I have never tried extending the maceration period. I usually crush on a Sat., press the following Sunday. The extra care and risks involed in this process is probably why. Anyway, I was wondering if I could just transfer week-old must into plastic juice pails, apply an airlock, and let it alone. Would this work, or would the gas force the cap into the airlock and just make a mess? Thanks Tim
Hi Tim,
That should work just fine. It's possible you could run into the problem you suggest but if you wait until active fermentaion is slowed almost to a stop, there shouldn't be an excessive cap rise in your pailsfrom CO2 production. If it does, you can always just punch it down, clean out your airlock and cover it back up. From my own experience, I strongly suggest that you give this a try if you haven't before, it can be quite rewarding. One word of advice when practicing extended maceration: Make sure you give good aeration during your primary fermentation to avoid H2S problems which can become mercaptan problems during a long extended maceration if significant H2S is present. I've been practicing "rack and return" with aeration during primary fermentaion followed by extended maceration of up to a month with very nice results. Good luck and let us know how things go!
CHEERS!
Aaron
Tim,
I would define extended maceration as *beginning after fermentation* so the cap being forced into the airlock is a non-issue. I'd ferment to dryness, then transfer to the pails and apply the airlock (ensuring minimal O2 in the vessel but at the same time assessing the oxidation-reduction state and avoiding reductive tones).
HTH, Ben
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