nylon bag

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Steve707

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Do I have to put fruit into a nylon bag when making a strawberry wine or can I just let it float in the primary? Seems like a lot of lost juice if I put it into a bag and take it out.
 
If you don't use the nylon bag, how do you plan on pressing the strawberries when you are done?
 
why will they need pressed if they start fermentation as floating fruit?
 
I usually leave these questions to the experts, because frankly, I am not even up to the novice stage, but, I throw all my fruit in a bucket and use a hand blender to smush the crap out of it. Then after 24-48 hours, I strain it (making sure I keep it covered at all times) through a paint strainer bag. It may not be the best way, but it makes me feel like I am utilizing all parts of the fruit.
 
I don't know from strawberries but I did muscadines and was kind of upset about all the pulp that I wasn't able to squeeze out - but after a few days with the pectin enzyme and fermentation it all goes away and all that's left are peels and seeds- good luck
Kevin
 
Hey, I just logged in to create a thread about using the nylon bags, vs using a dish towel (flour sack towel), and there are two current threads about these stupid bags already.

When I started, I got the 1 gallon fruit wine kit from Midwest, which came with a nylon bag, so I used that for my first batch. I thought this was kind of inconvenient, and though I washed it afterward it was still stained and smelled weird.

Since then I have been making 3 gallon batches of fruit wine, and using a 5 gallon a bucket for primary. I just mash/blend up the fruit, water, sugar in the bucket, do the usual campden, wait 24 hours, pitch, stir 1-2x/day. When it's ready to go to secondary, I clothes pin a dish towel over another 5 gallon bucket, then pour it through that. When the liquid has strained through, I wrap up the towel and wring out the rest of the juicy goodness.

This has been working well, and seems a lot easier to me. Aren't other people doing something similar, with a towel, or cheese cloth, etc? If not, why not?
 
:) I, too use the flour sacks, doubled over four times, when I am racking. But because I use the hand blender to mush my must, I use paint strainers (I have tons of them for making cheese) when putting into the secondary. They are so easy, then I just throw them into the washer with hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, and a capful of 50%rubbing alcohol. Not only that, but if I bottle too soon, and my wine is not clear, I pour it through a large automotive funnel, with flour sacks folded over and coffee filters on top, then cover the whole contraption with a flour sack, to keep the wild beaties out. It works great for me.
 
The reason I don't pour through a strainer after primary is by the time I'm ready to go to secondary (once the wine gets to 1.020 or lower), you want to protect the wine from oxygen as fermentation is slowing and to avoid splashing/pouring/aerating. Almost always, the wine should be racked "quietly" to secondary to avoid air pick up and then airlocked.

Pouring through any sort of strainer will oxidize the wine, especially after it's finished, and depending on how severe the oxidation, it can ruin the wine quickly and make it undrinkable. Pouring through a coffee filter before bottling is a sure-fire way to oxidize the wine, and I would recommend drinking it very quickly to avoid a severe oxidation/madereirazation flavor as it will get worse with time.

A super easy way to do it with nylon bags is to have a sanitized nylon bag as big as your bucket. Line the bucket when making up the must, with the ends over the top of the bucket to hold it in place. Make up the must, then stir well and tie up the bag, dropping it back into the bucket. You can use a mash paddle/big spoon/whatever to stir your wine several times a day until it's time to go to secondary. At that time, lift up the bag, squeeze it out, and then let dispose of the stuff inside the bag. Rack the wine into secondary.

The reason to not use a blender on fruit is because it's very difficult to clear a wine made with a blender. It seems to set the pectin and it's a bugger to clear as well as to rack due to little chunky fruit debris. You also have a LOT more lees and "lose" much more wine at each racking that way.
 
The reason I don't pour through a strainer after primary is by the time I'm ready to go to secondary (once the wine gets to 1.020 or lower), you want to protect the wine from oxygen as fermentation is slowing and to avoid splashing/pouring/aerating. Almost always, the wine should be racked "quietly" to secondary to avoid air pick up and then airlocked.

Pouring through any sort of strainer will oxidize the wine, especially after it's finished, and depending on how severe the oxidation, it can ruin the wine quickly and make it undrinkable. Pouring through a coffee filter before bottling is a sure-fire way to oxidize the wine, and I would recommend drinking it very quickly to avoid a severe oxidation/madereirazation flavor as it will get worse with time.

A super easy way to do it with nylon bags is to have a sanitized nylon bag as big as your bucket. Line the bucket when making up the must, with the ends over the top of the bucket to hold it in place. Make up the must, then stir well and tie up the bag, dropping it back into the bucket. You can use a mash paddle/big spoon/whatever to stir your wine several times a day until it's time to go to secondary. At that time, lift up the bag, squeeze it out, and then let dispose of the stuff inside the bag. Rack the wine into secondary.

The reason to not use a blender on fruit is because it's very difficult to clear a wine made with a blender. It seems to set the pectin and it's a bugger to clear as well as to rack due to little chunky fruit debris. You also have a LOT more lees and "lose" much more wine at each racking that way.

Spoken like a true yooper!!! You must know that alcohol doesn't last long around us trolls(former, as the people of Mississippi tell me that I am a Yankee redneck now), I am assuming that it lasts even less around Yoopers (judging by thermostatic factors) Interesting stuff, that I will have to remember when I actually start aging my wine. I probably will, however stop using the coffee filters, and let it sit in the secondary until it clears off on it's own. As always, thanks for the insights.
 
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