how quickly do i need to top up?

[TimTheWiner]

I'm a little scared of the argon method. I'm sure it works great but just something about not actually seeing it that turns me off. I think I'd be for apt to go with marbles or an similar displacement method.

 

[Flem]

Oh, ye of little faith!! LOL

 

[MurphyTexas]

Good question about how fast does regular old air oxidize your wine if it isn't actively fermenting. I think it depends on the kind of fruit.

Like you, I don't want the frustration that you have been describing trying to make sure you use the correct size carboy. I also don't want to top up with something that will change my wine (other kind of wine or water).

Plus I like to pull a single bottles worth of my wine from my carboys as desired.

Therefore, I decided to use Argon; like the others have mentioned; to fill the air space on any and every carboy and every other wine bottle with air space.

Argon doesn't absorb into liquid like CO2. I found a used empty 20 nitrogen tank on Craigs List for $30 and the Welding Supply swapped it out for an Argon tank for $24. I found an argon regulator with a flow gauge at Harbor Freight for $35. My local homebrew headquarters sold me the food grade tubing for $1 a foot. So for $100 I have all the argon needed for years to come.

The one caution about Argon. You cannot breath it so don't use significant quantities in a confined space.

I just use that Orange rubber carboy cap with the two holes and a racking cane inserted in it. So before I rack into an empty carboy, I use the cane to flow argon into the bottom and force the regular air out the top. So my empty carboys are purged with argon. Then when I fill the carboy the wine isn't exposed to air in the carboy but I do fill wine from the bottom . Then if there is an air space at the top I do carefully purge with a low flow rate of argon.

Later when I want a bottle of wine from the carboy, I put the racking cane/orange carboy cap in and start a siphon by holding the argon tube up against the orange cap "blow off hole". So the wine siphons out and the argon goes in to fill the space. I just hold the argon hose up to the cap as I don't want to overpressure the carboy.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[vinividivici]

Question on Argon Gas to Top Off

How do you know when to stop the Argon flow into the headspace? In other words, how do you know when the ambient air is completely displaced by the Argon?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[ibglowin]

It depends on the size of the headspace (obviously) but usually 10-20 seconds is enough. While not 100% empirical if you stick a lit butane lighter down the mouth of the carboy and the flame goes out, that is an indicator that there is not much O2 in the headspace. To be on the safe side you should fill slow and flush the space well.

 

[BobF]

I haven't done detailed measurements, but ...

I have 12 6g Italians and 8 3g Italians. When doing some bottle/half-rack/half operations I noticed that the 3g carboys appear to be closer to accurate. I was able to bottle 15 750s out of a not-topped-up 6 and rack the remainder to a perfect fill in a 3.

Just another option. I find that I can never have too many different and odd-sized bottles/jugs around.

Also, this doesn't help with kits, but for scratch batches I make the volume match the carboys. I filled the 6g carboy and transferred to my primaries one at a time, marking the level in each. When I make a batch, I shoot for a bit more than this level. This leaves me with a topped up carboy and usually some extra in a smaller 1/1.5L bottle for future top-ups.

It's unfortunate that carboy volumes aren't accurate, but as has already been pointed out, you will end up short at some point as you continue to rack.

As you make more of the same batches, you'll end up with identical wine in your rack to top up with, so make more wine! You probably feel like you have more carboys than you wanted now, but it won't be long before you feel like you have too few.



YMMV.