Can I save extra from primary for topping off

[BMarNJ]

I’m making a Cab Sav from a juice pail and 18lbs of grapes (Gino Pinto). After primary I moved the wine into a 6 gallon carboy and a 5 liter jug (mostly filled) to let the gross lees settle. Today I racked off the gross lees into a new 6 gallon carboy, topped off from the jug, and started MLF.
There is still over 2 liters in the jug that I would like to save for topping off. Can I put in a pro rated amount of SO2 and bottle it? It’s still pretty active right now, should I wait a few days, even though there is a lot of headspace? And if I can bottle the excess and it doesn’t go through MLF, is it OK to use it to top off the carboy when it is finished MLF and I rack off.
Thanks to all for all of the help I have already received. My second year of winemaking is a lot more fun than last year!

 

[crushday]

Someone else might jump in with a different answer but, bottling would certainly create a wine bomb and leaving all that head space raises the possibility it will be ruined. Your next steps should be either move to a smaller vessel(s) or topping up. You mentioned bottling. Do you have bottle neck stoppers and can insert an air lock?

 

[Johnd]

I’m making a Cab Sav from a juice pail and 18lbs of grapes (Gino Pinto). After primary I moved the wine into a 6 gallon carboy and a 5 liter jug (mostly filled) to let the gross lees settle. Today I racked off the gross lees into a new 6 gallon carboy, topped off from the jug, and started MLF.
There is still over 2 liters in the jug that I would like to save for topping off. Can I put in a pro rated amount of SO2 and bottle it? It’s still pretty active right now, should I wait a few days, even though there is a lot of headspace? And if I can bottle the excess and it doesn’t go through MLF, is it OK to use it to top off the carboy when it is finished MLF and I rack off.
Thanks to all for all of the help I have already received. My second year of winemaking is a lot more fun than last year!
View attachment 61104

While it's still active, you don't want to bottle it, try racking down to a smaller vessel (or vessels) with airlocks to control headspace. After you inoculate your main batch of wine, and see some MLF activity, rack half wine out of your smaller vessel(s) into a temporary container, and move some wine from the large vessel into the small to fill it back up, then add the wine from the temporary container into the big vessel. Hopefully, you'll get the large and small vessel(s) through MLF together. When MLF is complete in both, you can sulfite your wine and bottle the smaller vessel if you like, to use for topping up.

 

[BMarNJ]

Thank you @Johnd and @crushday, you both got my long winded question. I don’t have any small airlocks. Could possibly move it to a milk jug, or is a vacuvin cork like a one way stopper if you don’t pull a vacuum on it?

 

[Johnd]

Thank you @Johnd and @crushday, you both got my long winded question. I don’t have any small airlocks. Could possibly move it to a milk jug, or is a vacuvin cork like a one way stopper if you don’t pull a vacuum on it?

A vacuvin sealer may work to let air out, just depends upon whether or not it lets the pressure out before it pops out of the bottle. If all you have is bottles and vacuvins, then try it, maybe pull a vacuum on it once a day to make sure you're not building pressure up in there.

Maybe drill a hole in a cork the right size to insert a regular airlock into the cork, cork the bottle with it, and insert the airlock?

 

[sour_grapes]

By the way, those "universal bungs" commonly used for carboys are "universal" because they also fit wine bottles. You can turn it upside down, and the inner part goes into the bottle:

Another thing I have done with ~a quart or less is to freeze it in a Mason jar. I have done this to keep it on hand for later topping (after a racking off lees). If I wind up not needing it, I just thaw it and drink it!

 

[crushday]

By the way, those "universal bungs" commonly used for carboys are "universal" because they also fit wine bottles. You can turn it upside down, and the inner part goes into the bottle:

Wow, Paul. Did not know that... Thanks

 

[sour_grapes]

Wow, Paul. Did not know that... Thanks

You are not the only one! I learned that here on WMT, and try to pass that tidbit along as often as I can.

 

[Mario Dinis]

Wow, Paul. Did not know that... Thanks

Neither did I, just learned something.

