What would you do?

[UBB]

Let's say you were expecting enough grapes from vines you were growing to make a 5/6 gallon batch this fall.

Now lets pretend you don't have a crusher/destemmer and you also do not have a press. Let's also figure that you do not have the opportunity to borrow or rent the equipment either.

Let's also factor in that you have never made wine from just grapes before, all your wine making experience has been with other fruits.

Given all these circumstances what would you do/go about making your wine?

 

[JohnT]

1- crushing / destemming..

At a minimum, I would get my hands on some decent wine yeast, yeast neutriant, acid test kit, and 1/2 pound of tartaric acid and 1/2 pound of k-meta. You can order these over the internet and receive them by mail. You also may need a fermentation trap, stopper, and a carboy to hold your wine.

I would go old school. I would put the grapes into a container and use my feet to smoosh them (washing my feet in k-meta solution several times first). I would them pour the resulting must through some chicken wire to "filter out" the stems, while allowing the grape skins to fall through.

Treat the must with k-meta, yeast neutriant, and adjust acid. wait 24 hours.

Pitch yeast and wait 6 days.

For a press, you can use either the "two bucket" approach or simply use cheesecloth.

 

[Rocky]

UBB, here is what I would do for the crushing and pressing. Get two same sized 6 gallon buckets e.g. in which wine grape juice is packaged. On one of the buckets, drill a series of holes (about 1/4' should do well) in the bottom, maybe 20 or so. These two buckets will be the crusher and the press. I would strip the grapes into the bottom of the bucket without holes and use the other bucket to crush them. Five or six gallons will requires about 70-80 pounds of grapes so you will have to work in batches. Once the grapes are crushed, dump everything (skins and juice) into the fermenter. Repeat until all grapes are crushed. Ferment the wine in primary for about 10-14 days or until the SG is under 1.010 then push the "holed" bucket slowly into your fermenter and scoop out the wine that runs into the bucket and put it into a secondary fermenter, e.g. a carboy. Once most of the juice is out, dump the remaining skins and juice into the bucket without holes and then insert the "holed" bucket to squeeze out the remaining juice. To get a good press, put a 2x4 across the top of the holed bucket and sit on it. This should work.

Notes:
1. Follow JohnT's advice on how to make the wine.
2. When drilling the holes, leave enough space between holes (about an inch) to maintain the integrity of the bottom.
3. Clean and sanitize both buckets regularly.
4. Make sure the buckets "nest" tightly.

Good luck!

 

[jamesngalveston]

i just did this...I picked 75 lbs of grapes..wed...50 for wine, 25 for jelly.
i did the bucket thing like rocky.but used an inverted hydraulic jack and steel plate do crush with.
after that, added stems seeds hulls all to my primary
it is happily fermenting.....my first grape wine....

 

[saramc]

I know people who destem by pulling stems thru the holes of a milk crate. I have done this, it worked for me. They crush/press by using two buckets, the bottom one having holes drilled in bottom/sides, fill with destemmed/fermented fruit, insert a smaller diameter bucket and press by filling with weights & placing plywood seat across the top and pressing (by sitting on, etc)...there is a large rubbermaid type tote collecting the pressed juice which is emptied as needed. Also knew someone who went out and bought a mop bucket with a wringer, used it to crush/press grapes. Of course cleaning/sanitizing all that you can is a given.

 

[Stressbaby]

Would a steam juicer work in this situation? I may be in this boat as well.

 

[saramc]

Would a steam juicer work in this situation? I may be in this boat as well.

Yes, in fact I know a few people who do this for winemaking & daily juice consumption (they can it) when the mood strikes.

 

[UBB]

The 'bucket press' sounds like the way I'll probably go if I don't acquire the proper equipment.

 

[GreginND]

The milk crate works great for hand destemming. After that, you could go old school, wash your feet and go to town.

 

[Arne]

Last year I had 130 lbs of Concord. Took a couple of different pickings to get them all. Didn't have a clue what I was doing. So, picked them, washed them, Actually just put them in some big beer coolers with clean water, sat down at a table and started pulling them off the stems. When I got a container fairly full, went to work with a potatoe masher (this was the easiest part), put the mash and juice in a strainer bag and into the primary. Checked the s.g. and adjusted with sugar. Checked acid, added all the regular chemicals. Added k-meta first, then the rest the next day and pitched the yeast. Still sitting in carboys. Doesn't taste too bad, tho. Keeps getting a little better every time I taste it. I do have a press and pressed them after a few days of fermenting. The worst part was getting rid of the stems. If I get the grapes this year again, will have to try the chicken wire or milk crate trick for desteming. Good luck with your grapes, Arne.

 

[Hokapsig]

I had 60 pounds of concord grapes from a friend last year with no crusher/destemmer or press. I hand destemmed and got the trusty potato masher and started to mash the grapes. a little k meta, let sit, sugar up to 1.080 and ferment. Then, from this site, I went over to Doug's and he graciously pressed off the skins for me. Find a Wine member nearby on the map and make a friend....

 

[GreginND]

Actually a paint straining bag and a sanitized mop wringer works pretty good in a pinch.

 

[UBB]

Actually a paint straining bag and a sanitized mop wringer works pretty good in a pinch.

I like that! Redneck wine making!

 

[Hokapsig]

after doing this, my wife said "never again". I had all the fruit flies in western PA at my house.

I WILL do it again, but at Doug or Dan's house.....

 

[sdelli]

Great ideas for creative pressing!

 

[JohnT]

after doing this, my wife said "never again". I had all the fruit flies in western PA at my house.

I WILL do it again, but at Doug or Dan's house.....

Move your operation inside! Flies are much less of a problem then.

 

[ffemt128]

after doing this, my wife said "never again". I had all the fruit flies in western PA at my house.

I WILL do it again, but at Doug or Dan's house.....

Fruit flies are part of the operation....They don't drink much. LOL

I get some flies in the cellar but not enough to cause any concern. Usually just make the trap with a little juice then come dish detergent in it to finish them off.

 

[shoebiedoo]

Try a good fan blowing over the top I would think that would keep them at day. The basement works good too