Carboys vs Demijohns

[Jenks829]

Hello all! I am about to make my venture into wine making this fall and cannot seem to make up my mind when it comes to the question of 6.5 and 6 gallon carboys versus 14.25 gallon demijohns for MLF, secondary and ternary fermentation/aging. Can one of the more experienced guys give me their opinion?

I am looking to make anywhere from 25 to 60 gallons of wine. This will be a joint venture between myself and a few friends. Once that number is set we will determine how much we will make. The demijohns would be an alternative if the final number is closer to 60 gallons to avoid having so many carboys.

My question is not so much about logistics as it is about quality. The 14.25 gallon demijohn at my LHBS seems to have thinner walled glass as opposed to carboys. Obviously anything made of glass should be considered brittle due to its inherent low tensile strength. I've read all the horror stories about breaking/shattering carboys from everything from thermal shock to dropping to the bottoms simply falling out. When I brew beer, I was able to get plastic crates for each of my carboys to use when they are full. I would like to think I am careful with my gear but any insight into the touchiness of demijohns would be appreciated. Thanks

-Jenks

 

[Woodbee]

Welcome to the board. Good stuff here. My thoughts would be depending on moving them around if need be. I can wrestle a five or six gallon bottle. But at 115 lbs no way am I going to lift theses 14 gal.suckers up onto a counter. Even cleaning them out trying to drain them sounds risky.
Brad

 

[Runningwolf]

I agree with Woodbee as far as moving them and cleaning would be a lot more difficult.I transfer my wine at times with a vacuum pump but you stii have to move it to clean. This is when they get very slippery. Keep us posted on what your doing.

 

[xanxer82]

If you're going to be making that much wine and wanting to bulk age it in one container, look into stainless steel. It's expensive but durable.
Or you can just use a bunch of 6 gallon carboys since they are easier to move and clean than anything larger.

 

[Wade E]

If making that muchId either go barrel or variable capacity tank.

 

[Jenks829]

I have almost made up my mind to use 6.5 or 6 gallon carboys. I think I can build a shelving unit in my basement to accommodate them. One of the tipping points for this was the ability to slightly alter each carboy. If I have 5 carboys of Merlot, I can use American Oak in some, French Oak in others. I may even vary how much oak goes in each.

We still haven't decided how much we will make yet. As of right now, there are three of us who are in. That number may grow to five.