Options for secondary fermentationnn

[gcook1]

Hi everyone
So this has been an unbelievably great year for grapes in Michigan! I have a problem I hadn't thought I'd have!

I have a small vineyard I inherited. In the past 2 years, I've harvested about 200 lbs of wine grapes and had the equipment to handle that volume. Thanks to the great weather, finally learning pruning techniques and disease control, my output this year is MUCH bigger.

This year, I'm anticipating closer to 1,000 lbs of wine grapes. I've got some 55 gallon food grade containers for the primary fermentation process. But what about after that? How do you smaller vintners store the wine while it's going through the racking process? I can't picture 50 5 gallon carboys in my basement! What's another option? Any ideas?

 

[Poni]

Hey, you could use demijohns - 15 gallons. Flex tanks, stainless steel variable capacity tanks. Or 50 carboys!

 

[salcoco]

stainless steel barrels if you can find inexpensive. also wood barrels that can get expensive as well. flex tanks may be your best bet.

 

[Spikedlemon]

Neutral barrels might be reasonable if you can find them. Any commercial wineries near you that you could call and ask around?

220L re-built barrels are around $200 in niagara. New are at least double that.

 

[JohnT]

Let's first assume that you will end up with about 27 lugs (972 pounds).

My best recommendation is for you to get a Variable Capacity Stainless steel tank. Here are the advantages..

- The tank will hold the equivalent of almost 6 54 liter demijohns while only taking up the floor space of one demijohn.

- Cleaning is a snap since you only have a single vessel to clean (rather than 5 or 6 demijohns.

- The tank is variable capacity. On most models, the tank lid can be brought down to the level of the wine you have. As a result, you headspace problems will be a thing of the past!!!!

- For the most part, tanks are also indestructible. They dent, but do not crack or shatter.

The bad news is that they can run close to $700. I have a number of them that I bought 15 years ago (or so) and they are still in great condition and have not regretted the purchase.