Batch 1 of 09 Saskatoon wine was bottled this week, and I figured it would be useful for other would-be-saskatoon-wine-makers to have some thoughts in the otherwise gaping void of online information about tackling this. First, I’m pretty sure this wine will mature nicely. For a long time, the wine had a tart cherry vibe that was awkward, nearly metallic, … Read More
2009 Red Sparkle Apple Wine Update
I’m very behind with posting. Fortunately my computer overlooks my smoking setup, so that I can type away while keeping watch on the now-smoking-bacon from this fall’s pig butchering event. Trying to avoid last time’s mistake. I’ve been meaning to post about my apple wine, as it’s been a remarkable success. Phenomenal break through. It now seeming like a lifetime … Read More
Saskatoon Wine – 2009 Batch 2
Batch 1 Update: has been hangin’ with medium plus toast american oak for a week now, and is showing enough wood to come off in the next few days for this batch. I think. Reality is that I have no guidelines to work with. The infusion spirals are fully extracted at 6 weeks. Where prior to that is a good … Read More
Saskatoon Wine – 2009 Batch 1
As with quite a few other items lately, I’m posting about making ‘Saskatoon Wine’ because there seems to be a hole in online information about the topic. After doing some research, I realized that it’s partly because it’s very Canadiana to even call them saskatoons. Amélanche, juneberry, serviceberry, shadberry are more common names elsewhere. I’ll use the terms interchangeably, just … Read More
The new, AWESOMER, plunger assembly.
As requested: the new plunger assembly. Notice the fine craftsmanship of the fir plate. Yes. Sarcasm. I was in a flap of excitement the day of crushing and pressing, and we were trying all kinds of quick things to see what would work best. That’s my excuse. I essentially chopped down and trimmed corners off a piece of 2×10 fir … Read More
Crush and Press Day – Part 2
CRUSHING What a breeze. How satisfying. Some comments on my setup. Overheating. The unit did not overheat and shut down. The metal casing certainly got hot, but the pace of crushing, then pressing, and all the other things involved – picking, meal breaks, moving carboys about, etc – seemed to give it enough time to cool down. I can see … Read More
Crush and Press Day – Part 1
Oh, how I am proud of the item in the photo. What we ended up calling a veggie burger. Or cheese. It is a very dry puck of apple pomace. The reason it’s an accomplishment is that it took a bloody long time to figure out that a) my press design had a major flaw and b) how to fix … Read More
Apple Harvest Day 2009
Apple Harvest day. A big deal in my little world as it means my first adventure in scratch wine/cidermaking begins now. We picked roughly 75kg of apples today of 4 varieties. Tomorrow we’ll pick from our tree hoping for an additional 40kg. For all those hitting my blog looking for crushing/pressing help, tomorrow will be a big day to find … Read More
How to Build a Serious Apple/Grape/Fruit Crusher on the Cheap
As with the last post, I felt compelled to share the following so that others may have an easier time sorting this out than I. I was an hour or two away from purchasing an old fashioned apple crusher. $350. Once again Herrick bailed me out, putting me on to a variety of different ways to use a standard-issue garbage … Read More
How to Build a Cider or Wine Press
I almost did it. I almost spent $350-500 on a juice press. It would last me a lifetime, and be an infrastructure-esque purchase worth the splurge. I needed to get geared up for making wine now that my grapes are here. One of my newest obsessions is making apple wine, cider vinegars, and other unmbentionable biproducts. More on that soon … Read More
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