# My Carboys are fibbing to me!



## Shelly (Jan 18, 2012)

Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday! I have what is probably a VERY beginner question...

Last night I bought 3 beautiful carboys from a gent on craigslist, who said he thought they were 6.5 gallons and not 6 gallon as he had mentioned in his Craiglist ad. So..... I decided to figure out exactly how big they were by filling them with water. So, I started filling them with a 2Qt Pyrex measuring cup and lo' and behold, I got to 8 gallons before the water got to the neck of the bottle. After doing that I found that the bottom of the bottle says 6.5 gallons. Why can I get 8 gallons of water in my 6.5 gallon carboy??

This made me curious so I checked my 6 gallon... I can get 7 or 7 1/2 gallon in my 6 gallon carboy. 

THEN I decided I better check the 5 gallon carboy that I had bought from yet another fellow the day before.... I got 8 gallon in that sucker... it doesn't say anything on the bottom other than 1977, yadda yadda so I just took the guy's word for it, I wanted it for the skeeter pee recipe. I guess it's a 6.5 gallon bottle too!

So my big question is this: I realize I have to do the math and work out the ingredients for different bottle sizes, I can do that, BUT were the recipes created to match the bottle size and not necessarily the actual amount of fluid you can fit in the bottle? How far down the bottle is okay? Am I right to assume that the closer to the neck you fill the bottle, the less air on the surface of the liquid is better? Should I just ignore this information and pretend I don't know this information?

This is probably a prime example of me overthinking things but I just HAVE to know or it will trouble me the rest of my stinkin' life! 

Thanks for your input in advance!
Shelly


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## harleydmn (Jan 18, 2012)

I have been unable to find any on Craigslist, and I search Balto. everyday. Steve's has the for $34 for the 6 gal. I have 6 full ones right now and only 1 empty. I need more, still have 2 kits to do. This hobby sure does get ya, but its fun.


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## Bailey (Jan 18, 2012)

Rather than use the same 2qt. pyrex container - I'd retest with another known container. Maybe try a gallon milk jug for the bulk of the water then finish with different measuring pitcher for the quarts.... 


maybe the lines on the pyrex container are a little off and each time you fill it you multiply the error... just a thought since this seems to be pretty far off of the #'s on the carboy.

From my primary to carboy I usually get pretty close to the mark. 6 gallons in my primary = one full 5 gal carboy and 1 gal. carboy.


Interesting experiment.......

Craigslist has been my friend as well... $20 carboys and a $40 floor corker....


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## UBB (Jan 18, 2012)

I have differing sized 5 gal carboys. I'll rack from a carboy that might be filled an inch or two past the shoulders and the next one will be filled all the way into the neck and there will be some left over.


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## AlFulchino (Jan 18, 2012)

double check all your volumes just to play it safe and then mark each one permanently for future reference....bear in mind that you will likely be adding oak products in some instances and this may affect what you are doing.....also if you are purchasing kits that say its a sig gallon kit and you have a 7 gallon carboy then that is a lot of air for really long term storage...some here disagree w me, but i have aged whites short term ( 6 mos) in a fifty gallon tank w 25 gallons of head space.....but i keep proper k meta and use argon as well

just in general keep things clean and secondly try as best you can to manage your headspace according to length of time aging and you will be fine


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## jswordy (Jan 18, 2012)

harleydmn said:


> I have been unable to find any on Craigslist, and I search Balto. everyday. Steve's has the for $34 for the 6 gal. I have 6 full ones right now and only 1 empty. I need more, still have 2 kits to do. This hobby sure does get ya, but its fun.



Best deal I have found anywhere: 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002VFXW5W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

One there, click on 2 New from $30 in this listing, and you will see Amazon offers one for $30 shipped free. BTW, 23 liters = 6 gallons. Do please note the potentially long delivery time.

This is cheaper than I can buy them locally at the wine shop, and as cheap as they are offered locally USED on CL.


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## robie (Jan 18, 2012)

I would seriously question the true volume of your Pyrex container. The size of every carboy can be slightly different, but I doubt any 6.5 gallon carboy is really 8 gallons.

Use some other measuring container to fill that Pyrex container to verify.


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## Runningwolf (Jan 18, 2012)

I agree with the above posts, to retest using a gallon jug to begin with. I have a lot of carboys but none of them go over 7 gallons. I find the Italian carboys (6 gallon) to be actually closer to 6.25. 

So to answer your question, yes carboys are not exact measurements and like Al said, know your true volume so you can adjust accordingly when it becomes critical.


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## diggerdan17 (Jan 18, 2012)

A canadian gallon is larger than a us gallon, maybe the pyrex measuring cup is in us gallons and you are filling up a canadian carboy?

1 canadian gallon is equal to approx 1.2 us gallons.


