Pressing must.

[Becks the Elder]

Hi everyone,

My last batch of elderberry wine went much smoother now I have a better idea of what I'm doing, thanks in the main to those pieces of help and advice i received from this forum.

The first time I tried to rack from the primary to the secondary I was left with the problem of extracting the juice from the must. Sterilized rubber gloves and lots of hand squeezing eventually did the job but left the kitchen in one hell of a mess. The second time I did this I enlisted the help of my girlfriend and placed a large muslin cloth over the funnel. This worked much better as we wrung out the contents in small batches. Much less mess!

However, I wondered if it would be worth chucking the solids into a stainless steel / aluminium 1.5 kg / 1.5 ltr. Ferrari Fruit Press and pressing the juice out? Are there any disadvantages to pressing the must solids?

 

[smurfe]

You could do that or find a steam juicer. Either way is a good way to extract the juice from fruits. Freezing the fruit first and the juicing after thawed will assist in juice extraction as well.

 

[Becks the Elder]

Thanks for the response smurfe but I don't think I'll get much juice out of the fruit at the start of the process as it is all dried. What I'm asking is if using a press is a good way to extract the juice from the solids in the primary as it is transferred to the secondary.

 

[Luc]

Becks,

Sometimes (but not often) I put loose fruit in a nylon stocking. You can take the stocking easily out of the must and press by hand.

Most of the time when using 'loose fruit' I use my bucket sieve.

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2008/03/bouw-een-emmerzeef-building-bucket.html

The two cheesecloth filter the must to some extend and when
the must has drained I fold the second cheesecloth and press that by hand. Works like a charm.

Luc

 

[smurfe]

I didn't realize you were using dried elderberries. Those normally need to be re-hydrated. When I use those I either throw them right into the must or use a pantie hose as a fruit sack to contain them.

 

[Boozehag]

Hey Becks, glad to hear the first batch went well! Now onto the ginger two huh?!?

Ph can I ask while on the subject, if you freeze fruit and have a juicer (not steam.) would it be a good idea to juice the thawed fruit rather than add the fruit to the must?

I like the idea of not having to squeeze the pulp out either cause I made a mess too!