WineXpert Six Gallon Carboy With Lots of Head Space

[JerryAlan]

Hello! I'm doing my first kit which is a WE Pinot Noir. The instructions call for a six gallon carboy for secondary which I have. I poured in six gallons of measured water to mark the six gallon spot and noticed that it's about four or five inches below the top. Is that too much head space? Should I consider topping this up with another Pinot noir after racking to secondary?

Thanks!


Sent from my iPad using Wine Making

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Yes after it is done fermenting - top it off with a similar wine to the neck of the carboy

 

[grapeman]

see this http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f5/will-real-carboy-please-stand-up-43656/

 

[wineh]

its in the instructions

If you were following the instructions, one of the first things you would have done is filled your carboy with water, then dumped it into your primary fermenter, to mark your 6 gallon (23l) mark on the side of your primary fermenter. After that, you would reconstitute the kit to the lines you marked on the primary, giving you a mostly full carboy when you rack it into the carboy (less only the sediment if you're really careful).
As it would be unusual for a carboy to be so much bigger than 6 gallons as you state, I have to question your measured 6 gallons coming up so short, or the size of your carboy. My carboys state 23l and 6US gallons right on them.
Continuing with the WE instructions, unless you have an old kit, you will not find an instruction to top up untill the last step which states if you are going to bulk age, you should top up the carboy with a similar wine.
Just follow the instructions and you'll be fine.

 

[DoctorCAD]

If you were following the instructions, one of the first things you would have done is filled your carboy with water, then dumped it into your primary fermenter, to mark your 6 gallon (23l) mark on the side of your primary fermenter. After that, you would reconstitute the kit to the lines you marked on the primary, giving you a mostly full carboy when you rack it into the carboy (less only the sediment if you're really careful).
As it would be unusual for a carboy to be so much bigger than 6 gallons as you state, I have to question your measured 6 gallons coming up so short, or the size of your carboy. My carboys state 23l and 6US gallons right on them.
Continuing with the WE instructions, unless you have an old kit, you will not find an instruction to top up untill the last step which states if you are going to bulk age, you should top up the carboy with a similar wine.
Just follow the instructions and you'll be fine.

There has to have been 100 posts about carboys being "off" here in the past year or so. I'd bet that the OP really did have exactly 6 gallons in his carboy and it was short of the top. Happens all the time.

Is it a problem? No, just do what you asked in your first post, top off with a similar wine.

 

[grapeman]

There has to have been 100 posts about carboys being "off" here in the past year or so. I'd bet that the OP really did have exactly 6 gallons in his carboy and it was short of the top. Happens all the time.

Is it a problem? No, just do what you asked in your first post, top off with a similar wine.

And that is why I posted the latest one here for him to see. It covers differing sizes of carboys and some basics for topping up.

 

[JerryAlan]

see this http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f5/will-real-carboy-please-stand-up-43656/

Thanks for the link grapeman!

 

[JerryAlan]

If you were following the instructions, one of the first things you would have done is filled your carboy with water, then dumped it into your primary fermenter, to mark your 6 gallon (23l) mark on the side of your primary fermenter. After that, you would reconstitute the kit to the lines you marked on the primary, giving you a mostly full carboy when you rack it into the carboy (less only the sediment if you're really careful).
As it would be unusual for a carboy to be so much bigger than 6 gallons as you state, I have to question your measured 6 gallons coming up so short, or the size of your carboy. My carboys state 23l and 6US gallons right on them.
Continuing with the WE instructions, unless you have an old kit, you will not find an instruction to top up untill the last step which states if you are going to bulk age, you should top up the carboy with a similar wine.
Just follow the instructions and you'll be fine.

Hey wineh, I wanted to be sure that my six gallon carboy was a true six gallon. I measured it by weighing 128 ounces of water six times marking each gallon. When I hit the six gallon mark there was a lot of head space. I then dumped that water into my primary and marked the six gallon point. I'm confident I have a good six gallons in the primary

 

[bkisel]

It is the large amount of head space I'm getting using my "23L/6 gallon" glass carboys that is a big factor in my gravitating towards the Better Bottle and Bubbler [recently purchased, not yet delivered] plastic carboys which are closer to a true 6 gallons..

