Wine Press Size

Jenks829 · Oct 20, 2010

I am getting ready to pick up 600lbs of grapes this weekend. (300lbs Merlot and 300lbs Cabernet Sauvignon). They will be crushed and destemed at the pick up point but will be up to me to press off the skins after fermentation. My local homebrew shop rents a 9.5 liter wine press.

What kind of day am I in for when we press all of this? I feel like it is going to take ALL DAY!

jtstar · Oct 20, 2010

on the conversion that I was using you will get about 9.5 lbs per crush thats a lot of crushing good luck do you have any wine to drink while your doing this if not you had better go buy some and settle in for a long day

Tom · Oct 20, 2010

Hope you have help!. A bottle or 2 would "HELP"

Tom · Oct 20, 2010

You getting them from Jason?

JohnT · Oct 20, 2010

Not as bad as you might think...

I assume that you are macerating your red wine for a number of days. In other words, when you go to press, your wine will have a "Cap" of grape skins.

I would recomend that you do the following..

take a 5 gallon plastic bucket and drill "tons" of 3/8 inch holes into the bottom an sides (in effect, you are making a big collandar). Actually, 1 use 4" PVC pipe (with an end cap) for much the same thing.

Stick the bucket into your wine and syphon off as much as you can. This leaves you with just the skins. You would be very surprised to find that most of the volume is gone.

Just press what remains (usually around 1/4 to 1/3 of the original volume).

I am not saying that using such a small press will be a walk in the park, but if you syphon off most of it, it will not take as long as you might think.

Jenks829 · Oct 20, 2010

JohnT said:
Not as bad as you might think...

I assume that you are macerating your red wine for a number of days. In other words, when you go to press, your wine will have a "Cap" of grape skins.

I would recomend that you do the following..

take a 5 gallon plastic bucket and drill "tons" of 3/8 inch holes into the bottom an sides (in effect, you are making a big collandar). Actually, 1 use 4" PVC pipe (with an end cap) for much the same thing.

Stick the bucket into your wine and syphon off as much as you can. This leaves you with just the skins. You would be very surprised to find that most of the volume is gone.

Just press what remains (usually around 1/4 to 1/3 of the original volume).

I am not saying that using such a small press will be a walk in the park, but if you syphon off most of it, it will not take as long as you might think.

John,

This sounds like a GREAT idea! I am doing MLF in 6.5 gallon glass carboys. Do you think I would get a different product in the carboys which are filled via the siphon compared to the carboys filled from the press? I am thinking of tannins pressed from the skins. Maybe I could fill each carboy half way from the siphon and top off from the press. Although the latter sounds like a PITA because I would have to anticipate volumes.

Tom,

Yes, Keystone Homebrew Supply is my go-to shop. I started out brewing beer and after getting to know the guys at the store, they put the idea of wine making in my head. It is all their fault!

grapeman · Oct 20, 2010

I have never heard of any press that small. It must be a tabletop model. I bet you can find something a tad bigger.

Wade E · Oct 20, 2010

That is a lot of grapes and a very small press!

Runningwolf · Oct 20, 2010

grapeman said:
I have never heard of any press that small. It must be a tabletop model. I bet you can find something a tad bigger.

So size does matter? :slp

JohnT · Oct 21, 2010

Jenks829 said:
John,

This sounds like a GREAT idea! I am doing MLF in 6.5 gallon glass carboys. Do you think I would get a different product in the carboys which are filled via the siphon compared to the carboys filled from the press? I am thinking of tannins pressed from the skins. Maybe I could fill each carboy half way from the siphon and top off from the press. Although the latter sounds like a PITA because I would have to anticipate volumes.

I have noticed a difference between "free run" and "pressed juices. I would agree that you should try to blend them if you are looking for consistancy in the wine.
This is what I do.

JohnT · Oct 21, 2010

Runningwolf said:
So size does matter?

It is not the size that matters, but how you use what you have.

Jenks829 · Oct 21, 2010

JohnT said:
It is not the size that matters, but how you use what you have.

This is true but you can't churn butter with a tooth pick.....

It looks like I am in for a long day. There are 4 couples involved in this gong show so there should be plenty of labor available. I just hope we can get it all done before the BAC rises too high and we start making mistakes.

JohnT · Oct 21, 2010

Jenks829 said:
This is true but you can't churn butter with a tooth pick.....

It looks like I am in for a long day. There are 4 couples involved in this gong show so there should be plenty of labor available. I just hope we can get it all done before the BAC rises too high and we start making mistakes.

Good Luck. Let us know how you make out.

Jenks829 · Oct 27, 2010

Great news. I just found out that my local homebrew shop rents a 40L and 80L bladder press!

JohnT · Oct 27, 2010

Much better. I would still recomend that you spyphon your free run juice first.

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