A Pressing Question for Bladder & Ratchet Press users

[Mac60]

Just completed Season 2019 We hand crushed over 2300 lbs of grapes 1440 lbs OV Zin blend and 864 lbs of Lanza Sangiovese Brunello Cab blend.
Yesterday we pressed everything and yielded 116 Gallons of Zin Blend and 76 Gallons of San/Cab blend. Total of 192 Gallons
It took us 9 hours we used a 30Liter Stainless Steel ratchet press.
I'm thinking for next season upgrading to a bladder press, specifically a 80L Lanceman or 90L Speidel.
What's everyone using for 1to1-1/2 ton of grapes, how much time would I save vs my current 30L basket press.

Thanks
Mike

 

[CDrew]

I have a Speidel 40 and make about 1/3 of your volume. You guys make A LOT of wine! I have used a 35 Ratchet press in the past. The Bladder press is a bit faster, easier to sterilize and easier to clean. And the press itself is FAST. Just a few minutes. I only press to 2 Bar at the most, but most of the wine is out by 1.5 bar. And despite what the website says, with grapes, the press is over quickly. Maybe with apples it takes 30 minutes. With enzymed and fermented grapes, it seems to take 5 minutes or less.

So you would save some time with a bladder press, but you might need a big one to do it. Like any press, the hassle is the cycling and clean up, and the bladder press is easier to cycle between pressings and easier to clean (but only by a little). Just based on handling the Speidel 40 full of pomice, the 90 would be a bear to handle alone. The tilting mechanism of the Lanceman looks like a back saver to me.

The numbers on a basket press are misleading for us Americans. I think it refers to the diameter in cm, not the capacity in Liters.

You likely do need a bigger press for your volume, so it's time for an upgrade! You won't go backwards, so enjoy your bladder press.

 

[Jay A]

Mike, I'm usually at 1,080 pounds/year. I have no experience with bladder press', & like yourself have been using a #30 ratchet press until a few years ago. I currently use a #50 hydraulic basket press, what a game changer. It cuts the press time down substantially. It's all about the capacity, no more multiple presses at this quantity. With the #30 pressing was very time consuming. The #50 is a great fit for me.

I still use the #30 when doing 2 separate fermentation's of lesser quantities to keep things separate, but there are times I'm tempted to throw it all in the #50.

Hydraulics is easier on the elbow but the capacity is the key in my opinion.

 

[stickman]

I'm just estimating rough numbers, but you might load the 90L press once for every 500lbs of fermented grapes, so maybe around 5 loads for your 2300lbs of fruit. Others with more experience using this equipment I'm sure will chime in.

 

[Donz]

Here's a pic of my 50 and 35 press we run together. Looking forward to pressing this weekend.

 

[4score]

We have a 50 basket press and usually do presses from 1000-2000 grape pounds per session. We did a Viognier between three groups a couple of weeks ago. Crushing and basket pressing 1000 pounds was taxing for one day. Plus, I think we left a lot of juice in the grapes just because when doing a white, there's no fermentation/maceration before the press, so the pressing is less efficient. That's where the bladder press would have helped. With several big crushes still to come this season, including another white, our group decided to buy the Speidel 90-liter bladder press. It just arrived and we're excited to try it in a week or so when we'll be pressing a ton of Barbera.

Did you end up buying a bladder press? Which one? What's your take on it? Any best-practice recommendations?

 

[Mac60]

We have a 50 basket press and usually do presses from 1000-2000 grape pounds per session. We did a Viognier between three groups a couple of weeks ago. Crushing and basket pressing 1000 pounds was taxing for one day. Plus, I think we left a lot of juice in the grapes just because when doing a white, there's no fermentation/maceration before the press, so the pressing is less efficient. That's where the bladder press would have helped. With several big crushes still to come this season, including another white, our group decided to buy the Speidel 90-liter bladder press. It just arrived and we're excited to try it in a week or so when we'll be pressing a ton of Barbera.

Did you end up buying a bladder press? Which one? What's your take on it? Any best-practice recommendations?

We did not purchase a Bladder Press yet, We are planning on the 2nd week of October for our 2020 season we have aprox 3000Lbs of grapes we are going to make wine with. We are bottling last years vintage on Friday and will make the decision to buy a Bladder press. Right now its between a Lanceman and Hydra Press by Zambelli we are looking for all stainless. I would like to hear your thoughts and expierience with the Speidel 90
Mike

 

[user 36973]

Plus, I think we left a lot of juice in the grapes just because when doing a white, there's no fermentation/maceration before the press, so the pressing is less efficient

I've been crushing and pressing some whites for the last couple days. About 3 tons so far. I use a 450L bladder press. It holds about 1000lbs of crushed nonfermented must or 2000lbs of skin fermented must per run.

One note is that since the bladder press only operates at house type water pressure (2 bar), it is nicely gentle but will still leave juice in your grapes if you try to whole cluster press or do not allow enough time for the pectic enzymes to help juice them. I'll find uncrushed whole grapes in the pomace.

The last couple years I've crushed the whites and allowed them to initiate fermentation overnight and then pressed the next morning. Much better yield plus more intense varietal expression. I'm sure there are some varietals where this would not be a good idea but it works the ones I have (Cayuga, traminette and seyval)