1919 Home made beverages

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Beverages

Alcoholic

Inside the cage there is a stirrer. When this is turned by an external handle the grapes alone drop through the wires, leaving the stalks in the cage. Sometimes the separation is accomplished by means of hurdles, which are so manip- ulated that the fruit only shall pass through the meshes. Previous to their being pressed the grapes have to under- go the preliminary process of bruising or crushing. This is sometimes done by their being trodden under the naked feet of men on a large wooden stage or platform; at other times the mean wear heavy boots, while in some cases the grapes are placed in a vat and bruised with a kind of wooden pestle. Sometimes they are crushed between wooden grooved rollers. Of all these processes, the first, although the least cleanly, possesses the advantage of not crushing the pips or stalks, and is thus free from the risk of imparting an unpleasant flavor to the wine. There is considerable divergence in the statements of different writers as to the yield of must or juice from ripe grapes. Payen says it amounts to from 94 to 96% of the total weight of the grape. Dupr6 and Thudichum obtained from three samples of grapes, respectively, 78.75% 76.75% and 72.25%. Wagner averages it from about 60 or 70%. When a white wine is required, the bruised grape, wheth- er of the white or red variety, is at once pressed, except when, as happens with some kinds of fruit, it is kept to allow of the development of the bouquet. The mode of procedure is different when a red wine is to be prepared. The crushed grapes must then be kept in a tub or vat, loosely covered over, until an examination of a small quantity of the juice shows it has acquired the necessary color. For it to do this sometimes takes from 3 to 4 days to a month. During this period alcohol has been formed in the pulp, and this, with the tartaric acid of the fruit, has dis- solved out of the coloring principle of the grape. Great care is necessary at this stage to prevent the too long ex- posure of the crushed and fermenting fruit to the air. 146