Free fruit in fermenter...

jim c 18 years ago

I just started my 2nd 6 monthly experimental recipe for 'dried elderberry & frozen black forest fruits' a 10 gallon affair using two primaries. Slightly annoyingly one of the straining bags full of fruit split after defrosting and before water additions. I managed to shift the berries into another large straining bag and tied it off. As fermentation began, I saw that the string had slipped on my other straining bag and some (now hydrated) elderberries had managed to escape to freedom inside one primary fermenter.

I am not massively concerned and have retied the bag, but I wondered if there are some clever ways to rack to secondary fermenter without syphoning the free fruit as well as the must?

The best idea I have so far is tieing some muslin over the end of the racking cane. With some heavy primary sediments though, this can result in frequent clearing of the cloth and subsequent extra clouding of the must.

Any clues?

Jim

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pp 18 years ago

Some air exposuure at this stage is not an issue, so just use a funnel in the carboy and put some muslin over it to catch the solids. Then move the must from the primary using a saucepan, Pyrex measuring cup or something similar. When you're done with the liquid, you can squeeze the muslin "filter".

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jim c 18 years ago

Thanks for the reply Pp. Do you mean I should do this when I move it to secondary fermenter or do it now and move it to another primary?

Cheers, Jim

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pp 18 years ago

Up to you, Jim, depends on how much pulp contact you want. If you follow a recipe, just go with it. I wouldn't let it go completely dry before doing this so that the CO2 generated by the ferment compensates for the increased air exposure.

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jim c 18 years ago

Thanks Pp, thats what I thought. It is my own recipe. I think what I will do is transfer to the secondary just a touch before I was planning to. The free fruit is almost all floating. I plan to rack with a muslin filter on the end of the cane until I get to the last portion which I will bail through a muslin lined funnel. I reckon I might get the best of both worlds that way. Then it's time to buy 2 new straining bags!

Jim

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