Other trusting fermenter volumes

[winemaker81]

My FWK Sauvignon Blanc is a few days into clearing, quickly morphing from Goth wine into grey, and now clearing nicely. I've been worried about the head space -- yeah, I know kits are ok in the post-degassing period, but the space was worrying. So I got out a couple of bottles of topup wine that I had purchased.

The 23 liter carboy took 3 bottles (minus half a glass for quality control purposes) and it still needed a bit more for a full topup. Wow.

Similarly, when I racked my FWK Pinot Noir last week, I filled a 19 liter carboy and a 1.5 liter bottle. I rack carefully and the low volume is a surprise.

Note: This is not an issue with FWK. Any error is on my part, trusting the markings on the fermenters. One is a 15+ yo LD Carlson 7.9 gallon fermenter, the other is a 7 gallon fermenter I marked myself.

This morning I noticed writing on my LD Carlson:



The winemaking videos produced by LP and FWK state to fill the fermenter 1/8" below the ridge, and that's what I did. Again, any error is mine, as I didn't read what is written on the side of my fermenter. Regarding the other fermenter, I filled that one a 1 quart measuring cup (probably 20 years ago) so it's likely the measurements are off.

My plan is to use a gallon distilled water jug and check each container's markings. For my old fermenter, I'll probably double-check it with a half gallon jug, as then I can mark it in half gallon increments.

The moral of the story? Pay attention to what you have, as it may differ from fully valid online help.

 

[vinny]

Glad to see with everything else you were focusing on you still took the time to taste test for quality's sake.

This is why I was filling my primary from the carboy during the counter top incident. I figure with something I can control amounts like Dragon's Blood I might as well make a full carboy to save any heartache.

I was 3 and 4 bottles low on the PG and Shiraz. The last 2 kits I topped closer to the 24 liter mark in primary and got a perfectly full carboy after racking. I don't think the dilution of 1/23 should affect anything to where I will ever notice

 

[winemaker81]

Glad to see with everything else you were focusing on you still took the time to taste test for quality's sake.

Quality control is critical!

I don't think the dilution of 1/23 should affect anything to where I will ever notice

Actually, some professionals blend amounts as low as 3% under the belief it matters. OTOH, as long as the final product is good, I don't care if the blend changes the wine.

 

[Swedeman]

This morning I noticed writing on my LD Carlson:

On a side note: I always been puzzled that so many carboys are marked as if 6 gallons was exactly 23 liter. The difference isn't big, but 6 gallons is 22,7 liter. Don't know if the difference between the top and bottom of the ridge is 0,3 liter though.

 

[winemaker81]

On a side note: I always been puzzled that so many carboys are marked as if 6 gallons was exactly 23 liter. The difference isn't big, but 6 gallons is 22,7 liter. Don't know if the difference between the top and bottom of the ridge is 0,3 liter though.

I've noted that my 5 US gallon carboys typically old 5.25 US gallons.

 

[leftiesrule]

After getting consistently high OG with the finer wine kits, I decided to accurately measure 6 gallons instead of relying on the marking on my bucket.

Weighed 6 gallons of water (6 * 8.34 lbs) and sure enough the level is a tad higher than the 6 gallon marking but that's pretty much where I've been filling it up to. I plan on doing this with my carboys at some point in the future.

 

[Bmd2k1]

as I've noted elsewhere also -- the Speidel fermenting vessels hold more than their "advertised" volumes:

30L -- 9gals

20L -- 6gals


Cheers!

 

[wineh]

I have been wondering why so many people are having issues with volume, and I think it is because some corporate history has gone missing in the wine kit industry. Years ago, when I actually read the instructions, almost every kit (and none now) started with the following :
"Fill your carboy to within 1" of the top with water, and pour that water into your primary fermenter. Use a permanent marker to Mark that level on the outside of your fermenter. "
My primary is still marked that way, and I never have volume issues as long as I rack carefully.
BTW, 30x750ml=22.5 litres.

 

[vinny]

Years ago, when I actually read the instructions, almost every kit (and none now) started with the following :
"Fill your carboy to within 1" of the top with water, and pour that water into your primary fermenter. Use a permanent marker to Mark that level on the outside of your fermenter. "

BTW, 30x750ml=22.5 litres.

