Question about grapes

[cwebb]

I am hoping that someone has thoughts on this.
Long story...
Last year I went to a vineyard and bought 200 lbs. of grapes. Started some and froze the rest in bags (about 12 lbs./ bag). Well this winter I came across a crusher/destemmer for sale. I thawed out the rest of my grapes and ran them through the crusher/destemmer. It did not go well. It did not pull off much of the stems. I am thinking it is because it is because they were not fresh and a little mushy.
So with that being said I plan to purchase 500 lbs. of fresh grapes this fall. Would you run them all through the crusher/destemmer at that time? If so can I freeze result in buckets? I would put the lbs. I would use to make 5 gal. in a bucket and then freeze. Then this winter I could pull the bucket out of the freezer, thaw, add the sugar and other chems.

Do you think this would work? Or do I need to add chems to the must before freezing? I have a couple freezers that I can put the buckets in. Would they crack when thawing?
I am just looking for your thoughts of what you would do.

 

[brazedowl]

Freezing the buckets should be fine without chemicals. I would freeze them with a few inches at the top so it has room to expand as it freezes. Don't seal any lid on it until AFTER it's frozen and you'll avoid any cracking.