first time wine making question

[65rbdodge]

this is the first time i`ve ever made wine. i`m followng a recipe from a book i bought called- the home wine makers companion. its a blueberry wine. i also bought the wine making kit from this site. last week i picked the 15lbs. of berrys and put all the ingredients together, i pressed the berrys this morning and put the juice in the carboy. my question is how much air space should i have in the carboy? its a 5 gal. recipe and a 6 gallon carboy. do i add water to fill it, leave as is or what?

 

[scotty]

Just follow the recipe.


Does the recipe tell you to put the fermenting juice under air lock at a specific time???


At the beginning the air will help the yeast multiply.




i take it you dont have a plastic bucket to start your yeast fermentation in.
Im asuming that you call the glass container the carboy.

 

[65rbdodge]

thanks! i did ferment it in a plastic bucket for a week, now its in the glass carboy with the air lock, just as the recipe said.

 

[scotty]

thanks! i did ferment it in a plastic bucket for a week, now its in the glass carboy with the air lock, just as the recipe said.

Lots of folks say that the carboy should be filled to 2 inches from the air lock. I never do that except when bulk aging-- i believe that the co2 that is heavier than air will displace the air and keep it safe--


BUT REMEMBER i am in the minority on that subject.
Please wait for others to chime in.


Meantime order a couple more 5 and another 6 gallon carboy-- you will need them lol lol i even have a 7.5 gallon carboy(6 gallon imperial)


i use it to stabilize and de gass my wines

 

[Tom]

You can do a 5 gallon Primary and secondary in a 6 gallon carboy. But, transfer to a 5 gallon asap after the secondary. One gallon of headspace is to much in the clearing / aging stages.

 

[smurfe]

When it does come time to top up, rack to a 5 gallon container. Don't add one gallon of water to top off. You could add a gallon of like wine or use sanitized marbles to raise the level if you don't have an appropriate vessel. Or scrounge up 5 one gallon carboys. Anyway, in regards to the question. I don't top up until I reach terminal gravity.