This week we got the crusher stand and our wine/must pump, together with hose, clamps, gaskets etc. Of course, the adpater from the pump's garolla fitting to TC outlet was missing and it took a day to have it confirmed that it was on its way to us.
Not having this adapter did not mean we didn't test the pump out. all we did was attach the hose to the pump , fill it with water and turn it on. Ok, it just buzzed a bit and nothing else. The manual says nothing about starting it up and nothing about what position "1" and "2" mean on the switch. I just played back and forth and then it shot the water out of the hose and soaked Marty. It works!, but in reverse?
Long and short of it, this is what we came up with to learn the starting procedure and to determine which of the two outlets the wine will come out of.
a), Which outlet is the wine going to come out of? If you set it up to come out of the straight outlet then you need to turn the switch to position "1". "1" resembling a straight pipe. If you want wine to pump out of the second outlet, which is curved, select position "2" as "2" resembles a curved pipe.
b), The switch to turn it on operates like a car's ignition switch. Turning it just to the position you're on will enable the circuit, but not start it - just like getting the electrics and dash light to light up on your car. You then keep turning, feeling a little resistance, and the pumps starts. Let go of the switch and it returns to position.
We'll need to prime before pumping so there'll still be room for siphoning this year. We'll just prime the inlet head and 'walk" some wine down the pipe forst.
This weekend we're cleaning and prepping.
What we did is as follows:
1. Make our primary Fermenters.
Here we took those glorious drums and cut out the tops. Notice that we left an outlet (Anton is cutting past the one to keep and Mike is filing the edge next to the kept one). This is so we can handle the drum better and also attach a hook and haul them out of the winery when they're full of waste must/cap.
2. Clean the crusher and its stand.
There were still grape in the crusher from last year (here it is on its stand with garolla outlet at bottom). Mummified though. Worked out how to get the destemmer cage out this time without slicing up the fingers. This thing is all stainlesss teel and the unexposed bits are all rough edged, so be careful!
Tried to adjust those rollers again. However, defeated by lack of a drive chain splitter. We'll go with it. If someone wants to take the adjustment on as a project after this year's wine crush, have at it.
3. Clean the stompers.
Yes, those stompers come in handy and also people will be welcome to crush by foot if they've the inclination.
4. Electrics
The electrics were installed for the pump by Marty.
5. Demijons and Secondary Fermenters.
Michael's doing these on Sunday.
The basement stairs work so well. I know it was a lot of work, but it was made so much easier because we could take the equipment out of the basement so easilly. Putting the drums back in was simplicitiy itself. We just positioned two planks the length of the stairs, with a gap between and slid the barrels down between the gap. Voila!
And for the "Silent Hill" movie/game fans, here is our intepretation of Pyramid-Head Man, our very own Plastic Drum Man. Now, Mike, Nurses? (Mike won't see Silent Hill because of the Nurse scene.
wedding
grape
winery
wine
fermenter
food and drink
silent hill
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