Headspace eliminator

[winemaker81]

If I had two bottles of Amarone I could top it off but there are none available where I live unless I pay $50 a bottle. I will just down size the carboy to a 5 gal.

I was just hoping to stay in one container.

You can top with a different red.

 

[Rocky]

If I had two bottles of Amarone I could top it off but there are none available where I live unless I pay $50 a bottle. I will just down size the carboy to a 5 gal.

I was just hoping to stay in one container.

The wine does not have to be Amarone. Just get a couple of bottles of a nice red. I have found that Trader Joe's Coastal and Platinum Reserve series are respectable and not overly expensive. If you are adding to a 6-gallon carboy, the amount will only be about 6%.

 

[silverbullet07]

I went ahead and transferred. It all fit in a 5 gal carboy and two 1/2 gals glass jugs.

 

[BigDaveK]

Going from headspace elimination to cats and dogs ... dang!!! We are really good at tangenting!!!

Yes, we really are. It just goes to show that there are many creative and intelligent people here who understand that, incredibly, everything is connected somehow.

And BTW, having double digit cats between indoor and outdoor is taking a superhuman effort not to talk even MORE about cats.

 

[silverbullet07]

What are your thoughts about extended use of the head space eliminator if you add co2 in the carboy before adding the eliminator? Would that still be an issue for long time storage if the eliminator was checked or resealed occasionally?

 

[reeflections]

My only issue with the Head Space Eliminator is that you cannot rely on the bulbs to let you know if you have a good seal. The plastic material they are made of is pretty stiff and often holds its collapsed shape even when the vacuum is lost. The only sure way to check for vacuum loss is to pull the stopper and then it has to be re-sucked. A more flexible bulb would surely make this a better product. Otherwise, attaching a vacuum gauge on each stopper would be the next best thing, albeit more expensive.

 

[bearpaw8491]

Believe Steve says the bulb may stick if under a vacuum for an extended time. He recommends that you rinse the inside of the bulb with a little sanitizer as a precaution. Only had one to stick and this took care of it. I caught it on my weekly inspection and no harm was done. All of mine are several yrs old and are made of rubber not plastic - basically an ear irrigation bulb. IMHO, a pretty good product.

 

[reeflections]

Thanks @bearpaw8491 , I somehow missed that. I will try using the sanitizer. Without the sanitizer, I have had them stick after one day.

 

[bearpaw8491]

Hope it helps. FWIW, pulling just enough vacuum to collapse the bulb is all that's needed. I got carried away the first couple of times I used them. I've got an old diy pump that will pull 5 lbs of vacuum on an onion sack!!!!

 

[silverbullet07]

If it looses vacuum, the stopper would be loose too. If I tug a little on the stopper it will not come loose under vacuum but it will it there was a leak.