I'm a newbie....my primary is a 6 gallon carboy and has what I would consider significant head space. The juice comes right up to where bottle curves up so the rounded top portion of the carboy is all air. Is that acceptable or should I maybe opt for transferring into a 5 gallon carboy instead to eliminate that head space once I rack it. I know I'll lose a gallon but I'd rather have 5 good gallons rather than 6 not so good. For my next batch, I will use my plastice juice bucket as the primary.
Head space
- Thread starter flbama
- Start date
Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:
gaudet
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 1,840
- Reaction score
- 3
You are fine during fermentation (both primary and secondary) as the head space will keep you from blowing wine into the airlock. You need to top it off when fermentation has finished (after racking it) since the CO2 production action of the yeast has ceased.
I advise calibrating your carboys and marking your levels with either tape or you can look into glass etching them with a glass etching kit from your local hobby shop. That way you can see your actual volume of wine at a glance instead of guessing how much is in that carboy.
I advise calibrating your carboys and marking your levels with either tape or you can look into glass etching them with a glass etching kit from your local hobby shop. That way you can see your actual volume of wine at a glance instead of guessing how much is in that carboy.
smack
Member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2010
- Messages
- 72
- Reaction score
- 4
so yeah, you're basically going to want a 5 gallon carboy once
fermentation has finished and you are clarifying/bulk aging (without the
protection of actively produced CO2). you can stick with the 6 gallon
carboy just like gaudet says, and top off between now and the point when fermentation ends with
a comparable wine, grape juice, or water. you'll have to decide which
one you prefer to alter the flavor with if you go that route, so best to
dilute three taste samples with proportional amounts of each option to
aid in that decision. if you prefer the way it tastes without adding any of those three you'll need the smaller carboy.
i think. . .
fermentation has finished and you are clarifying/bulk aging (without the
protection of actively produced CO2). you can stick with the 6 gallon
carboy just like gaudet says, and top off between now and the point when fermentation ends with
a comparable wine, grape juice, or water. you'll have to decide which
one you prefer to alter the flavor with if you go that route, so best to
dilute three taste samples with proportional amounts of each option to
aid in that decision. if you prefer the way it tastes without adding any of those three you'll need the smaller carboy.
i think. . .
Bartman
Senior Member
An alternative I have used many times now is to drop sanitized glass marbles into the carboy to displace some of that air. I now have a sizable collection of glass marbles - the oblong ones seem easier to use than the round. $3-5 buys at least 1/2 liter to 1 liter of volume, and of course they get reused, keep forever under any conditions, and can be used in various quantities as needed.
If you bulk age for more than a couple rackings, you will likely lose some volume each time you rack, so all you have to do is add a few more marbles after racking to replace that sediment loss.
If you bulk age for more than a couple rackings, you will likely lose some volume each time you rack, so all you have to do is add a few more marbles after racking to replace that sediment loss.
Bartman
Senior Member
I have been a little concerned that the glass the marbles are made from may have lead in it. But so far I haven't noticed any weird effectsssssssssssssss...
Funny thing is with reds, when I bulk age and add glass marbles to the carboy, I often forget how many I put in or if I put in any marbles into a particular carboy. Sometimes I am surprised to find a big pile of marbles at the bottom. Another fringe benefit of using marbles is that they prevent the racking cane from reaching to the bottom of the carboy to disturb any lingering sediment until the very end.
Funny thing is with reds, when I bulk age and add glass marbles to the carboy, I often forget how many I put in or if I put in any marbles into a particular carboy. Sometimes I am surprised to find a big pile of marbles at the bottom. Another fringe benefit of using marbles is that they prevent the racking cane from reaching to the bottom of the carboy to disturb any lingering sediment until the very end.
BartReeder said:I have been a little concerned that the glass the marbles are made from may have lead in it. But so far I haven't noticed any weird effectsssssssssssssss...
I recall ibglowin gave a web site where one can buy marbles that are guaranteed to be lead free.
Bartman
Senior Member
Not to be nit-picky, but the website doesn't contain any info. about the chemical composition of the marbles - that is, no guarantee of "no lead in the glass marbles". While it has "Made in the USA" plastered in several places, it doesn't say exactly who makes them, or where, or how. I don't really care much about those details anyway, but I don't feel any more confident that these are lead-free, while the Made in China marbles/glass beads are "leaded".
Am I missing something?
Am I missing something?
PeterZ
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2006
- Messages
- 1,290
- Reaction score
- 1
Lead used in the glass making process is not a problem. All of the finest crystal is made with leaded glass. The lead is bound in the glass and will not leach. The problem is with painted marbles that may contain lead in the paint. Lead in paint is not chemically bound - it's a filler and pigment suspended in the paint. That lead can leach out into the wine.
Remember, one suspected reason for the fall of the Roman Empire is that they stored their wine in lead-lined amphorae and lined their aqueducts with lead.
Remember, one suspected reason for the fall of the Roman Empire is that they stored their wine in lead-lined amphorae and lined their aqueducts with lead.
That would actually explain a lot of their actions!
