Cranberry cap

Got the cranberry wine out of the primary fermenter, finally! This mass of mush was what remained…

I really like the fermenting bucket. My previous wines were all in-carboy from start to finish, so this is the first time I’ve used something like it. Basically, it’s a big bucket with an airtight lid, a hole for a water lock, and a spigot about an inch or two up from the bottom. Once primary fermentation completes, you just attach a length of tubing to the spigot and drain the wine into a carboy. Any stuff that’s settled out stays at the bottom, below the level of the spigot. Any floating stuff (like the goo in the picture) stays at the top, and as soon as it hits the hose, you can turn the spigot off. It certainly would have made the blueberry wine a lot easier…