When do I rack pyment off the grapes

[Renoun]

I'm making a BOMM style pyment with some muscat grapes that were crushed in the fermenter. SG is down to around 1.015 a week after pitching and it is sitting in a bucket with an airlock now. It is still fermenting slowly but I have no clue as to how quickly I should rack it off the grapes.

 

[loveofrose]

Rack when it gets to 1.000. If you rack before that it has a tendency to stall.


Better brewing through science!

 

[Yooper]

I tend to get my pyments and wines off of the fruit around day 5-7, as the fruit really gets gross by about then. If the fruit is in good shape, and it's not giving too much tannin from the grape skins, it'd be ok to go a couple more days if you have to.

 

[Renoun]

So far the grapes haven't been looking bad. Today was a bottling day for other batches, we're hosting a big Easter meal (on fermentation day 7), guess I'll take a look at it on Monday. It's defiantly slowing down but I was late with my second nutrient addition, didn't catch it until it was at 1.020 (OG 1.094 plus whatever sugars didn't come out in the initial crush).

Smells great so far.

 

[Renoun]

I ended up racking on Monday (Day 8) with a SG of .98. The grape solids had all fallen from the surface and only a few errant seeds were floating. Looked great, tasted great, and is happily sitting in a jugs with airlocks now.

I picked up some medium toast oak honeycomb today that may get introduced to one jug.

 

[Yooper]

I ended up racking on Monday (Day 8) with a SG of .98. The grape solids had all fallen from the surface and only a few errant seeds were floating. Looked great, tasted great, and is happily sitting in a jugs with airlocks now.

I picked up some medium toast oak honeycomb today that may get introduced to one jug.

I assume you mean .998. sounds great- it should drop a few more points, probably to .990 or so.

 

[Renoun]

I assume you mean .998. sounds great- it should drop a few more points, probably to .990 or so.

I used the Belgian Strong Ale Yeast so I'm not sure that it will drop as far as with a wine yeast. I'll check next time I rack.

 

[RegarRenill]

What was you OG? 1388 can take 1.110 to .990 no problem. Bray says you can take 1.120 to dry with it, but I haven't done that high, yet...

 

[Renoun]

I just grabbed my note card.

4/13 OG 1.094
4/16 1.052
4/18 1.016
4/21 .998 racked off grapes

I was gone for the first few days of fermentation so I was relying on my housemate for degassing and a first nutrient addition based on my best guess of how fast it was fermenting. The bucket was also left with the lid on, if I was able to more carefully tend it I'd have just have left it with a cloth covering. I don't doubt that with careful step feeding, more frequent stirring/degassing, and more precise nutrient addition timing I might get more attenuation but I'm pretty happy so far.

This something we'll be drinking this summer and not cellaring for a long time. There haven't been any visible signs of fermentation since I racked. I don't think anybody's going to care if it winds up a bit hazy or petulant. It's going to end up in capped beer bottles so I won't have to worry about blowing corks anyway.

I'm getting ready to start a blueberry melomel and am happy to have ideas of how to improve my process.