aging in 6 gallon carboy options?

[100LL]

So i tried to find a good answer for this question and found some interesting ideas but im wondering what everyone uses.
I've only made wine kits so far and i've noticed that there is a lot of headspace in the carboys. Im using the 6 gallon glass ones.
In the past i have topped off with a like wine, but im wondering if there are other ideas that work besides doing that or (gasp!) water.
I have 4 kits that are ready to be clarified shortly and then aged for a bit, so i bought the bottle of gas that is supposed to clear the oxygen from the carboy for storage....any thoughts or other suggestions?

 

[andy123]

I go about 3 cups past 6 gallons till my must level touches the ring on the ale pail and my top ups arent significant at first racking. Always seems to be an open bottle of wine nearby anyhow.

 

[Rocky]

100LL, I have posted this before but I have no issue in repeating it. I am not a "topper-offer." I am a "down-sizer." I have quite a few carboys (seems like you can never have enough) and they vary in size from 6.5 to 6 to 5 to 3 to 1 to 1/2 gallon. I also have a number of 1500 and 750 ml bottles and drilled #2 stoppers. When I make a batch of wine, I fill the largest carboys first and each time I rack, I move the wine to smaller carboys where the wine fits well. So I don't add wine or water to my batches. The only exception is that if I have another similar red going or a white going, I might use a part of that overage for another red or white. I know this is not the purest way but even commercial wineries do it.

 

[100LL]

Rocky that's not a bad idea...how well do the "6 gallon" kits fit into the "5 gallon" carboys since i know they seem to vary by a few liters depending on manufacture?
Funny how a simple hobby turns more involved I already have 2 primaries and 3 of the 6 gallon carboys along with a few 1 gallons ones.
Not to hijack my own thread but i just racked a kit that contained elderflowers and they totally plugged up the autosiphon and made it into the carboy. Now i have to hope they all settle or ill try to rack through a moslin bag or something. Anyone try bagging the elderflowers right away to avoid the mess?

and Rocky, your sig line made me laugh. I get pretty picky about getting everything just right with this wine making....guess that's why i like to skydive

 

[Dugger]

The 6 gal carboys you have are probably the newer Italian ones (ribbed) which are closer to 24 liters and this causes the shortfall with kits. If you can find some of the older Mexican/Italian ones (smooth sides) they are much closer to 23 liters and will reduce topping up needs. Also don't be afraid to carry over sediment from the bucket - a lot of the wine is lost in liquid sediment typically left behind. As suggested by Rocky, racking down also works well.

 

[Geronimo]

I add up to 1 bottle of wine and (if anything) add water after that. But here's what I've learned...

You really want to start with the primary filled to the level that will yield 6 gallons, which means ~6.3 gallons. You don't have to start at that level, but you'll want to top up with water after about 3-4 days in primary at the latest. I find that kits with skins need a little more. All the work that was done to produce a kit is aimed at a 6 gallon yield. I've found that you'll never get the FG you want if your yield is around 5.7 gallons. Not a big huge deal, but it saves you from *gasp* topping up with water in secondary.

 

[BobF]

When you rack from a 6 to a 5, you will prolly have some extra. The extra goes into a smaller container with airlock. You then use this to top up next racking - say 5 to a 5.

Something Wade mentioned a long time ago that stuck with me is that he doesn't try to rack so cleanly that he leaves wine behind. He allows some of the lees to come over such that he saves as much wine as possible in the process. I have also adopted this approach and now I don't need near as much topping wine.

As far as 6g carboys actually being bigger than 6 - I fill a carboy then xfer to my primary marking the level on the primary. It's not exactly 6 gallons, but it is exactly the amount the carboy will hold. This is the level I use when mixing kits. For non-kit ferments, I mix a gallon higher to make sure I have plenty of topping wine through the rest of the process.

 

[Rocky]

As BobF said, when I rack from a larger to a smaller carboy, it all does not fit and normally results in one or two additional carboys or bottles. I have stoppers to fit everything (#7 for carboys, #6.5 for 1 gallon or 1/2 gallon jugs and #2 for 1500 ml and 750 ml bottles) so I can usually get everything in with a minimum of waste.

