Crusher.

[Musissa]

Hello again,

Please give me your recommendations on what crusher is the best for our needs. Manual is fine but electrical is fine too. Something not big, easy to operate and of high quality. We will have no more than 200-300lbs of grapes to crush and don't mind destemming them manually. We trust our fingers more than any machine. Thank you so much in advance!

 

[Paulie vino]

Check Facebook marketplace or Craigslist fur used stuff. Something like this would work.
https://morewinemaking.com/products/manual-grape-crusher-1.html

 

[Musissa]

Check Facebook marketplace or Craigslist fur used stuff. Something like this would work.
https://morewinemaking.com/products/manual-grape-crusher-1.html

Thank you! Looks nice!

 

[Obbnw]

Hello again,

Please give me your recommendations on what crusher is the best for our needs. Manual is fine but electrical is fine too. Something not big, easy to operate and of high quality. We will have no more than 200-300lbs of grapes to crush and don't mind destemming them manually. We trust our fingers more than any machine. Thank you so much in advance!

We just destem by hand and mash with a potato masher.

60 lbs a night is easy/relaxing, 150 lbs one night was a chore. (We had been out town and came home right before a long hard freeze was forecast so we had to get all the remaining grapes off the vines.)

But I am looking at a 900 lb harvest this year, so destemming by hand is going to be a big time commitment. Maybe I should invest in some real wine making tools ; )

 

[Musissa]

We just destem by hand and mash with a potato masher.

60 lbs a night is easy/relaxing, 150 lbs one night was a chore. (We had been out town and came home right before a long hard freeze was forecast so we had to get all the remaining grapes off the vines.)

But I am looking at a 900 lb harvest this year, so destemming by hand is going to be a big time commitment. Maybe I should invest in some real wine making tools ; )

Congratulations on having such a great harvest this year! We did have some grapes last year, destemmed and crushed by hands and then by potato masher. Don't ask what happened to our first "wine" I drunk it alone and it was yummy, but my husband refused, declared emergency, bought books, yeast and equipment as well as 5 gallons of Cab Sauvignon juice from Double A. Traditional Eastern European way of making wine didn't work for us Here is our new masher, we bought it last year at Asian City in West Jordan, they sell good restaurant equipment.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

I would lean towards a manual (hand crank) crusher-destemmer if possible. Here is one version - there are several Italian brands (Marchisio, EnoItalia, Cantinetta) I think all similar in terms of design, operation and quality.

Two people can easily crush up to 1000lb in a morning/afternoon, and I've crushed up to a ton, though at that level it's easier if you have a larger crew to take turns at the different jobs - loading the hopper, cranking the handle, moving buckets of crushed grapes into your primary fermenter, etc. You will end up with a few stems in your must, but it's not a big deal.

They come in a few different quality levels: painted, partly stainless and all stainless steel (I have the partly stainless version, where the body is painted but all the parts that come into contact with grapes are stainless steel). The crusher rollers can be aluminum, nylon or rubber; rubber is best (or at least gentlest on the grapes) but the others are fine.

That potato masher will not be wasted; it is a great punch down tool!

 

[montanarick]

Enotalia crusher/destemmer motorized stainless steel

 

[Garagista]

This guy uses a milkcrate for small batches...
Home Winemaking Channel

 

[Greg Corey]

I have the Enotalia crusher/destemmer manual version. If you don’t trust the machine to destem then just get the crusher but it really does a wonderful job without breaking/crushing stems and one person loading while the other cranks is pretty easy.

@Musissa and @Obbnw let me know if you want to borrow it. I’m sure we can work around each other’s harvest.

 

[Musissa]

I have the Enotalia crusher/destemmer manual version. If you don’t trust the machine to destem then just get the crusher but it really does a wonderful job without breaking/crushing stems and one person loading while the other cranks is pretty easy.

@Musissa and @Obbnw let me know if you want to borrow it. I’m sure we can work around each other’s harvest.

You are so kind, thank you so much! I will contact you if we need your thing, but we are hoping to buy our own. I will check Enoitalia online and tell my husband to check it too.

 

[Musissa]

I would lean towards a manual (hand crank) crusher-destemmer if possible. Here is one version - there are several Italian brands (Marchisio, EnoItalia, Cantinetta) I think all similar in terms of design, operation and quality.

Two people can easily crush up to 1000lb in a morning/afternoon, and I've crushed up to a ton, though at that level it's easier if you have a larger crew to take turns at the different jobs - loading the hopper, cranking the handle, moving buckets of crushed grapes into your primary fermenter, etc. You will end up with a few stems in your must, but it's not a big deal.

They come in a few different quality levels: painted, partly stainless and all stainless steel (I have the partly stainless version, where the body is painted but all the parts that come into contact with grapes are stainless steel). The crusher rollers can be aluminum, nylon or rubber; rubber is best (or at least gentlest on the grapes) but the others are fine.

That potato masher will not be wasted; it is a great punch down tool!

Thank you so much! Great information, thanks for your time. We are looking at them right now.

 

[Musissa]

This guy uses a milkcrate for small batches...
Home Winemaking Channel

Thank you! I was looking for reliable channels on YouTube providing step by step instructions. There are so many people on YouTube who don't know what they are doing but pretend to be great experts. That's what we did last year, followed one Italian guy's video instructions on how to make a few gallons of red wine from home grown grapes for ourselves. No yeast, no sugar, no water, no chemicals. The fermentation stopped very soon, I alone consumed very yummy juice, but it wasn't wine.

 

[Musissa]

Enotalia crusher/destemmer motorized stainless steel

Thank you, I appreciate your advice. We are looking for manual version, but definitely Enoitalia is one of the brands we are considering. Thanks to all commentators who contributed!

 

[meridaen]

This guy uses a milkcrate for small batches...
Home Winemaking Channel

I learnt off this guy and have done 4 vintages using milk crates, pretty easy work. 120 kg one time was a bit more of a chore, but still not too bad. We all love doing this stuff anyway.

 

[Obbnw]

I have the Enotalia crusher/destemmer manual version. If you don’t trust the machine to destem then just get the crusher but it really does a wonderful job without breaking/crushing stems and one person loading while the other cranks is pretty easy.

@Musissa and @Obbnw let me know if you want to borrow it. I’m sure we can work around each other’s harvest.

I may take you up on your offer.

The way my work schedule is looking I'm going to have to be out of town a fair amount, which screws my normal 50-60lbs a night schedule.

I may harvest the tempranillos on Sept 17 or 18.

 

[Greg Corey]

I may take you up on your offer.

The way my work schedule is looking I'm going to have to be out of town a fair amount, which screws my normal 50-60lbs a night schedule.

I may harvest the tempranillos on Sept 17 or 18.

Sounds good. I probably won't harvest again until the week after. I'll message you directly so we can coordinate.