Lugs to Must to Juice to Bottle Calculation

[Vinoors]

I've seen a lot of references for "x amount of grapes" yields "x amount of bottles", but I was hoping someone could bridge the gap for me in terms of how they get there. I'm really interested in knowing how many gallons of must I should expect to have from 20 lugs of grapes (for yeast calculation and stuff like Opti Red and Lallzyme EX). I may just jump right in to the new world this year and forego a small experimental batch.

I'm now thinking of 20 lugs of Zin with RP15 yeast, Lallzyme EX and/or Opti Red, plus fermaid K for nutrients.

 

[Johnd]

I've seen a lot of references for "x amount of grapes" yields "x amount of bottles", but I was hoping someone could bridge the gap for me in terms of how they get there. I'm really interested in knowing how many gallons of must I should expect to have from 20 lugs of grapes (for yeast calculation and stuff like Opti Red and Lallzyme EX). I may just jump right in to the new world this year and forego a small experimental batch.

I'm now thinking of 20 lugs of Zin with RP15 yeast, Lallzyme EX and/or Opti Red, plus fermaid K for nutrients.

3 lugs of grapes yields approximately 10 gallons of must yields 6.5 - 7 gallons of finished wine yields 33 - 35 bottles of wine. The varietal, harvest conditions, etc. affect these, I've seen them a tad higher and lower, but it's my rule of thumb when planning my orders.........YMMV.

 

[Boatboy24]

Agree with John. I do 3 lugs for a 6 gallon batch and usually have a little extra - sometimes not. It starts out as around 12 gallons of must.

 

[Ajmassa]

3 lugs of grapes yields approximately 10 gallons of must yields 6.5 - 7 gallons of finished wine yields 33 - 35 bottles of wine. The varietal, harvest conditions, etc. affect these, I've seen them a tad higher and lower, but it's my rule of thumb when planning my orders.........YMMV.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I've been trying to search the same thing to no avail and didn't want to keep pestering the forum with questions.
Feeling confident my numbers were pretty much on target.
~18lbs = ~1 gal wine = ~1.75 gal total must.

Here's a great little spreadsheet guideline @NorCal posted in another thread. (The must and wine volumes at the top made me question my own numbers but I think I'm just reading his system wrong. Either way he has all the necessary addition dosages right there to easily reference)

 

[zadvocate]

My understanding is that total pounds x .1 yields the gallons of must then take gallons of must x .6 or .7 depending on the grapes. ( Bordeaux vs rhone)This has worked for me .

 

[sdelli]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I've been trying to search the same thing to no avail and didn't want to keep pestering the forum with questions.
Feeling confident my numbers were pretty much on target.
~18lbs = ~1 gal wine = ~1.75 gal total must.

Here's a great little spreadsheet guideline @NorCal posted in another thread. (The must and wine volumes at the top made me question my own numbers but I think I'm just reading his system wrong. Either way he has all the necessary addition dosages right there to easily reference)View attachment 38803

I must disagree with these calculations. Been making wine from grapes for years and these are wrong.

 

[Ajmassa]

I must disagree with these calculations. Been making wine from grapes for years and these are wrong.

You make a great point.

And FWIW those numbers are all rounded up. And are for the purpose of having a big enough fermenter, purchasing enough nutrients and yeast, and yielding enough wine to fill the vessel and have extra for topping.
No one equation will ever be "correct" since there's about 100 variables affecting everything.

 

[Ajmassa]

Ok. I'll bite. ---- What are your calculations?

 

[sdelli]

These are the calculations I have been using for years and come very close every year. Yeast and nutrients of course are still per directions. I do use 1 gram of yeast per gallon of must though.

Total amount of fresh grapes times 10% equals volume of must
500lbs of grapes equals 50 gallons of must

Total amount of grapes times 6%-7% equals wine [basket press]
Total amount of grapes times 7%-8% equals wine [bladder press]
500lbs grapes times 7% equals 35 gallons of wine

So, if I was crushing 500lbs of grapes I would purchase 50 grams of yeast