Here are examples of what I mean. The first group of pictures (Rosso Magnifico) came out of my 20 gallon fermenter. The wine went into 1 6.5-gallon, 2 5-gallon, 1 3-gallon and the rest into a 1500 ml bottle. The second set (Zinfandel Royal) came out of two 7.9 gallon fermenters and went into 1 6-gallon, 1 5-gallon, a 1-gallon, a 1/2 gallon and the rest into a 750 ml bottle. I also have 12+ gallons of Pinot Grigio going in a 10 gallon and 5 gallon fermenter. This wine will probably go into secondary on Sunday in 2 5-gallon and 1 3-gallon carboy. As I continue to rack in the future, I will lose some of the smaller carboys and bottles.

 

[jswordy]

One other innovative method some forum members use is to buy a quantity of large "aggie" marbles, sanitize them, and drop them into the carboy until the proper level is reached.

 

[100LL]

Geronimo...have you had an issue with the SG becoming to low when you add enough water to the kits to make it reach a level that will fill the carboy after the first rack?
As far as down the road with making my own wine from scratch i will just make sure to have enough to top the carboy properly.

 

[robie]

When you rack, get into the habit of saving all the lees/sediment and placing them in a small, sealed glass jar until they settle out again (in 2 to 7 days). I put mine in the frig until they settle. Use a sanitized turkey baster to draw the clean wine off the top and safe it for topping off; throw the rest of the lees away.

Using this method over 3 or 4 rackings can recover as much as 3 bottles of wine that would otherwise have been sent down the drain with the lees/sediment.

Yes, before its done I still end up having to use a little "other" wine for topping off. Unless the wine goes through the barrel, I doubt I end up using more than one "other" bottle of wine for topping off. I always end up with a full 30 bottles at bottling time. Now the barrel is a different story.

Also, besides several smaller ones, I am thankful I have several 6 gallon (Mexican) and 6.5 gallon carboys. As mentioned, it works great to rack from a 6.5 to a 6.

 

[M1wino]

So i tried to find a good answer for this question and found some interesting ideas but im wondering what everyone uses.
I've only made wine kits so far and i've noticed that there is a lot of headspace in the carboys. Im using the 6 gallon glass ones.
In the past i have topped off with a like wine, but im wondering if there are other ideas that work besides doing that or (gasp!) water.
I have 4 kits that are ready to be clarified shortly and then aged for a bit, so i bought the bottle of gas that is supposed to clear the oxygen from the carboy for storage....any thoughts or other suggestions?

Just an FYI if you are making wine from kits the the manufacturers figures on you adding water to top up and therefore you are not actually diluting your wine

 

[Dugger]

The best solution I have found so far regarding topping up is to use the RJS Winery Series kits. The grapeskins that come with these is about 2 liters and that with the original 23 liters of must plus water leaves plenty to fill the carboy and have some left over. I ferment to dry in the bucket then rack to an Italian carboy for a couple of weeks or so ( with lots of sediment carried over) and then rack down to a Mexican carboy for aging. So far I have ended up with some surplus even at that stage. No topping up required!
No doubt other kits with wet grapeskin packs would accomplish the same thing.

 

[Geronimo]

Geronimo...have you had an issue with the SG becoming to low when you add enough water to the kits to make it reach a level that will fill the carboy after the first rack?
As far as down the road with making my own wine from scratch i will just make sure to have enough to top the carboy properly.

Nope, it's spot on, but I have no way to know except for the empirical data available from other brewers. If I fill the primary to just 6 gallons even, the OG is a little high... maybe 4 points or so. It's really tough to know what they intended for an OG so I'm guessing based on the style ABV they would be shooting for and any data that others post from doing the same kit. A 4 point change in the OG translates to about 0.6% ABV, assuming the same FG. Hitting the FG matters the most to me... that's where the final taste can be changed.

The bottom line is this; if you aim to end up with 6 gallons exactly, you don't risk any oxidation or having to juggle multiple containers for a single batch.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it