-ins.

Yes, it was Bob. Great guy. He happened to be driving through Fargo and stopped by with some things to taste. He has lots of interesting wines. I am so intrigued with haskaps and will likely plant some this year. Can you tell me how much fruit one bush will produce?

So, in general, standard winemaking equipment will be adequate for processing most other fruits?

 

[Norske]

As you well know the amount of yield varies due to many circumstances, however, the average yield of a 5+ year old plant is 8#'s. You get some fruit by year 3, but from about year 5 on is when you will get a good and steady crop. These are long lived plants. Some reach 50-60 years of age. Visit our website for more info on them. www.alaskaberries.com

 

[mmadmikes1]

Hell I thought is was freezing in North Dakota every month but July and August during bug season.

 

[UBB]

I'm sure you know this Greg, but be careful with chokecherries as their pits contain cyanide I believe. Running a large quantity through a crusher wouldn't be advisable I would think.

 

[GreginND]

Thanks. I know. The pits should be too small for the crusher to actually crush. I would adjust it to only break open the fruit. It's actually very hard to break the pits so I am not that worried.