Mexican made carboys are close to 6 gallons and the ribbed italian made carboys are closer to 6.5 gallons.

Digger


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## Wade E (Jan 18, 2012)

I have never had a 6.5 gallon carboy but I know the Italian 6 gallon catboys hold almost 6.5 so I do woinder hoiw close to 8 for a 6.5 carboy you are. She may nit be far off people! Probably a little off but maybe not far.


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## Shelly (Jan 19, 2012)

I've had this 2Qt measuring cup for more than twenty five years and I've always trusted it but have never thought to check it for validity. I will do that... I"ll use my 6 gallon that came with my starter kit to do the wine kits and use the big ones for homemade batches, which is probably what I'll do mostly anyway... so I can adjust the recipes.

@Harleydmn I found these carboys on Balt. Craigslist probably minutes after the listing came up... the guy was selling a serious beer brewing set with two large metal 10/15 gallon containers, burners and what-not. I asked him to break the carboys out of the set and he agreed. I got lucky. Other than that, there was someone on there selling an entire kit for a hundred dollars a couple days ago but I didn't want double of everything so I kept looking. The 5 gallon that I bought that turned out to be 6.5 I found from a guy that was flipping an investment property and he found it in the basement. He actually had two and they broke one before I got there. Check Craigslist twice a day, morning and night... it looks like they pop up pretty regularly and obviously go fast. Search wine making, carboy, carboys and brewing. Good luck, I have all I need so I won't be prowling around buying them up! 

Thanks everyone for your thoughts 
Shelly


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## SOKanagan (Oct 23, 2014)

I know this thread is 2 yrs. old but i couldn't help feeling the need to reply, mostly b/c of the incredible ignorance (and by that i mean lack of knowledge, not in the rude usage of the word) of most of the ppl who commented on what Shelly wrote. Wow people! Really?! Is 'diggerdan17' the ONLY one who realized this is all about the difference b/w US and Canadian gallons??! Wow. One correction to what 'diggerdan17' wrote...a Can. gallon is not "equal to approx. 1.2 US gallons", it is EXACTLY equal to 1.25 US gallons. 160 ounces per Can. gallon, 128 oz. to a US gallon. Do the math. Ergo, Shelly did a fine, and accurate, job of measuring water into her "6.5 gallon" carboy and coming up with 8 gallons. 6.5 x 1.25 actually comes out to 8.125 US gallons. She said it was at the base of the neck by time she got to 8 (US) gallons. My guess is that 8.125 would completely fill it to the top.


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## JohnT (Oct 23, 2014)

What? I suppose that US gallons are not good enough for you Canadians? You have to have your own size gallon???


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## Buehler91 (Oct 23, 2014)

And whats up with the bacon...Its not really bacon!!


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## sour_grapes (Oct 23, 2014)

SOKanagan said:


> I know this thread is 2 yrs. old but i couldn't help feeling the need to reply, mostly b/c of the incredible ignorance (and by that i mean lack of knowledge, not in the rude usage of the word) of most of the ppl who commented on what Shelly wrote. Wow people! Really?! Is 'diggerdan17' the ONLY one who realized this is all about the difference b/w US and Canadian gallons??! Wow. One correction to what 'diggerdan17' wrote...a Can. gallon is not "equal to approx. 1.2 US gallons", it is EXACTLY equal to 1.25 US gallons. 160 ounces per Can. gallon, 128 oz. to a US gallon. Do the math. Ergo, Shelly did a fine, and accurate, job of measuring water into her "6.5 gallon" carboy and coming up with 8 gallons. 6.5 x 1.25 actually comes out to 8.125 US gallons. She said it was at the base of the neck by time she got to 8 (US) gallons. My guess is that 8.125 would completely fill it to the top.



I am sorry about your ignorance. (Not the rude kind!!) The US fluid oz. and the Imperial (UK/Canadian) fluid oz. are not the same size! They differ by about 4%.. The result is that an Imperial gallon is 1.20095 US gallons. Sooo, it loooks like diggerdan was pretty close.


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## REDBOATNY (Oct 23, 2014)

Weigh the carboy empty and full. Water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon. You can google the exact weight of a gallon of water if you want it closer.


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## jjduen (Oct 23, 2014)

Water is 8.33# per gallon at 68f


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## tanddc (Oct 23, 2014)

jjduen said:


> Water is 8.33# per gallon at 68f



Is that Canadian water or US water?


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## JohnT (Oct 23, 2014)

tanddc said:


> Is that Canadian water or US water?


 

Now That's Funny!!!! 

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!


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## codeman (Oct 23, 2014)

Deuterium water or traditional water?


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## richmke (Oct 23, 2014)

Imperial Gallon - Those Canadians are so hung up on their British Royalty Heritage.


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