How MUCH Do You Top Up?

[NoSnob]

I haven't seen this discussed here. We do talk a lot about WHEN to top up and WHAT to top up with but not HOW MUCH do we top up our KITS. (I know, it usually is enough to be within a couple inches from the bottom of the 6 gal carboy bung.)

In looking over my log of the last few years it became evident that I am topping up with a LOT of wine and water. For each kit's batch I was following instructions as given. The top up amount ranged from around 50 oz to over 100 oz. That's 2 to 4 fifths of wine or its equivalent in water.

I'm aware that the two usual suspects are 1. carboy actual (as opposed to nominal) volume and 2. racking technique. I have not yet measured my carboys; they are all from the LHBS and likely 6.5 gal. If so, my choices are to replace them with true 6 gal carboys or rack down to a 5.

Regarding racking technique (post-secondary), I probably need to work on leaving less fine lees behind. It may even improve mouth feel as well.

So, how much do you actually use to top up for a 6 gal carboy?
And, any suggestions on how to improve my technique?

NS

 

[Floandgary]

IMHO,,, if racking for secondary ferment, I prefer to simply do nothing. Reasoning is that any continued fermentation will produce CO2 and displace air out the airlock. Now for aging purposes I would either downsize the vessel or top-up with not much more than 1.5L to reduce airspace. If you find that you consistently have to add that much, I would go with a smaller or true vessel

 

[Noontime]

Once we stopped worrying about getting lees sucked up during racking, our topping up has diminished greatly, and we get 30 bottles out of a kit usually. The lees seems to stick to the bottom of the carboy pretty well and we rack at least twice before bottling, so now we tilt the carboy at the end of the racking to get every drop. Now a full bottle of wine to top off it would be out of the ordinary (for all the rackings before bottling).

Good question by the way. I look forward to seeing what others observe.

 

[sour_grapes]

My carboys are definitely larger than 6 gal. I try to make the kit close to 6 gallons. My lees take up about a quart, or quart and a half. (This is a bit of a guess; I put them in mason jars to separate out a bit, to recover another pint or so of wine.) I then generally have to add about 2 to 2.5 bottles to the carboy when the wine is in secondary. Later, when I clear and rack, I lose another third of a bottle or so. When I bottle, I get about 31.5 bottles (or 23.625 liters) from the carboy.

So it looks like my LOSSES are (23 L kit + 2.5 bottles*.75 L/bottle added wine) - 23.625 L finished wine = 1.25 L.

 

[bkisel]

Coming out of secondary where I do not top off into stabilizing and clearing... With my glass Italian carboys it is generally 500ML of water (no more) and a 750ML bottle of like wine and often some marbles. I've really just started using BB and I think (even though I just did it several weeks ago) I'm getting by with just water. I'll continue to start with up to 500ML of water if the kit instructions say okay to top off with water with the hope that the kit guys built some water top off into the design of the kit. RJS customer service on one call I made to them said no more than 750ML then do like wine and/or marbles.

Moving towards BB and Bubbler plastic carboys in part because they are much closer to a true 6 gallons than my glass carboys.

 

[DoctorCAD]

None of that matters.

Rack and top off, just something to do for those of us without lots of various size carboys. I can't see worrying about having "true" 6 gallons or "around" 6 gallons. It's wine, not a blood replacement serum.

Heck, if I need to add 2 liters of store-bought wine, all that means is that I drink that store bought wine later on...and it will taste much better after I have added my wine to it!

 

[bkisel]

As the idiom goes... "Different strokes for different folks." Topping off for left behind lees/sediment PLUS the extra half gallon or so over sized carboy bugs me which is why I've taken steps to reduce the amount of topping off I need do in making my 6 gallon/ 23L/30 bottle batches of wine.

 

[NoSnob]

None of that matters.

Rack and top off, just something to do for those of us without lots of various size carboys. I can't see worrying about having "true" 6 gallons or "around" 6 gallons. It's wine, not a blood replacement serum.

Heck, if I need to add 2 liters of store-bought wine, all that means is that I drink that store bought wine later on...and it will taste much better after I have added my wine to it!

Maybe I worry too much! I like your attitude about eventually drinking the top-up wine. I have been thinking of it as a loss.
NS

 

[NoSnob]

Coming out of secondary where I do not top off into stabilizing and clearing... With my glass Italian carboys it is generally 500ML of water (no more) and a 750ML bottle of like wine and often some marbles. I've really just started using BB and I think (even though I just did it several weeks ago) I'm getting by with just water. I'll continue to start with up to 500ML of water if the kit instructions say okay to top off with water with the hope that the kit guys built some water top off into the design of the kit. RJS customer service on one call I made to them said no more than 750ML then do like wine and/or marbles.

Moving towards BB and Bubbler plastic carboys in part because they are much closer to a true 6 gallons than my glass carboys.

I had not considered marbles. How much can they displace?
NS

 

[bkisel]

I had not considered marbles. How much can they displace?
NS

I can't give you a number or weight of marbles per volume of liquid but it seems like a lot to raise the level of wine not too much. Though I use them it kind of bothers me hearing them hit the bottom of the glass carboy and each other. None have broken but it does kind of concern me. Oh, cleaning and sanitizing the marbles is a pain in the keister. It is why I go water (up to 500ML) and wine (1 bottle) first and then marbles if need be. Again, my solution is getting and using more BB and Bubblers which for me have some pluses in addition to needing to fill less head space.

 

[sour_grapes]

None of that matters.

Rack and top off, just something to do for those of us without lots of various size carboys. I can't see worrying about having "true" 6 gallons or "around" 6 gallons. It's wine, not a blood replacement serum.

Heck, if I need to add 2 liters of store-bought wine, all that means is that I drink that store bought wine later on...and it will taste much better after I have added my wine to it!

This. As I have opined before, my reasoning is this: "I possess this bottle of commercial wine. I can either drink it now, or I can mix it into my carboy and drink it a year from now. What do I care which option I choose?"