how quickly do i need to top up?

[TimTheWiner]

I just racked my Riesling from secondary to 6 gallon carboy but there still a lot of space left. I don't really want to top up with water and dilute it. I would rather use Riesling to top up, but I don't know if I should leave it at this level overnight until tomorrow. One would think I can add the F pack to top up, but it needs to be fully degassed before adding F pack and sorbate/kielsol and I don't I think my best bet for degassing it reracking 1 or 2 more times with my all in one wine pump and splashing it around into receiving carboy. Instructions said I should rack to primary fermenting bucket and stir like hell to degas, but from what I've read stirring doesn't do much so it seems like racking and reracking with my all in one pump would be a better bet. Anyhow, how should I top off for now and can I wait til tomorrow and top with a Riesling??

 

[Rocky]

If CO2 is still coming out of the wine, you will be fine. Make sure you have it under airlock. Last choice is to top off with water. Other choices are top of with another Riesling, top of with another white wine, add some thing to the carboy to take up some of the volume e.g. sanitized glass marbles, a sealed glass tube, etc. Remember to sanitize anything you add to the carboy. You can also rack to a smaller (e.g. 5 gallon) carboy if you have one.

 

[TimTheWiner]

Well here's what I'm looking at. Still don't get how it was 3 inches from top of Better Bottle and so low in the glass. Very little sediment in last carboy too. I would rather wait til tomorrow and just add the Riesling. I want to go ahead with the next step of adding F pack and other additives but not sure how long it will take to completely degass. Maybe need to rerack under vacuum again in a few days?

 

[Runningwolf]

You'll be good till today to top up. The glass carboys hold more wine then the Better Bottles. The Italian Glass are not accurate 5/6 gallons.

 

[Rocky]

Yeah, like Dan says, the Italian glass "6 liter" carboys are really about 6.5 liters. The BB is probably closer to 6 liters. Your wine did not go anywhere, just a difference in volume of containers.

 

[ibglowin]

You mean Gallon right?

6G = ~ 23 Liters

 

[winemaker_3352]

I wouldn't wait much longer to top off though..

 

[robie]

As you rack, try to rack from larger toward the smaller carboy. In other words, rack from fermenter to 6.5, then rack down to 6.0, then 5.5, ...etc. Fortunately, I still have 3 six-gallon Mexican carboys.

You went the opposite direction, so now you will need what looks like a 750 ml bottle and a half to top off. Some times one has no choice, depending on which carboy(s) are empty and ready at the time.

That's why I haven't minded much when my carboys have "secretly" multiplied.
"Secretly", as in - my wife doesn't know I bought new ones.

 

[TimTheWiner]

Well I just bought the All in One Pump and the bung provided is for a glass carboy (smaller diameter than BB), so I went out and spent $150 on three Italian glass 23 liter carboys. Kind of annoyed. I don't want to dilute with water and I really don't like having to spend an additional $15 on wine to top off. I really wish I did have marbles or maybe the air bladder that allinonepump is working on. Beats dilluting or spending more $$ on wine. Wish they were just accurate and not 23L+1125mL.

 

[robie]

Well I just bought the All in One Pump and the bung provided is for a glass carboy (smaller diameter than BB), so I went out and spent $150 on three Italian glass 23 liter carboys. Kind of annoyed. I don't want to dilute with water and I really don't like having to spend an additional $15 on wine to top off.

Steve, of the All In One Pump, is working on a solution for that; a food grade bag, which one can blow up inside the carboy. Watch for his posts on the subject.

Trying to use a vacuum pump to fill a Better Bottle doesn't work very well, anyway. The BB just collapses. It can be done, but very slowly and at a much lower vacuum. Usually it is not worth the effort.

When you rack, save the lees/sediment in a small, sealed glass container for a few days until it settles. Once it settles, use a clean, sanitized turkey baster to suck off the top layer of clean, clear wine. Use this for topping off. One can easily recover up to an extra 750 ml bottle with each racking.

 

[robie]

Consider that when you have to buy a $15 wine for topping off, you are really not wasting that money in the process, as you will eventually get to drink that wine.

 

[TimTheWiner]

True. I think I have to vent a little now. I called another shop which I don't normally got to since they are 45 min away and they told me that the 6 gallon glass carboys that they sell are Chinese made and should be truly 6 gallon vs the Italian which are clearly over that. I was thinking since I just bought the carboys yesterday, maybe I can go the the other shop and buy the true 6 gallon chinese ones, rack over and then clean and dry the bottles so I can return them. Of course after calling the shop they said they would only return for store credit and their kit selection sucks so nothing I can really use the $100 towards. I wish I had just bought the chinese to start with. Now I am either forced to dilute, spend more $$ or use marbles which seems like a lot of hassle when I could've just had a true 6 gallon to start with. My damn luck. Why should I think a 6 gallon carboy is 6 gallons. Funny thing is that they insist that the wine does not need to be topped up and that ALL that headroom is just fine. Idiots.

 

[robie]

I feel your pain.
But you know, even the ones that say 6 gallons, can vary by up to .5 gallons. They are just not that consistent.

I wouldn't get too worried about it. I'll bet 98 out of every 100 so-called 6 gallon carboys out there are the Italian 6.5 gallons.

We all just make do. We just top off with some other wine and try to discard as little lees/sediment wasted wine as possible. You will get used to it.

Besides, though I have never used them, those Chinese-made carboy could be really thin or use a poor quality of glass. The Italian carboys are nice and heavy and well proven. You don't want a carboy that breaks any easier than those.

 

[TimTheWiner]

Well I was so flustered over this that I decided to make the hour drive to the larger brew shop that carries the Chinese carboys HOPING that maybe they are truly 6 gallons. They appeared slightly smaller in the store so my hopes were high. 3 carboys, $120 I get home rack it and comes to the SAME DAMN LEVEL. I cannot believe this. On one hand I am happy that I can keep the two Italian ones and not worry about returning them. I will simply return the two unopened Chinese made ones I bought. They definitely look cheaper quality, have a greenish tint to it and little specks and inconsistencies can be seen in the glass. I just do NOT know how my 6 (they are stamped 6 on the bottom) gallon better bottles are full to the neck and somehow the glass ones don't come close. I give up. I guess I will have to pick up 5 lbs of marbles or get and airbladder or something. I just wish I could understand how this is happening, but someday when I have free time I am going to actually measure the volume of each type respectively......

 

[QCStang]

When you get a carboy, you should buy it on the volume in liters.

Otherwise, not all gallons are created equal. There is a big difference between U.S. gallons and Imperial gallons.

 

[Spudman]

Not sure how many batches of wine you have made so far but I usually have a few bottles of the same or similar wine from previous batches I have made. This is something you can plan ahead for if you find a wine you really like. Marbles work well too.

RC

 

[Flem]

Even if you had a carboy that was exactly 6 gallons, by the time you rack off the gross lees and a couple of other rackings, you're still going to have to top it off with something. Welcome to wine making! LOL

 

[Flame145]

I use varying size carboys and bottles. What comes in really handy is a bottle of argon. I will use this on my top off bottles, ie.. I'll top off and there is a half bottle left. Argon will fill your dead air space, push out the O2 because its heavier, and it will not absorb into your wine

 

[Flem]

I'm shopping for an Argon setup as we speak.

 

[Runningwolf]

Mike you've seen my small bottle I use and I have not refilled it yet in two years. I only use it when neccesary. Make sure you buy a flow meter and not a regulator for it. They are only about $20 on ebay.