WineXpert Bulk Fermenting

[imnee]

I am in the process of making a couple 7.5L kits. I am bulk aging them in 6 Gallon carboys. When I racked the wine off the lees into the carboy for aging I was a bit surprised on how much space was remaining. I bought a 1L bottle of similar wine to top things off. After adding the entire bottle I was still not up to 2" below the bung.... Is this normal to have to add this much?

I going to rack the second kit to the aging carboy here in a few days and wanted some advice....

Thanks,
Doug

 

[grapeman]

Welcome to the forum Doug


It can be normal for kits, especially the small ones like the 7.5 liter. Sometimes the carboys are just larger than they say they are, but most often a lot can be lost if you rack too carefully. Tip the carboy before racking to get the lees to settle off to the other side and keep racking even if you get a bit of lees on the first racking. That is where most of it will be lost. It hasn't had a chance to settle much at that point, so you get a lot of liquid with it.

 

[imnee]

Thanks for the info appleman. I think tipping the carboy and letting i settle a bit will help a lot. I'm going to try a 15L Cabernet kit next. The first kit I made was a 7.5L Cabernet and we loved it. Now for my next project... A large wine rack!

 

[uavwmn]

imnee, when I first started out with my first kits I lost alot of wine because I was afraid to get any lees in there. So, topping off was using the stuff I wanted to drink while waiting for these to age.

Tipping the carboy helps alot. I decided to get a 5 gal carboy and I bought a 1 gal and a 1/2 gal jugs of wine from the store. I use these if I need to if I rack more than 5 gal.


Hope this helps~

 

[Waldo]

If you are going to use the tilt method of racking. Try to set it up at least 4-5 days prior to racking. Gives that "sliding" sediment time to compact nicely

 

[imnee]

Thanks for the additional feedback. I will get some additional storage in different sizes. I do have a 5 gal carboy already. I will try to get the carboys tilted about a week before racking to help get as much wine as possible.