does this look right

[kahaas56]

just racked the wine from primary to secondary, should there be this much room in the carboy? 6 gal carboy..when doing the primary I put my 1/2 gal of water on bottom the added wine the topped to the 7.9 mark, shouldn't I have at least filled my carboy?

 

[REDBOATNY]

Yes it should be full. Something is wrong, either your primary is not 7.9 or you have a 6.5 carboy. Either way, it is too much headspace. Do you have any 5 gal. carboys? and smaller jugs? I like to keep gallon size and 1.75 ltr around with airlocks for times like this.
Also, your carboy is lying on its side in the picture.

 

[TonyP]

You're way off in at least one regard, probably several. First, I'm not following your comment on filling to the 7.9 gallon mark. That is a lot of water. If your carboy is 6 gallons, you seem to have lost about 3 gallons overall: excess two in primary and one missing in carboy. Your wine looks light to me and that could be the reason.

Please let us know exactly what you're making. Also, did you measure and mark the primary?

 

[kahaas56]

cabernet sauv...I'm looking for the box the bottle came in to see if it is a 6.5 carboy, i do have a 5 gal..but i don't have any smaller jugs. any other suggestions. The box reads 23 liters which is 6 gallons

 

[kahaas56]

should I rack to 5 gallon carboy then throw the rest away?

 

[TonyP]

should I rack to 5 gallon carboy then throw the rest away?

Yes and no. Rack yes, throw the rest away no. First off, I doubt you have more than 5 gallons. If you have some left over, save it in a sealed bottle for topping off.

 

[kahaas56]

this was all of the wine in 5 gallon carboy. I misread the beginning steps

 

[kahaas56]

will i have to replace my fining agent to accommodate 5 gallons now instead of 6 gallon?

 

[Rocky]

Kevin, it looks to be a good 750 ml bottle or more short. You are okay for now because you still have active fermentation. When fermentation stops and you lost the protection of the CO2 layer on top of the wine, you will need to top off the wine to the neck of the carboy. If it were I, I would do so with a bottle or two of Cabernet Sauvignon either that I had or that I bought at a store.

On your other question, the fining agents that you have for the kit will be good to go. Just use what came with the kit.

 

[kahaas56]

thanks for the info. do you degas before or after you add the rest of the packages for stabilizing and clearing?

 

[ibglowin]

Generally its better to degas first as CO2 will keep your wine from clearing. As long as you do one right after the other it makes no real difference IMHO.

 

[Rocky]

Different manufacturers have different instructions. What I normally do is stabilize with K-meta and K-Sorbate, de-gas and then add fining agents, stirring them in very well.

 

[loumik]

thanks for the info. do you degas before or after you add the rest of the packages for stabilizing and clearing?

Before you stabilize, degass or add fining agents be sure that your fermentation has finished. It would also be a good idea to be sure that the temp. of the wine is in the 72* to 75* F range to degass.

In the future it would be a good idea to provide more information when asking for help. Type of wine ( fresh grapes,frozen,kits, etc.), starting SG, latest SG, start date, and anything else you may think important. Good luck.
LOUMIK