How to Rack

I broke in my bulldog pup today to rack a barrel of syrah. Things were going well until near the very end and then the hose started filling with lees and air, started to shake and then flopped out of the destination barrel... before I could stop the nitrogen tank, then hose did a Jackson Pollock number all over the floor and walls (and me) with purple lees. An hour later and it's all clean. But I digress.

The real problem however is that I was trying to get all of the lees out of the source barrel before I racked the wine back in, but I can't move the source barrel to clean it as there is another barrel that is stacked on it. So I ended up with a hose with a spray nozle aimed at the bottom of the barrel, hoping to dislodge the lees with about 5 gallons of water. Then I racked this out. I did it twice and then racked the wine back in. I think the bulldog pup left a bit of lees/water on the bottom. Is there a better way?

Reply to
Michael Brill
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Assuming that moving the barrel is not an option, you need to use a siphon with a square end and a flexible impeller pump to suck out the stuff at the bottom. Blast the bottom of the barrel with water from a pistol grip nozzle and pump it out again. Repeat until the water runs clear and the barrel is empty.

Also, you're pushing the Bulldog Pup too deeply into the barrel if you're sucking (blowing?) lees through it. The idea is to separate the wine as cleanly as possible from the lees.

Tom S

Reply to
Tom S

I don't have a pump, but I assume I can just siphon it out... dunno why I didn't think of that last night.

It was just juice until the very end, then it was a fairly violent mixture of nitrogen and lees. Should all of the lees stay on the bottom or would the force ever raise the lees from the bottom?

Reply to
Michael Brill

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