Looking for tips on extended maceration. Never done one before; seeking
advise. I ferment in 32G Rubbermaid Brutes lined with plastic fermentation
bags. I do have lids for them. I do have access to CO2. Are the lids enough
to hold in the CO2? Just looking for fellow winemaker input.
Thank You.AJD.

"Anthony J. Devitt" > wrote in message
...
> Looking for tips on extended maceration. Never done one before; seeking
> advise. I ferment in 32G Rubbermaid Brutes lined with plastic fermentation
> bags. I do have lids for them. I do have access to CO2. Are the lids
enough
> to hold in the CO2?

Those lids are nowhere near airtight, but gathering the liner and securing
it with a plastic spot tie should work pretty well once the wine stops
gassing. You still should untie the bag once a day or so, stir the bottom
and sniff for incipient H2S problems.

Tom S

"Anthony J. Devitt" > wrote in message
...
> Looking for tips on extended maceration. Never done one before; seeking
> advise. I ferment in 32G Rubbermaid Brutes lined with plastic fermentation
> bags. I do have lids for them. I do have access to CO2. Are the lids
enough
> to hold in the CO2?

Those lids are nowhere near airtight, but gathering the liner and securing
it with a plastic spot tie should work pretty well once the wine stops
gassing. You still should untie the bag once a day or so, stir the bottom
and sniff for incipient H2S problems.

Tom S

Tom,

I'd thought about doing that, and wondered if it would help to initiate a
MLF when you tie the liner. I'm assuming by tieing up the liner you can't
really produce an air tight seal, so having a small level of CO2 being
produced by the MLF would help protect the wine. Would that work?

Ed

"Tom S" > wrote in message
m...
>
> "Anthony J. Devitt" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Looking for tips on extended maceration. Never done one before; seeking
> > advise. I ferment in 32G Rubbermaid Brutes lined with plastic
fermentation
> > bags. I do have lids for them. I do have access to CO2. Are the lids
> enough
> > to hold in the CO2?
>
> Those lids are nowhere near airtight, but gathering the liner and securing
> it with a plastic spot tie should work pretty well once the wine stops
> gassing. You still should untie the bag once a day or so, stir the bottom
> and sniff for incipient H2S problems.
>
> Tom S
>
>

"Ed Marks" > wrote in message
news
> Tom,
>
> I'd thought about doing that, and wondered if it would help to initiate a
> MLF when you tie the liner. I'm assuming by tieing up the liner you can't
> really produce an air tight seal, so having a small level of CO2 being
> produced by the MLF would help protect the wine. Would that work?

Yeah, that's the idea. You want to minimize the surface exposed to air, so
gathering the bag and tying it off just enough that the gas can escape ought
to work quite well. Opening the bag and stirring up the bottom is important
to prevent reduction in the lees, but be careful not to poke a hole in the
bag.

Tom S

Tom S

"Ed Marks" > wrote in message
news
> Tom,
>
> I'd thought about doing that, and wondered if it would help to initiate a
> MLF when you tie the liner. I'm assuming by tieing up the liner you can't
> really produce an air tight seal, so having a small level of CO2 being
> produced by the MLF would help protect the wine. Would that work?

Yeah, that's the idea. You want to minimize the surface exposed to air, so
gathering the bag and tying it off just enough that the gas can escape ought
to work quite well. Opening the bag and stirring up the bottom is important
to prevent reduction in the lees, but be careful not to poke a hole in the
bag.

Tom S

Tom S