How much air is to much air?

[not-so-Highborne]

I'm a beginner and use 5 gallon buckets and jugs. Will this be a problem for me? I don't top off either. Mostly because I didn't know I had to.


From the not-so-Highborne.

 

[Elmer]

Air will not be much of an issue during your primary fermentation, in the bucket.
However when you transfer to a 5 gallon carboy, if it is a true 5 gallon, you will want to limit the air space.
Make sure the wine is within 2 inches of the stopper.

I try to get it even closer than that, but that is me.

You may want to consider topping up or racking down if you intend on either bulk aging or having alot of air space!

 

[not-so-Highborne]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Thanks for the assist. Should I limit the amount of splashing during transferring to limit aeration? I'm getting some mixed messages about this.


From the not-so-Highborne.

 

[sdelli]

Oxygen is one of the biggest enemies of wine! You should always be practicing good oxygen management. Here are some suggestions....

- top off carboys to within no more then two inches of head space.
- add sterilized marbles to help achieve this....
- top carboys off with Argon gas....

Or.... All of the above!


Sam

 

[REDRUM]

I was going to start a new thread but thought I would piggyback on this one instead ...

I have just done my first racking, only problem is there was a lot of sediment and the level of the wine went down a long way. I had one bottle spare to top off but this wasn't anywhere near enough and I had to go and get another flagon to fill up the rest of the demijohn. In the meantime, the wine sat with about 2.5L of airspace in a 15L demijohn for around 30 hours. Is that long enough to cause any major problems with oxidation?

 

[sdelli]

I was going to start a new thread but thought I would piggyback on this one instead ...

I have just done my first racking, only problem is there was a lot of sediment and the level of the wine went down a long way. I had one bottle spare to top off but this wasn't anywhere near enough and I had to go and get another flagon to fill up the rest of the demijohn. In the meantime, the wine sat with about 2.5L of airspace in a 15L demijohn for around 30 hours. Is that long enough to cause any major problems with oxidation?

I do not believe 30 hours did any major problems. I would still have to argue that could have made a change though.... I know an open bottle of unfinished wine taste different 30 hours later if not finished.


Sam

 

[not-so-Highborne]

I take it the marbles just take up space instead of diluting a wine then?


From the not-so-Highborne.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I personally will find a similar wine and top off per say - I hate the sound of marbles hitting the bottom of a carboy !

Yes splash racking is not good - unless you are under a vacuum - where there is no oxygen to attack your wine

 

[sour_grapes]

I take it the marbles just take up space instead of diluting a wine then?


From the not-so-Highborne.

Yup, you got the idea!