Extended Maceration

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pete1325

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Morning, I added a lug of fresh crushed grapes to my Chilean wine buckets to add more body. It's been cooking now for 4 days, all appears to be progressing nicely. I punch the cap down twice a day. My question is how long should I macerate the skins in juice? I was going to wait until it hit around 1.00 SG, but it's moving slower then I thought. any thoughts on if I should press the skins now or wait a full week or longer to extend the maceration and get the most out of the skins?? Thanks.....
 
i would def wait at least a week especially if you think it's a slow ferment. i think what im gonna do this oct, since i finally got a press, is wait until fermentation is complete, the skins sink and no longer form a cap and then press.
 
Thanks.......that's what I was thinking too. Not sure if I'll pull the press out for these two 6 gallon batches. I have them in a large strainer bags. Might just lift and squeeze. Thanks again.
 
I have fermented buckets that I dumped on freshly pressed skins from a all grape batch. They fermented really quickly due to all the yeast on those skins (3-4 days) and came out thin. My thought are the longer they are on the skins the better so if I ever do a bucket again I’m not pressing for at least a week no matter how quickly it finishes.
 

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