filling the container

[jackson84]

Hi I am using a demijohn to make my wine how full should I actually fill it?
Should I put enough water in so it touches the bung?

 

[wineforfun]

If using it to ferment, I would get a food grade plastic bucket and then use the demijohn for the secondary.
I would have your wine at least within a couple of inches of the bung when using it as a secondary.

 

[jackson84]

Do you think fermenting in a plastic bucket would work better than a demijohn in your opinion

 

[DoctorCAD]

Its just easier to get the ingrediants in a bucket and easier to stir and punch down, and easier to sample, and easier to...

Well, you get the picture.

 

[cpfan]

Do you think fermenting in a plastic bucket would work better than a demijohn in your opinion

DEFINITELY!!!

Fermentation can generate a lot of foam (not always, but it can be unpredictable). IMO, primary fermentation should be done in a pail with a decent amount of headspace. I have seen foam touch the lid of a pail that was almost double the size of the contents (ie 45ish litre pail for a 23 litre batch).

Steve

 

[jackson84]

I appreciate your replies thank you kindly

 

[PhilDarby]

as the other guys have said I prefer buckets although it wasn't always that way, originally I used to use demijohns (carboys) but u cant beat the flexability of a bucket for cleaning and ease of use, it just makes everything so much easier, to clean and to use, its basically your best bet.

PS make sure its food grade if its plastic, non food grade plastic leeches flavours that aren't good for wine, what ever source u get your buckets from.

 

[BernardSmith]

I think that there is in fact another reason for fermenting in buckets rather than in carboys and that is because there is in fact good reason to stir the wine, not simply to add more air (though that is a good reason) and not simply to ensure that any fruit forming a cap is constantly kept wet and so less likely to spoil and that is because it seems that during fermentation there is likely to be quite distinct levels of activity by the yeast and so the wine becomes stratified in layers with some layers devoid of nutrients and sugars and other layers rich in those materials. Now I don't know, if this is as likely to occur in five gallon batches as it may do in 50 but it is an apparent phenomenon. And stirring the wine helps break up those strata...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1405152680/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
(I have not read Boulton and Quain but the sample pages Amazon provides includes a reference to these strata).