 

[BMarNJ]

Someone else might jump in with a different answer but, bottling would certainly create a wine bomb and leaving all that head space raises the possibility it will be ruined. Your next steps should be either move to a smaller vessel(s) or topping up. You mentioned bottling. Do you have bottle neck stoppers and can insert an air lock?

Forgot I had these, the airlock fits in securely, a nice surprise! Thanks. Also, now I can do @Johnd suggestion and try to get them all through MLF together.

 

[BMarNJ]

I don’t think my old stoppers are airtight. Thanks @sour_grapes , I just ordered some universal bungs from amazon and they will be here by Friday. In the meantime, one bottle has a vacuvin cork, and for the other, I whittled down a larger bung to fit in the bottle. The water in the airlock shows thats working, but its a pretty ugly solution, I’m not known for whittling.

 

[Arne]

In a pinch, if you drill out a bung of some kind, stick a piece of hose into the hole, seal it in some way and put the other end of the hose in a glass of water. Arne.

 

[Spencerthebuilder]

Inverted universal stoppers... THANKS. Running downstairs to try it...

What about 2 liter soda/seltzer bottles? Fill with what you have, then squeeze the bottle to remove excess headspace. Use for topping off. Cap tightly

 

[BMarNJ]

Inverted universal stoppers... THANKS. Running downstairs to try it...

What about 2 liter soda/seltzer bottles? Fill with what you have, then squeeze the bottle to remove excess headspace. Use for topping off. Cap tightly

They are still pretty active, and I am hoping to put them through MLF too, don’t want to cap yet.
It was nice to have all of that extra wine for the first top-off, which is a great additional benefit of adding grapes to the juice.

 

[cmason1957]

They are still pretty active, and I am hoping to put them through MLF too, don’t want to cap yet.
It was nice to have all of that extra wine for the first top-off, which is a great additional benefit of adding grapes to the juice.

You may already be aware of this, but just in case you aren't do not expect the CO2 produced by MLF to provide any protection to your wine. MLF is such a mild conversion (not really a ferment), that it is important to make certain your bottles are topped up and you open the lid infrequently. I always suggest open once every other week or so, give it the slightlest of gentle stirs, quickly and replace the bung. Do not be concerned if you think nothing is going on. In a few weeks, do a test to see if your malic acid is being converted to lactic. I never do my first one before 6 weeks after inoculation. Patience is the real key thing during MLF.

 

[BMarNJ]

Thanks @cmason1957 The wine bottles and carboy are all topped up. I thought that you were supposed to stir twice a week during MLF, at least thats what I’v done according to the morewine red wine instructions. And how do you remove some wine so that the stirrer fits in when the carboy is topped up? Last year I used the wine thief to remove some, stirred a little and then returned the wine. Maybe thats too much oxygen exposure. Is there a better way?

 

[cmason1957]

I leave just enough room for the stirrer to go in and wine not come out the top. I use one of the long-handled plastic spoons to reach the bottom or even to 3/4 of the bottom. I do it that way, so I have to stir gently. I stir a bit less than the morewinemaking directions say, I suppose.

 

[BMarNJ]

I leave just enough room for the stirrer to go in and wine not come out the top. I use one of the long-handled plastic spoons to reach the bottom or even to 3/4 of the bottom. I do it that way, so I have to stir gently. I stir a bit less than the morewinemaking directions say, I suppose.

Well that would make it a lot easier, thanks. Sometimes I get over-thinking since I’m new at this. My husband always asks me “what did the monks used to do” when I get too nutty.

 

[winemaker81]

What about 2 liter soda/seltzer bottles? Fill with what you have, then squeeze the bottle to remove excess headspace. Use for topping off. Cap tightly

I'd be concerned if the plastic is ok with wine, in case it leaches something unwanted out of the plastic.

I keep a collection of bottles of various sizes from 300 ml to 1.5 liter. (used to have some 2 and 3 liter bottles, which I mistakenly eliminated). Put wine in containers so that they are all full. If one is short, use a finished wine (commercial or homemade) of a similar type to top up the last container. Then drink the remainder of the bottle.

 

[mainshipfred]

Use a siphon tube to stir, it takes up very little volume.