Secondary on wine skins

[Yeoman]

Hi all!
My cider is getting to the end of primary and ready for racking. I’d like to secondary on the wine skins from grape pressing I’ll do this weekend. Does anyone have tips on how to do this? Was thinking I could put the wine skins in a brew bucket and rack the cider on top but I am nervous about exposure to oxygen in the brew bucket since it isn’t air tight and has a large surface area.

 

[twd000]

I have no advice but this year I added about 2 lbs of fresh Concord grapes right in the primary fermenter. No idea if it will be a success or disaster but I'll report back either way!

 

[Chalkyt]

When adding something like hops, cherries etc to secondary I have bagged them so as to be easily removed. I generally find that taste, taste, taste helps avoid disasters.

 

[madscientist451]

If you are worried about oxidation, put the wine skins in the freezer and use them in primary next time you make some cider. Also, you may want to try this with a small batch and see if you like the flavor. But why not run an experiment now with some of the wine skins and some of the cider and see what happens?

 

[HawleyFarms]

Shacksbury makes their rose cider by aging directly on Syrah and Zinfandel skins. But I'm sure they are also using a sealed vessel for the process to avoid oxidation. We will be racking out of our primary fermenter after fermentation and aging directly on bagged corot noir skins in flat bottom tanks and possibly doing a side batch using noiret as well. My only question I need yo resolve is how many ounces per gallon I should use. What's your plan on amount of skins you are adding?

 

[quercuslupulus]

If you are worried about oxidation, put the wine skins in the freezer and use them in primary next time you make some cider. Also, you may want to try this with a small batch and see if you like the flavor. But why not run an experiment now with some of the wine skins and some of the cider and see what happens?

I just did started a cider with some Cabernet Sauvignon skins. Any ballpark suggestions on how long to keep the cider on the skins in primary?

 

[madscientist451]

Not a clue. Length of time is just one consideration, other factors include quantity of skins per gallon of cider and if the grapes were lightly pressed or fully pressed. I made some red wine this season and forgot about this thread, so the skins all went to the compost. Thanks for posting, there's always next year.....