When to remove fruit from must?

[MustyMike]

I thought I remember reading that the fruit should be removed around the 1.030-1.050 mark. Is this correct? Thanks in advance Pic is my strawberry banana fermenting

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

I thought I remember reading that the fruit should be removed around the 1.030-1.050 mark. Is this correct? Thanks in advance Pic is my strawberry banana fermenting View attachment 62415

I don't know about all recipes but I believe Dave's Dragon Blood recipe calls for removing the fruit at around 1.000. I usually play it by ear and by smell. Sometimes the must/wine will start to smell a bit "off" before it reaches the 1.000 and if the fruit is pretty much disintegrated anyway, I'll remove it early as that will often get it smelling yummy again right away. A lot of times if the fruit doesn't have a skin, it will be completely mush fairly quickly and so I might remove the fruit bag at that point. That being said, if your fruit is loose and not in a bag, I don't have a clear recommendation because I don't ferment that way...it could definitely indicate removing the fruit at the target SG you mentioned. I'm sure someone else will weigh in

 

[MustyMike]

I don't know about all recipes but I believe Dave's Dragon Blood recipe calls for removing the fruit at around 1.000. I usually play it by ear and by smell. Sometimes the must/wine will start to smell a bit "off" before it reaches the 1.000 and if the fruit is pretty much disintegrated anyway, I'll remove it early as that will often get it smelling yummy again right away. A lot of times if the fruit doesn't have a skin, it will be completely mush fairly quickly and so I might remove the fruit bag at that point. That being said, if your fruit is loose and not in a bag, I don't have a clear recommendation because I don't ferment that way...it could definitely indicate removing the fruit at the target SG you mentioned. I'm sure someone else will weigh in

Thanks for the reply, I had about 30lb of fruit in my bag to start. I took Dave’s advice and squeezed the bag every day (10lb strawberry, ~20lb banana no skin, and 1lb golden raisins) The strawberries lost their coloring a day ago so I assume the pectic enzyme is working and has pulled most of the sugar as well. I checked about 2 hours ago and I’m at 1.060 so tomorrow I will probably remove the fruit bag and maybe add a little yeast nutrient to finish it out.

 

[MustyMike]

By the way I saw a post about weighing your fruit bag down. I just used my sanitized stirring spoon to push the bag down and placed the cloth (soaked in Kmeta) to hold the bag down. It keeps a big cap from forming and keeps your fruit saturated with the good stuff

Edit: this works well to introduce oxygen to your yeast. I use a fine mesh bag and usually most of it is above the must. Before I go to work I push the bag down and suspend it in the must. After work when I’m home to observe the fermentation I let the bag up to breathe.

 

[Scooter68]

I'm not aware of any fruit commonly used for wine that needs to be removed before the fermentation is completed.
Personally I'd leave the fruit in the container until the fermentation is over. (SG is at 1.000 or below and doesn't change for at least 3 days in a row.)
Then remove it and get as much of the wine 'juice' out of the fermentation bag as possible.

 

[MustyMike]

I'm not aware of any fruit commonly used for wine that needs to be removed before the fermentation is completed.
Personally I'd leave the fruit in the container until the fermentation is over. (SG is at 1.000 or below and doesn't change for at least 3 days in a row.)
Then remove it and get as much of the wine 'juice' out of the fermentation bag as possible.

Thanks Scooter

 

[hounddawg]

Like scooter,,,,i leave mine in till time to put my must into secondary, but unlike most, i put my fruit or berries straight into my must no bag, i use a kraft mayonnaise stirrer, it is food grade 304 stainless steel and fits in a 1/2 chuck, i stir daily with my 1/2 cordless, which is very troublesome to seperate, but my color, aroma and flavor are better,, or at least in my frail mind it is,,,
Dawg