# How to top off a Carboy



## nickweg (Nov 5, 2013)

I'm a newbie getting ready to make my first batch of wine. I think I'm all set except for one thing. I have a 6 gallon bucket primary fermenter and a 5 gallon carboy. I have been reading that you shouldn't fill up the carboy all the way during the first racking because the fermentation might cause it to overflow. On the other side your not supposed to have a lot of air either. How do you guys store the wine you will need to use to top off the carboy and when do you do the top off? 

I know this is simple but I'm not sure how to do it with just a 6 gallon primary fermenter and 5 gallon glass carboy.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Nick


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## LoneStarLori (Nov 5, 2013)

When you rack off the less the first time, you will be surprised at how much wine you lose in the process. Mostly sediment. There will be some leftover but you can put that in a smaller container with an airlock. Or, I put mine in Ball jars and put that in the fridge to use for topping off subsequent rackings. I'm pretty new at this too but have never got more than 5 gallons out of a 6 gallon kit.


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## vacuumpumpman (Nov 5, 2013)

I will always fill up my 5 or 6 gallon carboy and 1 other gallon if I decided to use a 5 gallon carboy. Wait a week and I will typically loose approx 1/2 gallon automatically due to sediment

I hope that helps 




nickweg said:


> I'm a newbie getting ready to make my first batch of wine. I think I'm all set except for one thing. I have a 6 gallon bucket primary fermenter and a 5 gallon carboy. I have been reading that you shouldn't fill up the carboy all the way during the first racking because the fermentation might cause it to overflow. On the other side your not supposed to have a lot of air either. How do you guys store the wine you will need to use to top off the carboy and when do you do the top off?
> 
> I know this is simple but I'm not sure how to do it with just a 6 gallon primary fermenter and 5 gallon glass carboy.
> 
> ...


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## Rocky (Nov 5, 2013)

Nick, I have an assortment of stoppers for airlocks that fit everything from a 15 gallon demijohn down to a 375 ml bottle. I have a demijohn, 30 or so carboys (3, 5, 6 and 6.5 gallon), 1500, 750 and 375 ml bottles. I keep my extra wine in whatever size bottle is needed and under airlock.


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## Pumpkinman (Nov 6, 2013)

I agree with Steve and Rocky, you need an assortment of Carboys, growlers, gallon jugs, Stoppers and airlocks for them all, I have a half dozen stoppers that fit 750 ml bottles as well....start stocking your tool box, you wont regret it!

As far as an overflow, if you have a batch that you are concerned about, you an always make a blow off hose similar to that used for brewing beer.
I usually use a solid rubber stopper, I get a hose (2-3 ft long) that will fit really snug inside of the hole normally used for the air lock, I run the hose into a 1/2 gallon jug filled a few inches with a meta solution, make sure that the hose is submerged in the solution. Some brewers use the 3 piece airlocks and remove the top piece and attach a hose to the airlock, while others just get a tube big enough to fit snug inside the neck of the carboy, either will work the larger the tube the better.

Here are a few links to images to give you an idea, rally simple and effective:

Blowoff tube

Blowoff tube#2


I hope this helps


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## WVMountaineerJack (Nov 6, 2013)

First get a bigger bucket and dont rack until its below 1.020 and not actively bubbling away, you can wait until its at 1.00 until you rack as the CO2 protects it, but do not wait to long. If you expect 6 gallons from a batch start out with 6.5 gallons, something is wrong if you are loosing that much, its ok if some of the lees comes over in the first racking. Get a bigger bucket for your primary. Get a bigger bucket for your primary. WVMJ


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## iVivid (Nov 6, 2013)

Pumpkinman said:


> As far as an overflow, if you have a batch that you are concerned about, you an always make a blow off hose similar to that used for brewing beer.
> I hope this helps



I needed this today. Earlier. LOL. Back in a bucket now after I cleaned up. Sun came out, the day warmed up a lot. Activity blossomed


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## DoctorCAD (Nov 6, 2013)

LoneStarLori said:


> When you rack off the less the first time, you will be surprised at how much wine you lose in the process. Mostly sediment. There will be some leftover but you can put that in a smaller container with an airlock. Or, I put mine in Ball jars and put that in the fridge to use for topping off subsequent rackings. I'm pretty new at this too but have never got more than 5 gallons out of a 6 gallon kit.


