Here’s a great tip from one or our customers, Dave in Anacoco, Louisiana.
He uses a steam juicer as a way to get as much juice out of the fruit as possible. He also uses it as as a way to gather together the pulp for the fermentation.
Dave makes homemade grape wine from scuppernong grapes he grows himself. He says he puts the grapes in his steam juicer to extract the juice. Once the juice as been collected, he takes the pulp and puts it in a fermentation bag and hangs it directly in the fermentation.
This is a great idea, Dave! Using the steam juicer in this way allows you to get every drop of juice extracted from the grapes. Putting the pulp in with the fermentation allows you to get all the well-rounded flavors from the grape’s skin and pulp as well.
Using this method is also a great way to separate the pulp from the juice so that you can keep it collected in a fermentation bag. That way you don’t have to worry about getting all the pulp out of the way later, after the primary fermentation has completed.
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Ed Kraus is a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since 1999. He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.
I’ve looked at the steam juicer and want to try it but I’m a poor, country boy and can’t afford to buy one. I believe I can cobble one togethere from a), a large kettle, b), an angel food cake pan, c), a wire-screen collander, and d), down-home make-do ingenuity mixed with a stubborn streak. Wish me luck.
Im curious if this method, of steam juicing the fruit, kills off the bacteria and wild yeast. Does anyone know about this? If so does that mean you could skip the Adding SO2 step ?
Esk, if you are steaming the fruit, you do not need to add sulfites in the beginning of fermentation.