Blending

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sluff

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I am planning to bend two 6 gallon carboys of Cabernet. I don't have any containers larger than about 6 gallons so I am looking for ideas on how to do this with as little oxygen contact as possible. Thanks!
 
Logistical it can be done with three ~ 6 gallon carboys. The 2 you have with the cab. in it an a empty one. Although it is time consuming it can be done. I would rack one to the empty carboy first. Clean the one that was just racked from then rack or siphon half of each full carboy to the clean empty one. Then you can siphon the two half empties together.
Hope this helps
 
I am planning to bend two 6 gallon carboys of Cabernet. I don't have any containers larger than about 6 gallons so I am looking for ideas on how to do this with as little oxygen contact as possible. Thanks!
Exposing it to a little oxygen isn't necessarily a bad thing so long as it contains adequate sulfates. If you have a spare carboy or bucket I would do it like Rembee describes above. If it's ready to bottle you could always bottle half, filling bottles 50/50, and then combine the other half in one of the carboys.
Just out of curiosity, what are the differences between how you processed the two batches of Cab?
 
I am planning to bend two 6 gallon carboys of Cabernet. I don't have any containers larger than about 6 gallons so I am looking for ideas on how to do this with as little oxygen contact as possible. Thanks!
If it were I, I would rack half from each carboy to a third carboy, then rack the remaining wine in one carboy to the other. Let it sit for a few days, clean out the empty carboy and rack the full carboy into the clean one. In this way, you only need one 6 gallon carboy although the job would be spread over a few days.
 
Depending how long they were sitting since the last rack I might recommend racking one completely to the clean carboy, clean it then rack the second one to the cleaned carboy. This way you will leave most of the sediment behind. Then do rack half of each to the cleaned empty carboy and the last half to the other carboy. As JohnW said a little oxygen is not necessarily and bad thing especially for a big red like Cab and the proper SO2 levels.
 
Another option is to purchase a Rubbermaid Brute, sized larger than you need. A 16 gallon should work, although if you have any thoughts of doing larger batches in the future, I recommend getting a 20 or 24 gallon.

Brutes that are #4 plastic are safe to use for short term. I use 32 gallon units for primary fermentation.
 
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