Topping off question...

[MaineGal]

I'm confused about topping off.

What am I suppose to use on carboys that are not quite full? For example, I have a carboy with peach chardonnay in it. It does not come up to the neck of the bottle.

Do you all add water? Or do you buy a commercially-prepared like wine and use that?

Thanks.

 

[ibglowin]

I would top that one off with some Chardonnay of some type. No water!

 

[RickC]

Here ismy order of preference. Others will certainly have their preferences and possibly other options as well.
1. Similarwine, either commercial or what I have made. Usually commercial because my own is limited at this point.
2. Sterilized glass marbels
3. Insert gas such as argon, CO2, Nitrogen
4. To me water is the last choice unless the quantity if very small. I hate to dilute my wine.

 

[MaineGal]

OK, will do...but I have to say that I hate the thought of adding commercial "stuff" to MY wine!

 

[MaineGal]

Thanks Rick....I like the marble idea much better!

Now..... After I sanitize them, do I just drop them into the carboy? (Seems scary to me...what if one breaks?)

 

[AlFulchino]

ditto what everyone said...and one other option..have multiple sized vessels to handle this issue...always avoid h2o...you will always be disappointe w that choice

 

[RickC]

If the carboy already contains the wine the marbles will slow down once they hit liquid. I agree, if they were dropped into an empty carboy some wouldlikely break.

 

[ibglowin]

If you decide to go the marble route I would not buy the cheap import ones from China. You are basically putting putting those marbles into a 13% solution of ethanol which is a very good solvent extraction system.

Think about the track record the Chinese have with toys over the past few years.....

I ordered some from these guys. They are not cheap like the chinese imports but they are made in the USA and shipping is a flat fee so if you order approx 5lbs its not a bad deal.

 

[RJMehr]

I usually top off with a similar style wine. When I first started making wine, I bought commercial wines to top off but now I have my own red or white wines that I use for topping off.

I also use glass chips to bring the levels up in the carboy. I started with marbles but now use clear glass chips that florists use. Because most of the marbles are now made in China, I do not trust how they are made (lead in paint).

The clear glass chips seem to me to be a good compromise instead of marbles. The only warning is a takes a lot of marbles/chips to raise the levels in a carboy. I now have over 50 lbs of glass chips and will use at least 5-10 lbs of glass chips in a carboy to bring the level up to the top.

 

[pracz]

I have been racking down to 5 gallon carboys and use 1/2 gallon carboys for the residual. That way I don't have to top up.

 

[robie]

Similar to pracz, I bulk age in 5 gallon carboys. But I take the remainder and bottle it in 375 ml bottles to use for tasting every month or so.