 

If you are only getting 5 gallons, you aren't doing it right. Kit wines have hardley any gross lees, and the secondary lees only account for about 1/2 a bottle. Go ahead and suck up everything you can on the first racking, it won't hurt. It all settles out and compacts in the carboy anyhow.


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## Ebonheart (Nov 6, 2013)

I had the same issues with 12 Gallons of juice and 2 5 gallon carboys. After primary fermentation, I grabbed 3 half gallon growlers and airlocks. I filled the carboys and locked them, then filled the 3 growlers and locked them (one's blended). My plan is to add back the contents of the growlers after racking, so I still have a full carboy. At least, that's what made sense to me. I expect to lose some volume from each racking, and I don't have any previously made wines to pour in, since it's also my first time making wine.


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## Rocky (Nov 6, 2013)

Nick, here is visual aid of what I am referencing above. I just racked my Nero D'Avola from my 8 gallon fermenter to a 5 gallon, a 1 gallon and a 750 ml bottle and attached airlocks. That is Pinot Grigio in the background. The other pictures are of a triple batch of Chardonnay Semillon (with a batch of Zinfandel in the background). You can see several sizes of carboys, jugs and bottles in the pictures. The longer you are in the hobby, the more glass you will attract. It is inevitable.


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## nickweg (Nov 7, 2013)

Thank you all for the great advice I sincerely appreciate it!!

Rocky it looks like you fill your carboys to the bottom of the neck. I assume that's how full I should have each carboy after racking? Is there a magic number of times you should rack the wine? How do you know when you are ready to fill the bottles? I'm assuming once the wine has cleared you are good to go. Am I missing something?

It looks like I need to pick up at least a gallon jug or two for topping off my 5 gal carboy. I'm also assuming you "lose" less wine with each racking because there is less sediment. Is that correct?

Once I get a little more glass I'm going to try to make a 5 gal batch of strawberry wine. 

Thanks again everyone!


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## CBell (Nov 7, 2013)

That is how full your carboys should be once fermentation is over and your wine is stabilized (kmeta added)

You rack the wine every time you accumulate more sediment. Some say rack for over 1/2 inch, some for over 1 inch. I rack every couple of months, or when over 1 inch of sediment, or when I have a day off from work and am in the mood to play with wine

Once your wine looks clear (you can read newsprint, shine a flashlight through it without seeing suspended particles) and has dropped no lees for several weeks or a couple of months, it is okay to bottle

How much you lose with each racking depends on a few factors
1. how much sediment has dropped out
2. how much finesse you have with a racking cane/siphon
3. how compact or how fluffy your lees are.


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## Rocky (Nov 8, 2013)

Nick, CBell has given you a lot of good information here. I am posting updated pictures of what I have going right now so you can see what has occurred in the past 2 days. In the Nero D'Avola, you can see that a lot of sediment has dropped in the 750 ml bottle. That contains the dregs from the fermenter and I only expect to yield a few ounces from it, just enough to top off the 5 gallon carboy and 1 gallon jug. How much I fill the carboy, for me, depends on the activity in the wine, i.e. how much sugar remains. That wine was started on 10-30-13 and I went to secondary fermenters at about 1.010 SG. The Chardonnay Semillon was started on 10-29-13 and I went to secondary fermenters at 1.010 SG. You can see some clearing from the last 2 days. The Zinfandel was started on 9-29-13 and has been stabilized (k-meta only, no sorbate but that is my choice, not necessarily a recommendation), fined and oak added. I stabilized and fined it at about 0.994 SG. Lastly, the Pinot Grigio, also started on 9-29-13, has been stabilized, fined at 0.992 SG using isinglass that came with the kit and fined again with Sparkolloid. I was not satisfied with the fining from isinglass alone and I like the way Sparkolloid forms a compact cake at the bottom of the carboy. I will shortly be racking the Zinfandel for a year or so of bulk aging and the Pinot Grigio for bottling in a month or two.


