Pomace

[lawrstin]

Do you do anything with your pomace? I know you can make second run wines, brandy, etc.

 

[JohnT]

Making brandy or any distilled spirit is illegal (even if it is for your own personal consumption).

You could make a "second run" by adding water, sugar, and acid, but I have found that the result is not very good. Best to press it until dry, then compost it. Tomatos love composed grape skins!

 

[lawrstin]

It's only illegal if you get caught. No seriously, you can make brandy without distilling, it's called adding grain alcohol. Also, if you really feel a need you can obtain a distilling permit.

I was thinking about pressing the oil out of the seeds. Nothing but time on our hands, gaga, in Oklahoma.

The maters kind of past me by again.

Lawrence

 

[spaniel]

We used to make "seconds" all the time. Sometimes we'd save a few lbs of fresh fruit in the freezer to add in order to bring the flavor up a little bit.

Was it something we'd enter in a competition or give as a gift? NO.

Did we drink a metric ton of it and enjoy it as we were making better stuff? Absolutely.

This was with fruit wines -- black raspberries, cherries. I would not bother with grapes.

 

[lawrstin]

Thanks Spaniel, I put in the fridge in zip lock baggies. I may feed it to horse or might get a wild hair.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Yes I also make a 2nd run as well -
Typically I purchase more grapes than needed and I wont press soo hard on the 1st run. Then I add 1/2 of water that I initially got from the first run and add sugar to the desired amount.
Yes it can be good house wine or even better - for topping off wine for next year wines !!

 

[lawrstin]

Yes I also make a 2nd run as well -
Typically I purchase more grapes than needed and I wont press soo hard on the 1st run. Then I add 1/2 of water that I initially got from the first run and add sugar to the desired amount.
Yes it can be good house wine or even better - for topping off wine for next year wines !!

Thanks Vacuum, seems like you never have enough wine to top off, I'm going to try this.

 

[chrisjw]

Why can't grape-source winemakers vacuum pack their non-fermented pomice (with a little juice) and sell it to wine makers who use kits and juice buckets? Seems like there would be a market for this.

 

[JohnT]

We used to make "seconds" all the time. Sometimes we'd save a few lbs of fresh fruit in the freezer to add in order to bring the flavor up a little bit.

Was it something we'd enter in a competition or give as a gift? NO.

Did we drink a metric ton of it and enjoy it as we were making better stuff? Absolutely.

This was with fruit wines -- black raspberries, cherries. I would not bother with grapes.

I tried it a couple of times (against fresh grape pomice). Have to say that the results were not very likeable. No real character or flavor was extracted to speak of. It was rather disappointing. IMHO it would have been better to use my equipment for "real wine".

I am glad that it is different for fruit wines. Do you think that this is because there is more "goodness" trapped in the pomice, thus making for a better end product?

 

[spaniel]

I tried it a couple of times (against fresh grape pomice). Have to say that the results were not very likeable. No real character or flavor was extracted to speak of. It was rather disappointing. IMHO it would have been better to use my equipment for "real wine".

I am glad that it is different for fruit wines. Do you think that this is because there is more "goodness" trapped in the pomice, thus making for a better end product?

I believe most fruit wines give better flavor extraction on a "seconds" batch. Cherry, blueberry and black raspberry was perfectly acceptable. Red raspberry did OK. We tried grapes exactly once and never again.

Scientific explanation? I'm lacking. But grapes just don't seem to work but many other flavorful fruits seem to work okay. Like I said, not stuff we'd gift but it was good for just drinking ourselves. Typically ended up lower ABV, ~8-10%.

 

[cedarswamp]

I've been pondering if grape pomace might be beneficial to use with juice buckets. I've got 6 lugs of zinfandel on order and have been contemplating picking up a couple of buckets of zin juice to "play" with. Thoughts?

 

[joea132]

It would certainly be interesting to put into juice buckets. I my opinion it certainly couldn't hurt. I use my pomace throughout my entire garden. I've noticed a vast difference in yield and growth since I started.

 

[manvsvine]

Over on wine press there is a great thread on using pomace to improve juice buckets and kits

http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?/topic/15544-2nd-run-brehm/