Bulk Aging 15 gal vs 5 gal

[ForzaItalia]

Hi All,

Is there any real difference between bulk aging in a 15 gallon demijohn vs a 5 gallon carboy (besides the obvious size difference)? I heard that you should always rack down..15 gal to 5 gal to bottles. Any truth to this?

Thanks

Ilario

 

[Rocky]

Ilario, I have never heard that and I sure hope there is no problem in bulk aging in a demijohn. I have a 15 gallon batch of Barolo that has been bulk aging in my demijohn for more than a year. I guess it is somewhat a trade off between consistency for the whole batch vs. safety. That is to say, if the batch goes bad in a demijohn, you lose the whole batch. On the other hand, aging in a demijohn would result in a consistently tasting 15 gallons of wine. I also find that treating the wine in the demijohn (sulfites, oak, etc.) is easier. I would be interested in others' views.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Rocky, your last point is why I am considering changing. This is my first time making wine and made Syrah/Grenache/Mouvedre. They are currently undergoing MLF in 3 six gallon carboys and 3 three gallon carboys. It is such a pain to test PH/Acid/So2/Chromo on all six carboys! Having them all in a 10 gallon demijohn would be a lot easier.

Has anyone tried to vacuum rack/degas from a 15 gal demijohn to a 15 gal demijohn? I know you would need a larger two hole stopper but is there any concern on the glass imploding? I know the glass is a lot thinner on a demijohn then a carboy.

 

[Rocky]

Ilario, I did rack from carboys to my demijohn with a vacuum pump but I probably should not have done so according to many on this site. I think I was lucky because I did not us a stopper on the demijohn and, therefore, did not have an air tight seal. What I used was one of those orange carboy caps shown below. I had the input in one of the openings and the vacuum line on the other. I taped (duct tape, of course!) the cap to the top of the demijohn to get a seal and allow for pumping. I am not recommending that you try this. I may just have been lucky not to have ruined the demijohn. From now on, I plan to siphon into the demijohn and pump out of it to carboys.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Thanks Rocky! I figured it would be dangerous but would be nice since I already have everything for vacuum racking and degassing my carboys. I guess I have to weight the differences between the ease of testing/adjustments/additions in a 15 gallon demijohn and the ease of racking and degassing using carboys. What are your thoughts?

 

[Rocky]

Frankly, I wish I had more 15 gallon demijohns. I normally make triple batches of either kit or juice bucket wines and 15 gallons works out great. I have the demijohn on a homemade dolly and I can move it around my winemaking area very easily. My benches/tables are about 28" high so siphoning is not a problem. My procedure is to ferment on the benches, go to secondary in carboys through the spigot on my fermenters, lift the carboys to the bench for stabilizing and fining, siphon into the demijohn for bulk aging, pump/filter into carboys from demijohn for bottling and then bottle from the carboys.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Wow! That's a good process you have there! And it looks like you have plenty of carboys to work with. I wish I had that many carboys and demijohns so I can have that versatility. I guess I just need to build up my collection. How many do you own?

 

[Pumpkinman]

Rocky, that looks like my "winery" I counted just under 30 carboys of various sizes, and 4 oak barrels (one used for beer).

 

[ForzaItalia]

Wow Tom! 30 carboys....I guess I have a while to go to catch up with you guys. Ill keep scouring craigslist for deals...this hobby is going to make me go broke!

 

[Rocky]

Forza, I have 33 carboys and 1 demijohn that I have collected over the past three years. When I "got out of winemaking" about 14 years ago, I sold about 10 carboys for $5 each along and pump/filter system, a crusher, a wine press along with 30, 20 and 10 gallon barrels and boxes of miscellaneous items. I probably did not net $400 for everything. I was sure that I would never get back into winemaking. You will get there, you'll see. As Archie Bunker once observed, "Romania wasn't built in a day."

 

[ForzaItalia]

Thanks Rocky! Hopefully ill get there soon. Speaking of a deal, I am hoping to purchase these carboys from someone. Has anyone ever seen these types of carboys?? Do you know the size?

 

[kevinlfifer]

Rocky
It looks like your getting more and more equipment since I was there. This hobby is truly an addiction.

I am working on English Walnut racks to hold 500 + bottles. I will post progress as I go. I have designed a different system that can be modular for any decor preference, or space requirement.

 

[WI_Wino]

Thanks Rocky! Hopefully ill get there soon. Speaking of a deal, I am hoping to purchase these carboys from someone. Has anyone ever seen these types of carboys?? Do you know the size?

At a glance, those appear to be acid style carboys. Most often listed at 6.5 gallons. I have a bunch of these and actual capacity is more like 7.5 gallons.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Thanks Wino, I never seen carboys in metal casing like that.

 

[GaDawg]

Rocky...My Hero

 

[WI_Wino]

Thanks Wino, I never seen carboys in metal casing like that.

Just to clarify, mine are not in metal casings like that. Rather mine came with 2 piece styrofoam cases.

The carboy is 12" in diameter x 20.5" tall. The ones in your pictures look to be a bit taller.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Thanks again, Wino. I think i am going to pull the trigger on these. They could come in handy when I need a size in between a 5 gal carboy and a 15 gal demijohn

 

[WI_Wino]

For sure. if you are doing multiple kits at once or using fresh grapes/fruit larger carboys are nice. If all you do are single kits, I would say limit yourself to 5 and 6 gallon carboys.