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## LoneStarLori (Nov 8, 2013)

CBell said:


> That is how full your carboys should be once fermentation is over and your wine is stabilized (kmeta added)
> 
> You rack the wine every time you accumulate more sediment. Some say rack for over 1/2 inch, some for over 1 inch. I rack every couple of months, or when over 1 inch of sediment, or when I have a day off from work and am in the mood to play with wine
> 
> ...



I think I fall into the #2 category. lol.
I also am a little anal about getting no sediment. I will follow the advice of several here and not worry so much about transferring lees on the initial transfer.
I'll be starting a white on tuesday. Maybe I will get 6 gallons when all is said and done.


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## nickweg (Nov 18, 2013)

Just wanted to update everyone. I bought a few 1/2 gallon glass carboy to store excess I can use to top off my 5 gal carboy. I started my first batch last night so hopefully I will be able to use all of your advice in 4-5 days  I think the primary fermentation is going well as I can hear it bubbling. I'm excited to see what the next few days brings  Thanks again for all the great advice!


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## nickweg (Nov 21, 2013)

*Update*

Ok, its been 4 days and the must has gone from 1.090 to 1.000. I moved it to my secondary fermenter. I left a little room at the top because it still seems to be fermenting quite a bit. Can someone take a look at my pics and let me know if things look right? Should I top of the 5 gal carboy or wait a few days until things die down? Thanks for the help in advance.


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## LoneStarLori (Nov 21, 2013)

No, don't top up yet. That may even be a little close depending on how vigorous the ferment still is. You won't top up until it completely finished.


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## nickweg (Nov 21, 2013)

Thanks for the reply! I guess it's done fermenting when no more bubbles are coming up through the airlock? Is that the best gauge to tell if it's done or not? This is my first try at this and I'm finding it crazy fun


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## BernardSmith (Nov 21, 2013)

LoneStarLori said:


> No, don't top up yet. That may even be a little close depending on how vigorous the ferment still is. You won't top up until it completely finished.



I generally take different tack but then I am a contrarian. I would slowly and gently top up. Not perhaps filling the carboy to an inch below the top in one fell swoop but I might add an inch more wine this evening and then another inch tomorrow morning and then add the rest tomorrow night. What can happen is that if your wine is out of the way you might get busy with other things and then realize after a few weeks that you have not in fact topped up the carboy. Also, if the activity has really slowed down then topping up may induce some more active frothing for a few minutes but if the fermentation has really slowed down it will not create a volcano in your carboy especially if you top it up in stages - So, LoneStarLori's advice is good but i would still want to top up sooner rather than later.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Nov 22, 2013)

You have already been using your hydrometer so keep using it, your wine can be done and slowly degass sending bubble through your carboy, less on a high pressure day and more on a low pressure day so bubbles at the end dont tell you the whole story, but your hydrometer knows what is going on. Most people dont have as many senior moments as Bernard and especially since you only have 1 batch and are probably going to check on it every 15 minutes I dont think you are going to forget to top off. Since you had the good sense to make a little extra at the start and its fermenting just the same as your main carboy wait until things start to settle down and you get some lees forming, then rack again and top off with your extra. There is plenty of CO2 in your big batch to protect it, just make sure to smell the little one before you add it to the big one to make sure nothing bad happened to it, you might even rack the smaller one first to a smaller jar or even a bottle as its got most of your lees already. WVMJ


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## nickweg (Nov 22, 2013)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> You have already been using your hydrometer so keep using it, your wine can be done and slowly degass sending bubble through your carboy, less on a high pressure day and more on a low pressure day so bubbles at the end dont tell you the whole story, but your hydrometer knows what is going on. Most people dont have as many senior moments as Bernard and especially since you only have 1 batch and are probably going to check on it every 15 minutes I dont think you are going to forget to top off. Since you had the good sense to make a little extra at the start and its fermenting just the same as your main carboy wait until things start to settle down and you get some lees forming, then rack again and top off with your extra. There is plenty of CO2 in your big batch to protect it, just make sure to smell the little one before you add it to the big one to make sure nothing bad happened to it, you might even rack the smaller one first to a smaller jar or even a bottle as its got most of your lees already. WVMJ



Thanks for the advice! How often do you check the SG once it's in the secondary? I assume that once the SG is stable after a few days its done. Does that sound right? The forum is awesome and I can't believe how willing everyone is to give advice. Thanks you all!


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