Press after ferment

[Raptor99]

I make fruit wine (also mead and cider), but I have never made grape wine. Reading posts on this forum about making grape wine, it seems that the usual procedure is to ferment first and then press. There is a good summary by @NorCal in this thread: Homemade vs. Commercial and what I am doing to close the gap. The procedure seems to be crush, ferment, then press. Whereas when making hard cider, it is crush, press, then ferment.

Does anyone press country wine after primary fermentation? When I first started making wine, the recipes I found online said to remove the fruit bag after a few days and hang it to drip, but not to squeeze it because it would make the wine difficult to clear. Not wanting to waste so much wine, I promptly ignored that advice and squeezed the pulp bag as hard as I could. Now that I am making larger batches, the pulp bags are too large to effectively squeeze by hand. Putting my fruit in several smaller bags is an option, but I wonder if using a fruit press at the end of primary fermentation would be better.

One hesitation that I have about doing that is the risk of contamination. I would need to sanitize the parts of the press carefully. But it seems that pressing after primary fermentation is a regular thing for making grape wine. Have you done this for fruit wines as well?

 

[franc1969]

I make fruit wine (also mead and cider), but I have never made grape wine. Reading posts on this forum about making grape wine, it seems that the usual procedure is to ferment first and then press. There is a good summary by @NorCal in this thread: Homemade vs. Commercial and what I am doing to close the gap. The procedure seems to be crush, ferment, then press. Whereas when making hard cider, it is crush, press, then ferment.

Does anyone press country wine after primary fermentation? When I first started making wine, the recipes I found online said to remove the fruit bag after a few days and hang it to drip, but not to squeeze it because it would make the wine difficult to clear. Not wanting to waste so much wine, I promptly ignored that advice and squeezed the pulp bag as hard as I could. Now that I am making larger batches, the pulp bags are too large to effectively squeeze by hand. Putting my fruit in several smaller bags is an option, but I wonder if using a fruit press at the end of primary fermentation would be better.

One hesitation that I have about doing that is the risk of contamination. I would need to sanitize the parts of the press carefully. But it seems that pressing after primary fermentation is a regular thing for making grape wine. Have you done this for fruit wines as well?

People do press after fermentation for fruit-other-than-grape. I am thinking of a few mixed- cider makers I follow on Instagram, can't remember names really. Tilted Shed for some ferments, someone she follows as well. I just looked at the process he was using, but don't know name this late at night. It does seem most late-pressed fruit isn't as fine a chop as the pumped must on a rack and cloth cider press. And the late press gets run through a wine type press, not that rack and cloth.

 

[franc1969]

I make fruit wine (also mead and cider), but I have never made grape wine. Reading posts on this forum about making grape wine, it seems that the usual procedure is to ferment first and then press. There is a good summary by @NorCal in this thread: Homemade vs. Commercial and what I am doing to close the gap. The procedure seems to be crush, ferment, then press. Whereas when making hard cider, it is crush, press, then ferment.

Does anyone press country wine after primary fermentation? When I first started making wine, the recipes I found online said to remove the fruit bag after a few days and hang it to drip, but not to squeeze it because it would make the wine difficult to clear. Not wanting to waste so much wine, I promptly ignored that advice and squeezed the pulp bag as hard as I could. Now that I am making larger batches, the pulp bags are too large to effectively squeeze by hand. Putting my fruit in several smaller bags is an option, but I wonder if using a fruit press at the end of primary fermentation would be better.

One hesitation that I have about doing that is the risk of contamination. I would need to sanitize the parts of the press carefully. But it seems that pressing after primary fermentation is a regular thing for making grape wine. Have you done this for fruit wines as well?

People do press after fermentation for fruit-other-than-grape. I am thinking of a few mixed- cider makers I follow on Instagram, can't remember names really. Tilted Shed for some ferments, someone she follows as well. I just looked at the process he was using, but don't know name this late at night. It does seem most late-pressed fruit isn't as fine a chop as the pumped must on a rack and cloth cider press. And the late press gets run through a wine type press, not that rack and cloth.

