To much headspace in carboy? Solution!

[Rice_Guy]

* I am going to make a guess that the mason jar lids are HDPE, and do not have a silicone O ring gasket. As a result I would limit their use to a month and preferably early in the ferment when actively producing CO2.
* I am using silicone bowl covers on 120 mm Big Mouth Bubblers early in the fermentation. They seal better than the cap/ O ring that comes with the BMB. Silicone will allow oxygen penetration so if that wine is not actively out gassing it will cover this with a glass/ Corel saucer.

A 120 mm PET bottle is an excellent addition since it is flexible/ you can rack into it for storage. I don’t like the gasket that comes with it and have improvised silicone and bungi cord.
View attachment 69057

* Late in the ferment/ when not dropping lees/ yearish,, I would use the Bag In Box wine bag as a flexible volume container. The suppliers are selling BIB to wineries for holding topping off wine.
* Currently I am using LDPE one inch rod with added stainless steel weight (density/ SpGrav. is about 0.900) {A side note which I should try is to put some small ones together as an unbreakable single point indicator for 1.000 SpGrav.}
* I have fermented in Cubitainers which are LDPE. They transfer oxygen so are useful when actively outgassing OR if one intends to micro oxygenate as in making sherry.
* The latest change in technique is to use a check valve and vacuum out the head space when using glass carboys (rigid). Testing them I can hold a vacuum in the year time frame,, and if used while the wine is full of gas I can pull inert CO2 out of the wine, equalizing the pressure with ambient gage pressure. (CO2 is a tool so I am not degassing early in aging)

There are also these types of lids that fit pint and quart wide mouth mason jars:
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[BigDaveK]

There are also these types of lids that fit pint and quart wide mouth mason jars:

Yeah, I have a boatload of those. Work great. I actually have a small fridge just for vegetable ferments. At harvest time I've had as many as 10 half gallon mason jars bubbling away.

 

[BigDaveK]

Ok, racked my coffee wine this morning, bubbling like crazy. 1 gallon jug, 1/2 gallon jug. You have to admit it's visually appealing when the vessels are similar. Hey, I'm a serious amateur photographer - everything has to look good!

 

[three_jeeps]

Not easy to do that with the first batch

As others pointed out, fill it with some wine that you purchased. I tend to be conservative and use some box wine or 'jug' wine, depending on the amount needed.

 

[David Violante]

* Late in the ferment/ when not dropping lees/ yearish,, I would use the Bag In Box wine bag as a flexible volume container. The suppliers are selling BIB to wineries for holding topping off wine.

I imagine we could use the bags that the juice comes in from the FWK sets? Those type of bags?

 

[Rice_Guy]

Good question. Juice which does not have alcohol therefore tolerates oxygen better than a finished wine. I haven’t asked a vendor what film they use so it would be a test.

Visually the kits I have seen look like EvOH film like a finished wine gets.

I imagine we could use the bags that the juice comes in from the FWK sets? Those type of bags?

 

[winemaker81]

I imagine we could use the bags that the juice comes in from the FWK sets? Those type of bags?

The bags that are designed to dispense wine should work. Materials not designed for an acidic, alcoholic liquid may be a problem.