Brandy maybe ?

[djfrestyla]

Hi All,
I got given about 100kg of red grapes this afternoon (had to pick myself), so I was thinking of fermenting them with EC1118, then running through the bubbler.
I have no press, so was thinking of using a big masher & drill operated paint stirrer to bust them up, then push them through a mesh strainer.
Does anybody have a better suggestion ?

[rumdidlydum]

Feet :laughing-rolling:

[rumdidlydum]

Sounds like your way will be less messy :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[scythe]

Big tarp and a lawn roller.. ?
It might make a decent brandy, what do the actual grapes taste like or are they proper wine making grapes?
Worst thing you may end up with is a large quantity of neutral

[MacStill]

for sure go the grape brandy with EC1118 :handgestures-thumbupleft:

If you ferment with the skins on you'll need to do a big heads cut when you run it, it'd be better if you could get the skins out of the juice as they're high in pectin that produces methanol ;-)

[djfrestyla]

Thanks,
I am planning on separating skins/stems before fermenting.
These are wine grapes, small, but very tasty, hopefully I will get a reasonable drop out of them.

[RefluxEd]

Before you crush them put about 10-20g of sodium metabisulphite into the bottom of the container and then dump the grapes in. The juice from some burst grapes will cause this to off-gas which will kill any wild yeasts in the batch. After about 8 to 24 hours, crush and remove the skins and stems, pitch in the EC1118 and do the ferment. This is what the professional grape growers do to ensure that their grapes get to the winemaker without any problems. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I was on a grape harvester last Friday night watching the process. How'd you like to be able to pick 2 tonnes of grapes in less than 5 minutes? :music-deathmetal:

[hillzabilly]

These guy's hire out wine presses may be worth a look. http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/red-wine-making cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft: http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product ... NTF%20hire

[res]

These guy's hire out wine presses may be worth a look. http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/red-wine-making cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft: http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product ... NTF%20hire

Helpful post mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I know G and G but had no idea the hired things, could be very handy in the future. :D

[Andy]

nice score!
+1 on killing any wild yeast
check out http://www.whitelabs.com/files/BrandyTrifol_chart.pdf for yeast strain suggestions

[djfrestyla]

I got the grapes fermenting nicely.
The Paint stirrer on a drill worked a treat, after smashing them to a pulp, i ran the drill on high speed, all the stems seemed to catch in the paint stirrer, making them easy to separate out.
Then I ran the stirrer a but slower, with a circular motion, and separated the skins out, added a bit of water, some sugar, and EC1118.
Has been fermenting for about 5 days now.

[rumdidlydum]

Does it smell good :D

[1 2many]

Good to hear mate sounds good, keep us informed. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Edit: did you take any pics ?

[res]

I got the grapes fermenting nicely.
The Paint stirrer on a drill worked a treat, after smashing them to a pulp, i ran the drill on high speed, all the stems seemed to catch in the paint stirrer, making them easy to separate out.
Then I ran the stirrer a but slower, with a circular motion, and separated the skins out, added a bit of water, some sugar, and EC1118.
Has been fermenting for about 5 days now.

Good stuff mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Did you happen to take a SG reading? And did you end up adding anything other than the yeast and water? :think:

[djfrestyla]

Hi,
Well I ran my first 50l of this today, ended up with around 3L @92%.
Smells good off the still, will go through cut jars tomorrow.
I never used a nutrient, just added a bit of sugar & Yeast, may have done better with a bit of DAP, but I never had any on hand at the time.
Should i oak on toasted oak, or raw oak ?

[1 2many]

I think medium toast French Oak is the go for brandies just having a quick look. :-B