Does anyone else deal with spigot getting clogged every year after fermentation?

[joeycannoli]

Does anyone else deal with this BS every year? No matter what I do my spigot, in whatever vessel I use, ALWAYS gets clogged when transferring to secondary. Ive tried screens, largest spigots… still getting clogged to the point where I just bucket the juice and must out of the primary and into the press.

Are there any tricks or recommendations to help improve the process? I’m always worried about oxidation exposing the wine and must to too much air. Is it not that huge of a deal at this point in the process?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks all

 

[Rocky]

Does anyone else deal with this BS every year? No matter what I do my spigot, in whatever vessel I use, ALWAYS gets clogged when transferring to secondary. Ive tried screens, largest spigots… still getting clogged to the point where I just bucket the juice and must out of the primary and into the press.

Are there any tricks or recommendations to help improve the process? I’m always worried about oxidation exposing the wine and must to too much air. Is it not that huge of a deal at this point in the process?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks all

Joey, tell us more about what wine you are making, i.e. is it from fresh fruit, kits or juice?

When we made wine at home many, many years ago from fresh grapes, we would scoop out the cap from the working barrel and put it in another working barrel, to make "second wine." Once the majority of the skins were removed, we opened the spigot for the "free run" and segregated this wine, which was marked "per la famiglia." We then added sugar and water to the "second wine" and allowed it to ferment. When the second wine was fully fermented and ready for transfer, we scooped out the skins and put them directly in the press, pressed them and moved the juice from the press and the rest in the working barrel to the clearing barrel.

I no longer make wine from fresh grapes and mostly use high quality kits or juice buckets augmented with a lug or two of fresh grapes. With kits, I always put any grape skins in bags before placing the bag in the wine. When adding grapes to juice buckets, I follow our old way, i.e. scoop out the skins first, press or squeezed them by whatever method is available (sold both of my presses) and then open the spigots on the working barrel or bucket. I occasionally get a clot which I clear with a length of copper wire push into the outlet side of the spigot and worked in and out to clear the obstruction.

 

[joeycannoli]

Making from grapes. I think some of the grapes skins started to fall out of suspension from the cap since it was the end if fermentation and thus built up around the spigot and clogged it.

This step in the process just never seems to go seamless for me and always ends up being so much more work than it should. I worry having the juice exposed to the air when using buckets to get it out will have a negative impact

 

[Jim Welch]

How big is your fermentation vessel? I use 10 gal Brutes and am going to 20 gal Brutes now. I use a bulkhead spigot on them and have had custom mesh bags made for them. Everything goes in the mesh bag which I leave open and secured to the rim of the Brute. When it’s time to transfer I pull up the drawstring closure and secure it to a hook in the ceiling, slightly lifting the bag to let it drain and keep the spigot free running.

 

[Jbu60]

Forget the spigot. Try this: Transfer everything from primary into a basket press, including free run. I use a small pail to scoop. Scoop everything out of the primary, starting with skins, then eventually scooping out all the free run. Pour the free run over the grapes in the basket. Basket acts as a filter, removing the sediment along the way. Press the rest. I discovered this by accident one time and been using it ever since. No need to drill hole into your fermenter, no need to siphon.

 

[Tonymmastro]

Does anyone else deal with this BS every year? No matter what I do my spigot, in whatever vessel I use, ALWAYS gets clogged when transferring to secondary. Ive tried screens, largest spigots… still getting clogged to the point where I just bucket the juice and must out of the primary and into the press.

Are there any tricks or recommendations to help improve the process? I’m always worried about oxidation exposing the wine and must to too much air. Is it not that huge of a deal at this point in the process?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks all

Scroll down and see the photos I posted!

 

[Jusatele]

I bought a wine press for this reason
I rack the must off the skins until it is just to thick to pass the spigot, then squeeze the @&#% out of the rest in the press
I am to cheap to not get every drop

 

[tjmeyer]

Joey, are you still having this problem? Interesting problem to have. Do you have anything with a false bottom?

Personal preference, but I never transfer must through a pump, asking for issues imo. Instead you can use an air vacuum pump to place your carboy (or whatever vessel you're using to transfer to) under an air vacuum, forcing the wine to transfer that way. I've never had clogging issues doing it that way, but I also always use a false bottom in my must tanks. A good example of this is Blichmann Engineering's WineEasy product. You can do the same principle without the expensive stainless steel equipment, just need the air pump and a carboy. It also doubles as a very good degasser.