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newbie q: freezing must

Question in a nutshell: How do I do it?

I have some grape vines that are ready now. I don't have all my equipment quite bought yet (due to money concerns... :( ) how would I go about freezing, and then thawing the grapes as so not to ruin or impede the wine making? should i crush them, and then freeze the mess in ziploc bags? tuperware containers be better? crush, then drain off teh huice and freeze only that?

and the thawing..... could I just drop a bag in a apot of boiling water to thaw it? or is there a better way??

thank for all your help in advace. BTW: these are a very sweet White grape.

thanks!!

email: daveallyn at bwsys dot net please respond in this NG so others can share your wisdom as well!

Reply to
Dave Allyn
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If you crush them first they will take less room. But if you crush them it is more important to seal them well so they do not take on off flavors from the freezer.

Ray

Reply to
Ray

okay.. froze them today. whole (more or less) I pulled all the grapes off the bunch, and froze them that way. the tops split open (usually), so I don't know what effect (if any) that will have, but hey.. they would all go to waste otherwise, so I have nothing to lose right?

I also rinsed them prior to freezing....

now to find some equipment... :)

email: daveallyn at bwsys dot net please respond in this NG so others can share your wisdom as well!

Reply to
Dave Allyn

And thereby diluted the future must. :^(

Water is never added to grape fermentations, except in finings or sulfite additions, and occasionally when the Brix is _'way_ too high.

Tom S

Reply to
Tom S

I din't package them in the water... fact is, when I looked in the bottom of the bag, there was probably less than an ounce of water in each bag. I didn't figure it would dilute it all that much... I was looking more to get rid of bird crap, bugs, etc....

email: daveallyn at bwsys dot net please respond in this NG so others can share your wisdom as well!

Reply to
Dave Allyn

The little water from rinsing will be no problem. The splitting of the fruit is what you want to happen when you freeze them. As the natural water in the grape freezes it expands and that causes the grape to split. This it why freezing is good. Internal structure is splitting as well making extraction of the juice better when in thaws.

Good luck and don't let all the small points worry you. Wine making is a very forgiving hobby. You really have to mess up bad to completely ruin a batch. It will turn out just fine.

Ray

Reply to
Ray

Dave, On average, one ton of California wine grapes contains seven pounds of dirt, one mouse nest, 147 bees, 98 wasps, 1,014 earwigs, 1,833 ants, 10,899 leafhoppers and three pounds of bird droppings. In addition, the waxy coating on grape skins contains many microorganisms. Even so, grapes are never washed before crushing. The "extra" materials are good for the yeast. lum

Reply to
Lum

hmmm..... I suppose the Alcohol would kill off any bad bacteria or such in the wine, and what solids were still there after filtering, would disapear after first racking....

even so, if the yeast needs a little "somthing extra" I'll stick to the nutrient. :) I don't think (though it wouldn't suprise me) that there is a mouse dropping wine recipie on jack site.. :)

email: daveallyn at bwsys dot net please respond in this NG so others can share your wisdom as well!

Reply to
Dave Allyn

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