What is the normal top up volume?

[limulus]

I have recently bought four 6-gal PET carboys. They are very nice quality and the price was right and on sale at homebrewing.org However, I think they are better for primary fermenting and not for bulk aging. With 6-gal in the carboy, I found it took a full 1.5L bottle of wine to top it off plus about another 1-2 cups of water. The level now is just slightly below the neck of the carboy.

Is this just a PET carboy problem? What volume do you experts normally add to a glass carboy for topping up?

 

[Johnd]

I have recently bought four 6-gal PET carboys. They are very nice quality and the price was right and on sale at homebrewing.org However, I think they are better for primary fermenting and not for bulk aging. With 6-gal in the carboy, I found it took a full 1.5L bottle of wine to top it off plus about another 1-2 cups of water. The level now is just slightly below the neck of the carboy.

Is this just a PET carboy problem? What volume do you experts normally add to a glass carboy for topping up?

I don't have the pet carboys, Italian glass instead. The glass actually hold more than 6 gal. I don't know if the pet are exactly 6 or not.

How much you need to top depends upon lots of things, whether you actually started off with 6 gallons, how much volume of lees have been left behind in rackings, did you get most of the liquid from skins ( if used) etc. In the end, if you're topping up, you need to provide the volume of wine required to get your wine level 1 - 1-1/2" from the bottom of the bung. I don't use water to top, don't want to dilute my wine, I use a similar wine.

I have had to add as much as 1.5 L, but usually it's around 750 ml.

 

[limulus]

I now have two different wines in these carboys. It took even more (about 2L) to top up the second one but it had a little less than 6-gal after racking.

 

[Johnd]

I now have two different wines in these carboys. It took even more (about 2L) to top up the second one but it had a little less than 6-gal after racking.

Hmmmm, have you by chance checked to see if the 6 gallon mark in your primary fermenter is actually 6 gallons?

Unless you're leaving a lot of wine behind when you rack to your pet from the primary fermenter, you shouldn't be short that much.

 

[Tnuscan]

Hmmmm, have you by chance checked to see if the 6 gallon mark in your primary fermenter is actually 6 gallons?

Unless you're leaving a lot of wine behind when you rack to your pet from the primary fermenter, you shouldn't be short that much.

I would like to chime in here and say I have 5 of the same buckets, that have the measures on the side and only one is accurate. A couple are 2liters or more off. I took precise measures and remarked them with perm. markers. Messed up a couple batches of wine before I caught it.

Have to re- check everything now days.

 

[Johnd]

I would like to chime in here and say I have 5 of the same buckets, that have the measures on the side and only one is accurate. A couple are 2liters or more off. I took precise measures and remarked them with perm. markers. Messed up a couple batches of wine before I caught it.

Have to re- check everything now days.

Yep, same here, have three primaries with 6 gallon marks from the manufacturer, one's off by a liter. Checked them by filling and dumping x 6, a one gallon jug into one, then into the other two. As long as you know, and mark it correctly, no big deal.

 

[limulus]

Hey guys, my carboys don't have markings for volume. So I'm not sure what the last two guys are referencing. I measured them myself and marked the 6-gal point. I'm still less than 6-mos into making wine, but I've been brewing beer since 1994/95 and I calibrate all my vessels for accuracy. I'm not questioning the accuracy of my carboys, I'm just wondering what the normal volume is to top up after primary. These carboys seem to require a little more than 1.5L.

 

[Tnuscan]

Hey guys, my carboys don't have markings for volume. So I'm not sure what the last two guys are referencing. I measured them myself and marked the 6-gal point. I'm still less than 6-mos into making wine, but I've been brewing beer since 1994/95 and I calibrate all my vessels for accuracy. I'm not questioning the accuracy of my carboys, I'm just wondering what the normal volume is to top up after primary. These carboys seem to require a little more than 1.5L.

Not many carboys have reference marks. It is a good idea to do that though. I was speaking of the primary buckets being marked wrong from the manufacturer. Most carboys will have more room (headspace), than your kit makes up. That's one of the most posted comments on this forum. I too posted about this. Most everyone tops up when they stabilize at the end of fermentation. It is normal to have to top up. Even some glass carboys are different in the volume they contain. Toping up a couple of inches from the bottom of the bung. Sorry for the confusion ,I'm no expert.

 

[limulus]

Not many carboys have reference marks. It is a good idea to do that though. I was speaking of the primary buckets being marked wrong from the manufacturer. Most carboys will have more room (headspace), than your kit makes up. That's one of the most posted comments on this forum. I too posted about this. Most everyone tops up when they stabilize at the end of fermentation. It is normal to have to top up. Even some glass carboys are different in the volume they contain. Toping up a couple of inches from the bottom of the bung. Sorry for the confusion ,I'm no expert.

No worries. The feedback is always welcome. I do agree about the primary buckets. I have been using SS Brewtech brewbuckets. They are actually stainless steel conical bottom buckets. They have ports on the cone but for wine, I've been using my auto-siphon and it really gets almost all the wine and just leaves behind the sediment. The brewbuckets have volume markings but I checked them and they are accurate too. I think my PET Carboys just have a lot of head space. Since I didn't have any of my own wine to top with, I went to my neighborhood Kroger and bought a 1.5L bottle of a Mondavi wine to top it.

 

[DoctorCAD]

In winemaking, there is really no such thing as a " normal" amount of anything, including the amount of a top off. You need what you need. Way too many variables.