6 Gallon kit = Thirty 750ML bottles????

[LCTitan]

Does anyone get 30 bottles from a 6 gallon kit? I had my Mezza Luna White two inches from the top of the 6 gallon Carboy and was transfering to another Carboy to get away from excessive sediment in the bottles when bottling about an hour later and had to stop with about 1.5 to two inches of the bottom due to the sediment mixing big time with the remaining wine. Though it better to just stop transfering at that point and ended up botting 26 bottles. Is this pretty much normal or is my process flawed?

 

[rhoffart]

I always top up my carboys and get ... 30) 750ml's and 2) 375ml's from every batch.

Are you using a racking cane? It seems like you lost a lot of wine.

 

[Runningwolf]

Though it better to just stop transfering at that point and ended up botting 26 bottles. Is this pretty much normal or is my process flawed?

This is not normal. I never bottle from any carboy that is not perfectly clear with no sediment. Try racking a week or so before bottling and do not rack any sediment over. When you get close tot he sediment rack that wine into a 1/2 gallon or 1.5 liter bottle. Give that bottle a week to settle and then siphon as much wine as you can from that without picking up any sediment. Now you've reclaimed as much wine as you possibly could. Remember to keep your vessals topped up at all times while they are sitting.

 

[Flem]

+1 to what Dan said. I would never bottle out of a carboy with sediment in it. I just bottled and got 28, 750ml bottles and 7 splits.

 

[ibglowin]

+2

No sediment at all. 31 bottles when topped up with a similar wine (Italian carboy).

 

[tonyt]

Same here, I get 30 bottles from Mexican carboy and 30+ from Italian carboy. I always rack back to a primary bucket leaving any sediment in the carboy, then I bottle completely clear wine from the bucket. When you rack from a carboy with even a little sediment you will inevitably stir up the sediment. You just can't help but jiggle the racking cane while bottling but if you are just racking into a bucket you can get it started and not touch it till it is all racked. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Jmarch68]

When do you top up the carboy? any time? Do you top up with kits or with fresh juice also?

 

[greyday]

Top up a carboy when you fill it, you always want liquid up to about 2 inches below the bung (as a general rule, at LEAST past the shoulders and into the neck). This is to prevent overoxidization during aging.

I use a similar wine. OR when making batches I will also usually use a 1L bottle (from fizzy water, I'm addicted to the stuff) and a tiny bung and airlock for top-up. If you don't need much of it, you end up with a bit for top up and a normal "early" bottle for sampling with friends, so it works out pretty well.

I've topped up with water, everclear, and f-paks before as well, but I find that for most of my wines using a similar type works well (it's a small enough amount that it won't effect the flavor much at all, and the plus is you get to drink the rest of the bottle!).

EDIT TO ADD: I also usually keep a box of wine around when I'm doing multiple batches, it's just easier and a decent box will last you a month. And keep some drinkin wine at hand that whole time! Win-win.

 

[LCTitan]

Thanks all! I was going by the Vintners instrustions. I was amazed how much sediment was was stired up while I was racking. Never had this problem with my beer batches. The next batch I will rack and then wait a week to bottle.

Are you guys saying to top off after racking the cleared wine?

 

[roblloyd]

Yes always top up after racking. A similar wine is best. Unless you want to use CO2 or Argon to take up the air space.

Why the rush to bottle? After racking I let it sit and bulk age until I need the carboy again. This does promote the multiplication of carboys if you have the space.

 

[SarahRides]

Yes always top up after racking. A similar wine is best. Unless you want to use CO2 or Argon to take up the air space.

Why the rush to bottle? After racking I let it sit and bulk age until I need the carboy again. This does promote the multiplication of carboys if you have the space.

I've heard they breed sometimes........at least that's what I've told my husband! ;-)

 

[Rocky]

LCTitan, the short answer is "NO," you don't get 30 bottles from a 6 gallon kit. If you do the math, 23 liters (what we theoretically start with including sediment) will give you 30 2/3 bottles at 750 ml per bottle. Now, if you can get less than 500 ml of sediment (good luck with that), you could end up with 30 bottles and change. When yields of 31, 32+ bottles are mentioned, the "top off" wine is not considered. I believe that anything over about 29 bottles from a white kit or 28 bottles from a red kit are just the "return" of the top off wine (or whatever was used to top off).

I used to puzzle over the same thing when I would see yields of 32 bottles while I was getting 27 or 28. But I was not topping off. I would start with a 6 gallon carboy, rack to a 5 gallon and a 1 gallon jug, then to a 5 gallon and a half gallon jug before I was ready to bottle and I would end up with 27 or 28 bottles.

Incidentally, the Italian made "6 gallon" carboys are really about 6.5 gallons, while those from Mexico are closer to a true 6 gallons. If you are racking only clear wine and topping off with a similar wine, you should end up with almost 33 bottles at bottling time from an Italian carboy or just over 30 bottles from a Mexico produced one. Also, when quoting the volume of a carboy, it is not clear to what point on the carboy is measured.

 

[robie]

When do you top up the carboy? any time? Do you top up with kits or with fresh juice also?

JMarch,

You never want to top off with fresh juice. In some cases, that could cause fermentation to start up again or it could cause a clear wine to drop sediment and/or cloud the wine.

Use a like wine.

 

[BobF]

I use the Italian 6g carboys, which are a bit larger than 6g. If the wine is ready to bottle with the exception of a layer of sediment, I bottle 15 bottles out of the top half and continue by racking the remainder to a 3g carboy. Due to differences in actual capacities, I can do this without the need to top up the 3g.

I will usually rack the 3g one more time (with small top up) prior to bottling so I end up with no sediment to worry about.

I like this approach b/c I get part of the wine bottled earlier and free up a 6g carboy for another batch. I only have 10 6g carboys, so I always have something 'On Deck' waiting for an empty to become available.

 

[Giovannino]

I get 31.x bottles.

 

[Wade E]

Kind of depends on what kit you are making. The kits with grape skins can produce 30 sometimes. The Mist kits will usually produce about 31 but for the most part if you have patience and let the lees compact good so that you can get every drop of wine out you can almost always get 29 bottles out of any kit. Also, in the beginning dont be afraid to rack over some sediment to make sure you get every drop as it will fall out.