how many grapes to use?

[zack67360]

am 5 days post op of rotator cuff repair, so a bit handicapped. have harvested and destemmed 162# of my grapes so far. I have 2 - 5 gallon primary buckets going to which I have 18 # pureed grapes, 8# sugar, nutrient Kmeta, 2 tbls pectic enzyme and ec-1118 yeast. I do not have a press, thus run grapes thru food processor using plastic blade to semi liquefy. am thinking of adding 6# more grapes to each primary today as color not as strong as would like. for next batches, how many # of pureed grapes would you recommend?
thank you,
zack

 

[Rocky]

Zack, from what you have written it sounds like you pureed the grapes, seeds and all (unless you were using a seedless variety such as Thompson's). If you did so, you may have introduced some bitter tannins in the wine. I recommend for the future you just crush the grapes into the fermenter.

You can fashion a workable wine press using two of the 6 gallon grape juice buckets. Leave one as is and drill a series of small holes in the bottom (50 or so) and lower 1/3 of the sides (100 or so) of the other. Take your grapes out of the fermenter after racking the free run and put about 2 gallons of skins into the undrilled bucket. Nest the drilled bucket into the undrilled bucket and press down on the undrilled bucket. You can also put a 2 x 4 across the top of the drilled bucket and sit on it for more pressure. The juice will flow through the holes and can be scooped out of the drilled bucket with a cup or ladle. Crude, but it works.

 

[JohnT]

Agree with rocky. When I started out, I had a set up just like what rocky described. Cheep and it works. Pureeing the grapes is not the best thing to do.

 

[zack67360]

thank you for the info on making a DIY press. but still wondering how many # of grapes to use to make 5 gallons of wine. one place I found said 14#, seems a bit light. another said 56#, at a loss.
as for pureeing, that is why I used the plastic blade, so it would not cut the seeds up, only the skins and flesh of the grape. will tannins leach out of the unbroken seeds?

 

[grapeman]

For most grapes, you want to use pure juice, not diluted or in your case pure grapes. Like said, be careful not to break the seeds open. Most red grapes take 12-16 pounds per gallon of finished wine, so a 5 gallon batch would take between 60 and 80 pounds. What variety of grapes are you using? Seems a bit early for Kansas................

 

[zack67360]

thanks grapeman. not sure of the variety, a dark purple, almost black looking grape. planted many years ago and only last few years got interested in wine making so started taking care of them. biggest yield yet was this year. grapes, raspberries and blackberries are irrigated with the waste water from my koi pond. all have done well. 10 gallon raspberry in carboys, 15 gallon blackberry as well. and another 6 gallons of blackberries in freezer for pies. just checked grapes, more are black/purple and ready to pick. very sweet tasting flesh.