This is the method I chose after shorter my first 2 kits blindly trusting the 23 liter mark. 24 L on my primary's is a full carboy. I was pretty confident the slight over dilution wouldn't be an issue, but I'm happy to see the technique used to be recommended practice.

Thanks for the post.

 

[sour_grapes]

I did that initially, but I also made what I felt to be "thin" wine. I then realized that my carboy was closer to 24 L. Since then, I went back to 23L batches, and topped off with a like wine.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

I’ve had weirdness so I filled a fermentation bucket with a wine kit that said 2.64 gallons of juice and I filled my fermenter and the bucket said it was 3.50 and it took 2.50 gallons of water to reach 6 on the bucket and I verified the bucket holds 6 gallons accurately with 1 gallons jugs of water after I racked to carboy and I’m like wtf.

 

[winemaker81]

I’ve had weirdness so I filled a fermentation bucket with a wine kit that said 2.64 gallons of juice and I filled my fermenter and the bucket said it was 3.50 and it took 2.50 gallons of water to reach 6 on the bucket and I verified the bucket holds 6 gallons accurately with 1 gallons jugs of water after I racked to carboy and I’m like wtf.

Was the kit in Imperial gallons? It doesn't quite add up, though, as 2.64 Imperial gallons is 3.17 US gallons, according to the converter I used.

I'm still working on getting myself to think in metric, as using liters eliminates such problems.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

Was the kit in Imperial gallons? It doesn't quite add up, though, as 2.64 Imperial gallons is 3.17 US gallons, according to the converter I used.

I'm still working on getting myself to think in metric, as using liters eliminates such problems.

Kit was a Master Vintner Rossa Ardente I got to show a family member how to make a wine kit got it with a coupon.

literally says 2.64 US gallons on the side for juice content but it had 3.50. They had to have overfilled and messed up at the factory cause the measurements don’t add up.

 

[pacific_red]

The kits tell you the volume of concentrate in the juice bag, so it's easy to calculate the volume of water to add to get to 23 L. I measure the volume of water added with a measuring cylinder - easy and accurate. Works for me.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

The kits tell you the volume of concentrate in the juice bag, so it's easy to calculate the volume of water to add to get to 23 L. I measure the volume of water added with a measuring cylinder - easy and accurate. Works for me.

The concentrate said 2.64. It was 3.50 in reality though so my water addition was inaccurate per kit directions, keep in mind this is my 2nd kit as I am a commercial winemaker and make wine from grapes so I’m just a little mad that the directions were basically crap for the sake of the family member who will make errors due to the volume mislabel.

 

[pacific_red]

The concentrate said 2.64. It was 3.50 in reality though so my water addition was inaccurate per kit directions, keep in mind this is my 2nd kit as I am a commercial winemaker and make wine from grapes so I’m just a little mad that the directions were basically crap for the sake of the family member who will make errors due to the volume mislabel.

Which kit were you making? The Forte kits I've made state 6.75 L of concentrate and the volume I received was pretty accurate. Your stated volume of 2.6 L(?) doesn't correlate with the Forte or Tavola stated volumes. The Forte has a bit more concentrate (~10%) compared with Tavola to give higher ABV. The kit manufacturer will have balanced the ingredients based upon the stated volume, and giving 33% overage of concentrate would throw the balance of the wine out.

 

[winemaker81]

@pacific_red, @Nebbiolo020 made a Master Vintner Rossa Ardente, not FWK. His results will make me question buying that brand.

I trusted the markings on the fermenters, which may have been a mistake. I'll verify, then I'll know for sure. That will be in a few weeks.

 

[sour_grapes]

Kit was a Master Vintner Rossa Ardente

Which kit were you making?

 

[Sailor323]

The concentrate said 2.64. It was 3.50 in reality though so my water addition was inaccurate per kit directions, keep in mind this is my 2nd kit as I am a commercial winemaker and make wine from grapes so I’m just a little mad that the directions were basically crap for the sake of the family member who will make errors due to the volume mislabel.

I measure water carefully but I also monitor SG as I add water

 

[vinny]

I measure water carefully but I also monitor SG as I add water

Smart. That's a good fail safe.