WineXpert So where did my wine go?

[kat50496]

I racked my Estate Zin to a 6 gallon glass carboy on Sat. to bulk age for the next 4 - 6 months. I was very surprised by the fact that racking from a 6 gal. BB which was full to about 2 inches from the stopper, to a 6 gallon glass Italian carboy, I had to top up with over 1 liter of commercial Zin (actually a Zin, Syrah, Cab blend). There wasn't a lot of solids, and I didn't leave much behind in the BB. The Sauv Blanc also took about 800 ml to top off into a second BB.

Seemed like an optical illusion, is this about normal for topping off?

 

[BobF]

The six gallon italian carboys are a bit bigger than 6g. I filled a 6g carboy with water, siphoned to my primary and marked the level so I know how much to prepare when doing a kit to have full carboy when I rack.

For non-kit wines I always make the batch a bit bigger so I'll have a full carboy plus a smaller bottle/jug for topping up at future rackings.

It's a worthwhile exercise to do this with your various carboys. I also use a measuring cup to mark primaries more accurately than the marks they come with.

You should also note that you will lose the volume that the sediment contributed and remember, part of the sugar was converted to co2 and got burped away.

 

[ffemt128]

What Bob said is very true. You even have to watch with various containers of the same size unless they were from the same manufacturer. I racked 5 gallons of Sav Blanc yesterday. I started with a 5 gallon garboy and a 1/2 gallon jug, after racking into a different 5 gallon carboy I ended with the carboy full, a 750 ml bottle and a 10 oz glass to sample.

 

[robie]

Good posts. It is a good thing to understand the differences in volume or various carboys and take advantage of it. Typically you loose some wine each time you rack, so each time you do rack, you can use a slightly smaller receiving carboy. For example, had you racked "from" the Italian "to" the Better Bottle, you would not have needed as much additional wine for topping off.

 

[cpfan]

For example, had you racked "from" the Italian "to" the Better Bottle, you would not have needed as much additional wine for topping off.

I haven't done this, but I suspect that you would have had an overflow of the Better Bottle, if the Italian carboy had been topped up.

Steve

 

[robie]

I haven't done this, but I suspect that you would have had an overflow of the Better Bottle, if the Italian carboy had been topped up.

Steve

Yep, depends on how much wine/sediment is left in the original carboy, I guess. I tend to leave very little, as I save the sediment and siphon off the top wine.

When racking from larger to smaller, IMO it's better to have a little overflow to save in a 375 ml bottle than, when going the opposite direction, having to buy a commercial bottle or two to top off the Italian.

In the end, one will generally have to top off at some point or another. It might be avoidable, if racking from a 6 gallon to a 5 gallon, but I never loose that much at a single racking.

Fortunately, I have Italian, Better Bottle and Mexican carboys. I can work with the racking lose pretty well, but still end up topping off. I leave my wine in the carboy for 8 to 12 months, so I might rack an extra time (or two).

 

[gonzo46307]

I have three "6" gallon carboys, one has a slight bluish tint to it and holds less than the other two, I usually use that one for my final racking for the kit wines. When I'm doing fruit wines I'm not worried as much, because between the volume of the fruit, the sediment, etc I usually end up with more than 6 gallons anyway.

Now can someone tell me where my socks go after I put them in the dryer?!?!?!?



Peace,
Bob

 

[Wade E]

Better Bottles are as close to 6 gallon as they come. The Mexican carboys are just a little over while the Italian are quite a bot over so you should usem in a certain order so that you dont have to top up as much.

 

[tonyt]

you should usem in a certain order so that you dont have to top up as much.

Oh come on Wade, if we all had 47 assorted carboys, like some of y'all have, we could do that. My wife said it's either her or another carboy in her kitchen. Guess we'll be eating out a lot soon!

 

[robie]

My wife said it's either her or another carboy in her kitchen. Guess we'll be eating out a lot soon!

That's the spirit!!!!!! It's very hard to keep those pesky carboys from multiplying. I try to tell them to stop but they seem to have a mind of their own.

 

[Dugger]

That's the spirit!!!!!! It's very hard to keep those pesky carboys from multiplying. I try to tell them to stop but they seem to have a mind of their own.

They sure do! I was yard sailing last Sat and ended up bringing home another 19 liter carboy as well as a 1/2 gal jug (80 oz) and a 1/4 gal jug (40 oz - 1st time I've seen one of those) - I certainly didn't need them but for 3 bucks for the 3 of them couldn't pass them up! My brother in law got 5 for 5 bucks.

 

[banannabiker]

I know you loose a little bit each time you rack, but I have been racking into a large container, cleaning out the sediment from the 'just emptied' container, and then siphoning the wine right back into the container I just took it out of. That does expose to extra oxygen, and you still have to make up for the sediment-but you don't have to worry about differences in container sizes.