FoodBanter.com - Press technology - bladder still the best?

"Daniel Tortorici" > wrote in message
...
>
> Thanks Tom,
>
>> > 3. Also need your thoughts on press sizing. How long do you press for?
>>
>> I have often left the press under pressure all night - especially when
>> pressing white grapes for juice. The highest Brix stuff comes at the
>> end,
>> and it's also the clearest. You need to get up once or twice to empty
>> the
>> catch bucket though.
>>
>
> Does 'all night' make sense for reds as well? Seems that you would be
> using minimal pressure if you are going to press for this long - is this
> correct? Is 'all night' for gentleness or for maximum extraction?

I wouldn't exactly call 3 bar overnight "gentle". I do this on white must
to get the maximum yield of juice, and especially all the "goodies" from the
fruit, which seems to lie close to the skin. The juice ends up with both
higher phenolic content and pH. The former I address later with fining (if
necessary) and the latter immediately before fermentation with tartaric
acid.

For red wines you reach diminishing returns pretty quickly, so overnight
pressing really isn't necessary. Also, the stuff at the end can be
_extremely_ tannic - which you may or may not like in your wine.

> If you go all night, how many press batches do you do (does it take a
> few days)? Trying to determine size here and the impact of how many
> batches it would require.

I can get a ton's worth of must into my press, although it may take one or
two partial press cycles to make enough room for everything to fit. IOW,
fill the press, close the lid, apply pressure for awhile to drain most of
the liquid from the pomace, open the press, add more must, close the lid,
press again, repeat as necessary until all the must is in and then press
until nothing comes out.

>> > 5. Do you feel you have better control over press pressure than with a
>> > ratchet press?
>>
>> No. You _have_ control over the press pressure with a bladder press;
>> you
>> have _no_ control with a ratchet press.
>>
>
> And by control you mean the ability to measurably use a certain pressure
> (1 bar, etc) vs the 'feel' of a ratchet?

Actually, I've never bothered with changing the factory setting on the
pressure regulator. When you first apply pressure, however, you need to be
ready to shut off the water now and then or you'll have massive geysers of
must shooting all over the place because the liquid can't make its way
through the pomace fast enough. Easy does it until the pomace is fairly
well drained. With practice you'll get the feel for it.

>> > 6. Lastly, what are your thoughts on best practices for using a bladder
>> > press other than the questions above?
>>
>> For safety reasons,
>
> Yep, I understand the safety best practices and agree. Was also
> wondering though about things like you mentioned above - pressing all
> night, what pressure to use, etc. Different techniques for red vs white.

Leave the stems in when pressing white must. They provide vias for the
juice to follow so the pressing goes more smoothly. Also, pectic enzyme
helps break down the slipperiness of the must (whites) which helps prevent
shooting fountains of must. This is particularly an issue with certain
varietals, e.g. muscat. Some winemakers add rice hulls to the same effect.
Either technique will improve your yield of white juice.

Tom S