 

[winemaker81]

One hesitation that I have about doing that is the risk of contamination. I would need to sanitize the parts of the press carefully.

There's no difference here from grape wine. You're actually risking contamination more by letting the bag drip, exposed to air for longer.

 

[Vinegaroon]

I make fruit wine (also mead and cider), but I have never made grape wine. Reading posts on this forum about making grape wine, it seems that the usual procedure is to ferment first and then press. There is a good summary by @NorCal in this thread: Homemade vs. Commercial and what I am doing to close the gap. The procedure seems to be crush, ferment, then press. Whereas when making hard cider, it is crush, press, then ferment.

Does anyone press country wine after primary fermentation? When I first started making wine, the recipes I found online said to remove the fruit bag after a few days and hang it to drip, but not to squeeze it because it would make the wine difficult to clear. Not wanting to waste so much wine, I promptly ignored that advice and squeezed the pulp bag as hard as I could. Now that I am making larger batches, the pulp bags are too large to effectively squeeze by hand. Putting my fruit in several smaller bags is an option, but I wonder if using a fruit press at the end of primary fermentation would be better.

One hesitation that I have about doing that is the risk of contamination. I would need to sanitize the parts of the press carefully. But it seems that pressing after primary fermentation is a regular thing for making grape wine. Have you done this for fruit wines as well?

I regularly press after fermentation has at least begun. Arguably the best wine I have made (meaning very well received by all who tried it and far better than the commercially available Croatian product)was this year’s cherry wine. 30# Montmorency,25# Evan’s Bali 2 gallons boiled water and 8# sugar. Pitched yeast the morning after pouring the still hot water over the fruit and sugar. Fermented for 5 days on the fruit before pressing. Well mashed but unpitted fruit for what it’s worth. No enzyme bottled August 1 to have ready for a big party September 11, was mostly clear when bottled and absolutely clear when consumed. Fermentation continued for a few days after pressing, never racked bottled straight from the tank 21 liters. As for sanitizing the press a spray bottle with starsan seems to do just fine. Make my cider in much the same way usually.

 

[Scooter68]

A lot depends on the fruit type.

Blueberries for example are very much like grapes in that way.
Blackberries - no point, nothing really left to press.

So it's a case-by-case decision process. You might even try hand pressing a little of the fruit residue and tasting it for flavor content. Sometimes a well fermented and broken down fruit has little more than color to give, other times, they may have a significant amount to give.

 

[hounddawg]

I make fruit wine (also mead and cider), but I have never made grape wine. Reading posts on this forum about making grape wine, it seems that the usual procedure is to ferment first and then press. There is a good summary by @NorCal in this thread: Homemade vs. Commercial and what I am doing to close the gap. The procedure seems to be crush, ferment, then press. Whereas when making hard cider, it is crush, press, then ferment.

Does anyone press country wine after primary fermentation? When I first started making wine, the recipes I found online said to remove the fruit bag after a few days and hang it to drip, but not to squeeze it because it would make the wine difficult to clear. Not wanting to waste so much wine, I promptly ignored that advice and squeezed the pulp bag as hard as I could. Now that I am making larger batches, the pulp bags are too large to effectively squeeze by hand. Putting my fruit in several smaller bags is an option, but I wonder if using a fruit press at the end of primary fermentation would be better.

One hesitation that I have about doing that is the risk of contamination. I would need to sanitize the parts of the press carefully. But it seems that pressing after primary fermentation is a regular thing for making grape wine. Have you done this for fruit wines as well?

i do my country wines,,,,,,,,, all the names above will see to it that you wont go wrong,,,,,,, ,
Dawg

 

[Eddie_G]

I made a small batch (3 gal) of blueberry wine. I don't have a press. I used a sanitized mesh plastic bag which I bought from a wine supply shop. Put the blueberries in the bag and squeezed it gently after fermentation was complete. Made sure to wash my hands well and I rinsed them off with Star San. No issues, wine came out well.