I'll use up to 500ML of water, if the kit allows for water topping, then one 750ML of like wine or portion of, then if still needed marbles. [This is a recent strategy of mine.] I don't have smaller carboys and jugs which many others use to minimize having to add stuff to their carboys in topping off.

 

[wineh]

Hey wineh, I wanted to be sure that my six gallon carboy was a true six gallon. I measured it by weighing 128 ounces of water six times marking each gallon. When I hit the six gallon mark there was a lot of head space. I then dumped that water into my primary and marked the six gallon point. I'm confident I have a good six gallons in the primary

One liter of water weighs 1 kg., and 1 gallon of water is equal to 3.7854118 liters; therefore, 1 gallon weighs 3.7854118 kg, which is 8.345404487293294 pounds.
1 gallon of fresh water is about 8.36 pounds, or 133.75 Oz
It appears you might be a little short, a little more than a quart in total.

 

[gammonite2]

One liter of water weighs 1 kg., and 1 gallon of water is equal to 3.7854118 liters; therefore, 1 gallon weighs 3.7854118 kg, which is 8.345404487293294 pounds.
1 gallon of fresh water is about 8.36 pounds, or 133.75 Oz
It appears you might be a little short, a little more than a quart in total.

No need for the complicated math. By definition 1 US fluid gallon is 128 fluid ounces. The weight is irrelevant. You are mixing up fluid ounces and 'weight' ounces. They are not the same. The weight of 1 US gallon is indeed approximately 133.7 ounces but it is still 128 fluid ounces.

 

[sour_grapes]

No need for the complicated math. By definition 1 US fluid gallon is 128 fluid ounces. The weight is irrelevant. You are mixing up fluid ounces and 'weight' ounces. They are not the same. The weight of 1 US gallon is indeed approximately 133.7 ounces but it is still 128 fluid ounces.

Hey wineh, I wanted to be sure that my six gallon carboy was a true six gallon. I measured it by weighing 128 ounces of water six times marking each gallon. When I hit the six gallon mark there was a lot of head space. I then dumped that water into my primary and marked the six gallon point. I'm confident I have a good six gallons in the primary

I am sure that wineh pointed out the weight because JerryAlan said he was weighing the water. I think that wineh was probably clearing up the very confusion that you alluded to.

 

[JerryAlan]

One liter of water weighs 1 kg., and 1 gallon of water is equal to 3.7854118 liters; therefore, 1 gallon weighs 3.7854118 kg, which is 8.345404487293294 pounds.
1 gallon of fresh water is about 8.36 pounds, or 133.75 Oz
It appears you might be a little short, a little more than a quart in total.

Oh cripes! I'll do new measurements on my six gallon tonight and see where it ends up.

 

[JerryAlan]

I am sure that wineh pointed out the weight because JerryAlan said he was weighing the water. I think that wineh was probably clearing up the very confusion that you alluded to.

I weighed it...

I'll correct the measurements on my carboy tonight and post the results. But yeah, as I weighed, I confused it with fluid ounces.

 

[JerryAlan]

When I go to add the missing water do I need to be concerned about my starting gravity changing or will the change be insignificant?

 

[gammonite2]

When I go to add the missing water do I need to be concerned about my starting gravity changing or will the change be insignificant?

No need to be concerned. The kits are designed to add water up to the recommended volume (eg: 23 litres, 6 US gallons or 5 Imp gallons). Some kits are all juice and you don't add any water.

All this is very confusing. If you use metric it is a LOT easier. The full size kits generally makes 23 litres. If you want to weigh the water, it is simple. 1 litre of water weighs exactly 1 kg. There are no fluid or dry litres. A litre is a litre no matter what you are measuring.