Disaster!

[SusieMo]

But did you record the gravity of the wine before or just after you pitched (added ) the yeast. You stated (above) that it was also 1.000 but that is not logical if what you bought was concentrated pressed juice. There would have had to have been sugar in it and the sugar is now all gone so most definitely NOT a disaster. In fact, if you are not tasting ethanol (alcohol) then this may be far more successful than you imagine. It suggests a nicely balanced wine.

One thing you MIGHT consider doing is taking ,say 100 ml of the wine and boiling it so that it evaporates half that volume and so100% of the alcohol and some water. You then add distilled water to bring the volume back to 100 ml. If you take a precise gravity reading BEFORE you boil off the wine and a precise gravity reading AFTER you have added the distilled water there are calculators online that will tell you exactly how much alcohol was boiled off (alcohol being less dense than water)

Looking at the head room in your carboy. Do you have a smaller carboy that you could rack to (say 3 gallons) and then rack to smaller carboys (say 1 gallon) to take up the majority of the rest and then perhaps some 1500 ml wine bottles to take up what's left. You always want to fill vessels and that can mean filling smaller containers...

This is overwhelming! I do have lots of room in the carboy. I wasn't sure if I should syphon the "gunk" in the bottom of the primary, so I didn't. And I didn't know that you should fill the carboy. I'm learning so much. Thank you!

 

[DizzyIzzy]

I think so. Whenever they told me to take it. Which was actually just at the beginning, and then a middle one--which I panicked about and shared with the guy at the store and he reassured me that it was normal. And then tonight. Ugh, I'm such an *****.

Susie, remember, no name calling!!............................I almost beat myself up when a banana/pineapple wine looked like dishwater, and to date tastes "yuky". That said, you and I are new to this hobby and learning all the while, with the help of those on this blog. Yesterday I bottled a Blood Orange Sangria and it tastes just divine!! We must remain calm and focus on the process. Today I started a peach (and discovered they were not all ripe enough to use)......took a deep breath, processed what I could, and will patiently await the ripening of the rest of the peaches...................like the British, keep calm and carry on is my motto. I look forward to hearing more about your venture into this hobby..............................................Dizzy

 

[DizzyIzzy]

This is overwhelming! I do have lots of room in the carboy. I wasn't sure if I should syphon the "gunk" in the bottom of the primary, so I didn't. And I didn't know that you should fill the carboy. I'm learning so much. Thank you!

Susie, rack off that "gunk" KA "lees", and rack into a secondary that will give you a small amount of headspace. I made the mistake of not taking an original specific gravity (KA OG), and thus have not been able to determine the % of alcohol...............now I know better! I like a higher alcohol content KA ABV so I add 151 proof Everclear to boost the alcoholic content. It's like baking a cake.......sometimes adding a little of this, or a little of that to make it even better. Enjoy your new hobby and relax..............it will all work out just fine...................................Dizzy

 

[SusieMo]

Susie, remember, no name calling!!............................I almost beat myself up when a banana/pineapple wine looked like dishwater, and to date tastes "yuky". That said, you and I are new to this hobby and learning all the while, with the help of those on this blog. Yesterday I bottled a Blood Orange Sangria and it tastes just divine!! We must remain calm and focus on the process. Today I started a peach (and discovered they were not all ripe enough to use)......took a deep breath, processed what I could, and will patiently await the ripening of the rest of the peaches...................like the British, keep calm and carry on is my motto. I look forward to hearing more about your venture into this hobby..............................................Dizzy

Thank you, Dizzy! ❤

 

[BMarNJ]

It's low because there was so much gunk in the bottom of the primary fermenter (the oak slivers I guess) that I left it there.

That’s one of my gripes about kits.. If the kit contains raisins, skins or oak chips (splinters, really), after racking off the gross lees, tasting and testing the 6 gallon kit turns into a 5 and 3/4 gallon kit. Either lots of headspace or racking into multiple smaller containers. Too bad they don’t provide a little extra juice to account for that.

 

[cmason1957]

That’s one of my gripes about kits.. If the kit contains raisins, skins or oak chips (splinters, really), after racking off the gross lees, tasting and testing the 6 gallon kit turns into a 5 and 3/4 gallon kit. Either lots of headspace or racking into multiple smaller containers. Too bad they don’t provide a little extra juice to account for that.

You do realize you can add a little bit extra water at the start to account for that??? I always add maybe a bit more, some extra tannin to help it not be quite so thin, and make certain I rack every durn thing I can at almost every rack. I certainly don't lose 1/4 gallon at any racking, maybe a 1/16 or 1/32.

 

[BMarNJ]

You do realize you can add a little bit extra water at the start to account for that??? I always add maybe a bit more, some extra tannin to help it not be quite so thin, and make certain I rack every durn thing I can at almost every rack. I certainly don't lose 1/4 gallon at any racking, maybe a 1/16 or 1/32.

Sure, you are right, not a quart lost.
My point is just that a kit is supposed to be complete and if made as directed, and if it includes chips, skins etc, you will not rack out enough from the primary to fill up a carboy without headspace. It would be nice if they just included a little more concentrate.
If you add more water, do you ever add some sugar, or is the amount too little to matter?

 

[cmason1957]

Sure, you are right, not a quart lost.
My point is just that a kit is supposed to be complete and if made as directed, and if it includes chips, skins etc, you will not rack out enough from the primary to fill up a carboy without headspace. It would be nice if they just included a little more concentrate.
If you add more water, do you ever add some sugar, or is the amount too little to matter?

As to the sugar, well, I generally add a little bit of sugar anyway, I prefer my red wines to be a bit higher in ABV.

 

[sour_grapes]

Of course, a "6-gallon carboy" rarely has a volume of exactly 6 gallons! My Italian carboys are about 6.25 gallons. I make up the difference with another wine. Upon bottling, I get 31 bottles plus a half bottle or so for immediate drinking.

 

[KCCam]

Sure, you are right, not a quart lost.
My point is just that a kit is supposed to be complete and if made as directed, and if it includes chips, skins etc, you will not rack out enough from the primary to fill up a carboy without headspace. It would be nice if they just included a little more concentrate.
If you add more water, do you ever add some sugar, or is the amount too little to matter?

The instructions in that kit say to fill primary to 6 gallons after all additions except the grape skin pack, then add grape skins and juice plus 1 cup of water to rinse the bag. That should give enough extra volume to get the secondary close to the top at least. The large headspace is simply from lack of experience, and her next kit will go much smoother, right @SusieMo? The instructions also say to ferment in the primary to 0.995 or 14 days whichever is longer then the first racking is to a carboy with kmeta, sorbate, and Kieselsol all at that time. Chitosan in 24 hours, then 2 to 4 weeks to clear. Then rack to a clean carboy, leave 2 days for any additional settling, and bottle... or age. With only one racking, there would normally be little or no need for topping up, and the kit manufacturer may even account for the small amount of water that might be needed, although the instructions don't mention topping up at all. I think all will work out just fine. Maybe a little extra kmeta to account for 3 or 4 weeks under that much air.

 

[Chuck E]

Of course, a "6-gallon carboy" rarely has a volume of exactly 6 gallons! My Italian carboys are about 6.25 gallons. I make up the difference with another wine. Upon bottling, I get 31 bottles plus a half bottle or so for immediate drinking.

I call that leftover 1/2 bottle "my reward!"