As I've posted previously- family tradition for the past several decades has been to buy 20-30 lugs of zinfandel (& a little alicante) and late nature run its course- no cultured yeast, no sulfite, etc. However, after lots of reading over the past 12 months, I am eager to experiment, and try a specific yeast strain and possibly even malolactic fermentation. My plan is to do this with a small batch w/o changing tradition, so I have the following questions....
1) Whats the minimum # of lugs required to experiment- 2 to 3 lugs for 5-6 gallons?
2) Do most people still use a manual hand crank crusher for such a small amount or should I just squeeze grapes by hand?
3) We have 3 large purple tubs for maceration, each of which would be way too large for a small amount, what do you recommend using instead?
4) Same issue with the press- I currently have 3 different sizes, all of which are too large for something like 2 to 3 lugs, so how do I separate the juice from the pomace?
1) Whats the minimum # of lugs required to experiment- 2 to 3 lugs for 5-6 gallons?
2) Do most people still use a manual hand crank crusher for such a small amount or should I just squeeze grapes by hand?
3) We have 3 large purple tubs for maceration, each of which would be way too large for a small amount, what do you recommend using instead?
4) Same issue with the press- I currently have 3 different sizes, all of which are too large for something like 2 to 3 lugs, so how do I separate the juice from the pomace?