Resulting volume from juice pails

[BobF]

I'm doing my first juice pails this year. I received 2 ea 6g Chilean Malbec and Syrah.

They fermented well and are just now in carboys.

So, what level do you normally end up with from 6g pails? I expected these to be short of filling the 6g Italian carboys, but these ended up 1-3/4 to 2" below the shoulder ridge. And I'm a pretty tight racker ...

Is this the norm, or was I short juice? The buckets were a bit below the top when I opened, so I was suspicious this might happen.

I'm going to end up putting each variety into a 6g + 3g + smaller jugs/bottles to keep from adding gallons of other wine to top off.

 

[ffemt128]

The Chilean Juice I purchased from Luva Bella, I still have 6 full gallons of juice. My initial transfer from bucket to 6 gallon carboy after primary fermentation filled the carboy full plus a 375 bottle. The first real racking after secondary fermentation yielded a full 5 gallon and a full 1 gallon carboy each from both buckets.

 

[BobF]

I guess that good deal I got wasn't that good

 

[ffemt128]

The juice buckets from last fall and the Chilean ones from spring 2012 from Luva Bella, I ended with approx 27-28 bottles and anticipate the same from the Chilean Reds. Whites were right at 24-25 due to sampling the top up extras after back sweetening....(LOL)

 

[TwinMaples]

That is a bit of a bummer. So, what is your estimate, Bob, 5, 5 1/2 gallons?

I started 2 pails, and I'm putting mine in carboys this weekend. I'll let you know what I ended up with. :Luckily, I have all my 5 gallon carboys empty, so I may fill those up along with some bottles.

Jim

 

[Runningwolf]

I also ended up with about 375 ml left over from an Italian carboy, so the pails were plenty over 6 gallons. Bob, do you have two five gallon carboys available? I would consider making a full five of each and put the extra in gallon jugs and use them for topping up. Maybe fill one (gallon jug) with the melbec and top it up with the syrah and then keep down sizing the partial gallon of syrah as you rack.

 

[BobF]

I'm guessing around 5-1/2, maybe less on a couple of them. I'll know for sure in next day or two when I move the wine to their new homes. Right now they're in 23L Italian carboys. The top ridge on these is really close to 6g. Mine are almost 2" below that level.

I fermented one of each variety with BM80 and the other of each with BM254. The batches of the same variety will be blended together. It's looking like I'll end up with a 6g, a 3g and a top-up jug of each.

I'm a bit bummed about it, but it was still a good deal at $58/pail shipping included.

 

[Runningwolf]

LOL when you said $58 I was thinking that was rather high but shipped to your house is a great deal. We paid about $50 a pail and picked them up at Luva Bellas and Presque Isle Wine Cellars.

 

[BobF]

They weren't exactly shipped to my house, but about as close as I can get it without paying close to $100 pail.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Bob - i had the same issue.

I got some 5 gallon carboys though from Brew and Wine Suppy - so i am good to go.

The 6 gallon pails were more like 5 1/2.

 

[ffemt128]

I racked my Chilean Whites last night, resulting volume was a full 5 gallon carboy and a 3 liter bottle for both of them. Both containers were within 1/2-1" of the bung.

 

[Rocky]

I find the pails' volume of juice highly variable. Some are filled to within an inch of the top and some are as much as 4" from the top. It is really a crap shoot, but it is still a much better buy than the better kits. I bought three pails of Cabernet Sauvignon this Spring (I added two 1.5 l bags of Merlot skins to the wine in my 20 gallon fermenter) and in carboys I now have 19 full gallons (3 5-gallons, 1 3-gallon and 1 1-gallon). One pail of Riesling is now 5.5 gallons, two pails of Verdiccihio ended up 11 gallons (55+ bottles).

I believe the key to fresh juice is to get it early in the cycle, i.e. be there when the juice first comes in to the supplier. I bought 3 pails of Brunello late last year (November) and had all kinds of adventures with it. When I got the wine home, the SG was something like 1.065 and it was fermenting like crazy in the pail. It is finally coming around but it has been a trip!

 

[BobF]

Got the Malbec situated this morning. A 6g, 3g, 4L and a 1.5L. A bit over 10g. The Syrah should be close to the same.

 

[Bartman]

My Mosti Chile Fresco Carmenere juice bucket yielded about 5-3/4 gallons. With the 120 grams of oak chips and some glass marbles, it was close enough to the neck for me. I was considering adding some raisins to the carboy (just for the first racking in the carboy) if I needed a little more volume, but it wasn't necessary (I added raisins to the primary and squeezed about a cup of juice out of them).

 

[TwinMaples]

My Carmenere was 5.4 gallons (with a lot of lees), and my Cabernet Sauvignon was 5 1/2 gallons. I put them both in 5 gallon carboys, so I'll have more of the same wine to top off with.

The bad news is I think I only have one more 5 gallon carboy...and have 4 more pails to go. I don't have room for any more, so buying more is out of the picture. I'll have to use my 6 gallon carboys and buy some like wine to top off with.

Question: How long do you plan to age in the carboy? I haven't decided, but somewhere between 9 months and a year. I'd be interested in hearing what others will be doing. Thanks!

Jim

 

[BobF]

I'm not sure how long it will take them to mature to the point they'll be ready for bottling/aging. I'm prepared for them to go a year or longer if necessary, but I'm hoping it won't take that long.