Size of fermenter and carboy questions

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Sinton4616

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I purchased a kit with a 6.5 gallon fermenter and a 3 gallon carboy. My first batch of blueberry wine is in the fermenter and is around 4.5 gallons. Figure I'll get the full 3 gallons when racking into the carboy.

Looking at the recipes pages, there are several the wife and I would like to try, in smaller, 1 gallon, batches.

Do I need to buy a smaller fermenter for those recipes? Or will the 6.5 gallon fermenter work for them?

As my carboy is 3 gallons, would a 1 gallon jug from apple cider work for a 1 gallon carboy?
 
I found that the one gallon recipes worked better in about a 2 gallon bucket and a one gallon carboy. the 6.5 fermenter will work but the one gallon carboy is a must otherwise you will have too much head space.
 
Unless you have a TON of lees, you should end up with about 4 gallons of Wine after fermentation completes and gross lees are left behind. Be prepared with another 1 gallon carboy in addition to your 3 gallon carboy. In fact to be well prepared... it's a good idea to look around at your local recycling center for a variety of good glass bottles of 1/2 gallon, quart and even smaller ones - all with tops that you can fit an airlock into. That way if you come up with an odd amount of wine after fermentation, you are prepared to keep it all under airlock just like your main carboy. Those odd amounts come in handy for topping off later on (And a little early sampling) :dg
 

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