30 gallon brute fermenter question

[ibglowin]

I love my Harbor Freight dollies. Moved a boat load of stuff around the house sometimes even furniture ......

I got my White Brutes from HD online. Would you believe they don't carry the matching white lids? I had to order those from US Plastics. I have (8) 20G White Brutes with white lids. Have used them 3 crushes in a row now and they are holding up well and clean up nicely each Fall with a little Oxyclean back to good as new condition.

 

[geek]

Tom, Are you making wine from grapes this fall?

 

[Pumpkinman]

2 small batches Varis, about 500 lbs, it had been so long since I had gotten my hands dirty with fresh grapes that I was apprehensive, besides one small brain fart, everything is going as planned, the Yakima Valley Cab Sav is cold soaking at about 50°, I plan on bringing it back up to temp naturally on Monday, and pitching the yeast.
I'm probably going to make much more from Grapes with a bucket or two of Italian juices that I cannot get here in the US.
Adding about 9-10 lbs of crushed grapes per bucket this season has really livened them up.
I cannot wait to start making a few kick *** blends, at least a Super Tuscan, and a Bordeaux blend, I plan on playing with a few second runs as well, thanks to a good buddy or 2 that suggested it.
Kinda feel like a little kid in a toy store...LOL

 

[geek]

At the end I think grapes is the best way to make wine for a much better product.

Good luck, post pics...

 

[Pumpkinman]

lol.....it isn't just the best way... it is the original way...LMFAO

 

[geek]

I meant to say not the easiest way but for the product quality it is the best in my opinion.

I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job and be happy at the end, even though the starting process may be messy, LOL.

Pics...!!

 

[geek]

BTW, the lug you crushed to keep in the freezer to use in buckets next time, did you wash the grapes at all or not?

 

[Pumpkinman]

Varis, to be honest, this really isn't that difficult, you need to keep on top of things a bit more, but that is the fun part.
The lug that I split between the juice buckets was not rinsed, it was treated the same as the rest of the grapes with the exception of the enzymes, I destemmed, crushed, and split it between 3 juice buckets.
One bucket had started to ferment so I decided that I wouldn't add any grapes to the bucket, I wasn't sure if the wine would have benefited from it with only a few days fermentation left. I am fermenting in a much cooler environment, on the lower end of the temperature tolerance in an attempt to extract more from the grapes in the juice buckets.
Non of the grapes were left to freeze for other batches, but I plan on pressing and saving a few bags of the skins for future batches...maybe...

 

[geek]

my LHBS has Sangiovese but Lodi brand, not Lanza.
I plan to go and check it today.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Varis,
Lodi is a lower quality unless you can get Lodi Gold. Make sure you check them out and get a decent price per lug, what are they charging per lug?

 

[geek]

Need to call them now to see. I hope to have time to stop by today as I am hauling wood pellets from Farmington to Naugatuck in the van today, too much going on....
M&M doesn't have Lanza but other brands for $44 per log...too much of a trip for just 1 lug.

Will go to LHBS now and check what they have.

 

[geek]

He just ran out of Sangiovese, it was $39 for Lodi Gold.
How much you paid for Lanza?

 

[Pumpkinman]

In my opinion, that is a little high for Lodi, but who knows it may be spot on, Lanza was approx. $45.00

 

[geek]

I think I am going to buy from local Big Y supermarket at $34, they will get it from M&M anyways but the brand is something else, not Lanza and not Lodi.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Supermarket selling wine grapes?
I'd go to the distributor, M&M why take any chances when M&M isn't that far from you? M&M will have the freshest grapes available, the local guys will have older grapes unless wine makers go to the supermarket for them, I'd be very apprehensive, remember, you only get what you pay for, and every time you have to use another middleman in the chain, they are all potential points of failure, and each one has to mark them up to make their percentage.

Go direct to M&M, Better quality, vast selection, knowledgeable, experienced wine makers that not only know the market, but know their products, and the product will be fresh and less expensive....this isn't one of those times to look to cut corners, you'll regret it in the end.....my father always said.."garbage in, garbage out"....

 

[geek]

Thanks.
Big Y actually has no Sangiovese, the manager said he'd need to order from M&M and will get them in a couple days.
He said he needed to call M&M to know the brand as he didn't know. So it would be from M&M anyways, I am just intrigued and will find out the exact brand when M&M is open tomorrow.
At first he said price is $34 for the lug, wondering if he made a mistake on that price?

 

[Pumpkinman]

Varis, excuse my curiosity, but why don't you go to M&M and cut out the middleman and their markups? If he is charging you $34 per lug, you could probably get the exact same grapes for $30 or less.
I believe that last time we spoke, you mentioned M&M being 30 mins from you.

 

[petey]

I love my Harbor Freight dollies. Moved a boat load of stuff around the house sometimes even furniture ......

I got my White Brutes from HD online. Would you believe they don't carry the matching white lids? I had to order those from US Plastics. I have (8) 20G White Brutes with white lids. Have used them 3 crushes in a row now and they are holding up well and clean up nicely each Fall with a little Oxyclean back to good as new condition.

Harbor freight just had dollies on sale, bought a few of them and they sure came in handy moving my demijohns around .and after pressing 100 liters of must a pinch of k-meta sure works to rid yourself of purple hands

 

[geek]

I guess I am heading to Home Depot to get me a gray 20-gal brute for $19.97. I wish they had the white one in store but like Mike said only online....grrr

The white brute at Tractor Supply is $30 for the 20-gal like others said.

 

[GreginND]

It's just a color. The grey ones work just as well!