Do you need to top off?

[miccbull]

I just finished fermenting a couple red juice pails a few days ago and racked to a carboy with kmeta. I plan to leave it in the carboy for a few months then rack it again for a few more months before going to bottle... There seems to be an awful lot of head space. I thought this was something I could leave and the gas from the kmeta would keep the air off the wine but the more I read I am not so sure.

I feel like removing the airlock at this point to top off would introduce oxygen that maybe the kmeta had already forced out, because there is still a little pressure in the airlock. But at the same time, when I put the airlock on, there wasn't a lot of bubbles to push the air out in the first place. So maybe the carboy is still filled with air.

 

[vernsgal]

Top up. Either with wine (preferable) or water, if just a bit needed.

 

[miccbull]

Thanks Kim... I'll add a photo to the thread to show the extent of the head space. Is this enough to warrant topping up? I have wine I could use to top up.... how much does this affect flavour? Just pop off the airlock and pour in the wine the put the airlock back on?

 

[HenryMae]

For This problem I'm planning on racking to a 5 gallon carboy then bottling the remaining in 375ml bottles for topping off and/or taste testing.

 

[miccbull]

I topped up with Wine.

I'll look into 5 gal carboys for the next batch. Thanks Kim.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Good plan HenryMae!
Miccbull, absolutely, topping off was the way to go.