Using marbels to fill headsace. For one-gallon carboys,what is the accepted method?

[ruhbarb76]

Using marbles to fill headspace. For one-gallon carboys,what is the accepted method?

 

[ratflinger]

Same as for a large carboy, fill the carboy with wine and then add marbles to top it up. Be sure to only use clear, made in the USA marbles.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Always wash and sanitize your marbles

 

[heatherd]

I top up with similar wine.

 

[bjoll001]

I sanitize the marbles with SO2 solution and add them to the wine to top up. Works well for small amount of headspace to reduce. For larger head space, you need a lot of marbles.

 

[tullamore]

topping up with any wine will do

 

[Jim Welch]

I bought marbles specifically marketed for this use, they weren't cheap and it turned out I needed far more that I anticipated so I went out and bought a similar wine to top off that particular batch. Now the marbles sit unused, I always use a similar wine now to top off.
In another recent thread I posted about cold crashing lees after racking to recover the wine "hidden" in the lees. This wine is kept refrigerated in an appropriately sized ball jar to minimize headspace and used exclusively for topping off, after taste testing of course but I've never had any issues-knocking on wood now.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

In another recent thread I posted about cold crashing lees after racking to recover the wine "hidden" in the lees. This wine is kept refrigerated in an appropriately sized ball jar to minimize headspace and used exclusively for topping off,

I just splash racked my mango wine and topped off with a small jar I had reserved in the fridge with the cloudy wine with lees from the original fermenting. It’s amazing how much settles out and how clear it makes that cloudy bit of wine.

 

[mikewatkins727]

Here's a tip I've used from a guy who wrote about his experiences in winemaking. If you have partial tubes of pure silicone caulk left over from a project, squeeze it out into ribbons on a non stick surface. After it hardens (sets) cut into sections of any length you want. Let the caulk age for a month or more before use. I've found the short ones float and the longer ones sink. These I use for ullage.

 

[RylanJacobs]

Marbles - WalMart

Is this an appropriate source for marbles? I'm going to be in the same boat with my Riesling batch. I read about an Oregon winery, Antica Terra, that uses river rocks to top-up their barrels.

Wal-Mart marbles soaked in star-san seems like a cheap alternative. Looking to avoid adding any other wine at all costs

 

[bearpaw8491]

I routinely use a Headspace Eliminator with great success. Of course, you need a vacuum source. The All in One Wine Pump would be the absolute first choice but could probably get by with a food vacuum sealer or homemade pump. If you stick with winemaking, you may end up with an AIO eventually - makes every aspect of winemaking a breeze. I used a homemade rig for many years until it gave up the ghost last year. Bought an AIO from Steve and haven't looked back! Great products and top-notch customer service.

 

[RylanJacobs]

I routinely use a Headspace Eliminator with great success. Of course, you need a vacuum source. The All in One Wine Pump would be the absolute first choice but could probably get by with a food vacuum sealer or homemade pump. If you stick with winemaking, you may end up with an AIO eventually - makes every aspect of winemaking a breeze. I used a homemade rig for many years until it gave up the ghost last year. Bought an AIO from Steve and haven't looked back! Great products and top-notch customer service.

An AIO definitely seems like a good tool. I've added it to my list of equipment goals. Will most likely continue with marbles for this batch.

 

[sour_grapes]

I have no experience, but the concern is lead. Cheap marbles are not made to be food-grade. Lead is often used in glass making, and it can leach out in an acidic environment. Be careful with your sourcing!

 

[Rice_Guy]

* I use check valves form Grainger for wines which are close to bottling. My experience with the blue “bulb” is that the fittings leak. Fabrication for vacuum needs to be done using gas quality materials.
* There are one inch plastic balls on Amazon for this task.
* Because of cost per inch I bought 1” LDPE rod from Granger for filling head space. The down side is LDPE density is under .990, ,,, to sink them I weigh one end with stainless steel.
* one of the vinters club folks has Delrin. If I make more I will use a higher SG plastic.
* test result with a vacuum gage we’re posted in a different thread. If you don’t use a tool to read where you are, vacuum is not reliable. ,,, or you assume leakage and pump back down every week.

 

[Rice_Guy]

About a year ago we had a discussion about holding vacuum and vacuvin stoppers and check valves
so I killed a few days testing hardware. > results
View attachment 85669
Conclusions
* An effective vacuum set up needs to have the same seals as one would use with gas lines
* old corks get hard and are not effective at holding a vacuum
* a carboy with wine in it will release CO2 and not hold a vacuum as long as a dry system
(working definition of a good enough degassed wine was the carboy can hold a five inch Hg vacuum for 30 minutes)
* The rate of change decreases as the pressure differential decreases, There was still a slight difference on gage at thirteen months with the empty flask
* A new vacuvin check valve is effective at holding vacuum
* A new plastic check valve is effective at holding vacuum (polysulphone and nylon construction)
* To know how well a hardware setup is performing one needs to have a vacuum gage

photo setup 1
photo setup 2

 

[Jovimaple]

I usually rack down to eliminate headspace. For example, when I make a 6 gallon kit, I end up racking to a 5 gallon carboy by about the 2nd racking, when I want to leave most of the lees behind. Whatever is left over goes into a 13 cup jug (from Mogen David wine - fits a size 6 stopper with an airlock)), a wine bottle - 1.5 liter, 750 ml, 375 ml - a universal bung turned upside down fits these so I can use an airlock. I use whatever combination of bottles required.

On rare occasions I will top off with a similar wine.

 

[NorCal]

* I use check valves form Grainger for wines which are close to bottling. My experience with the blue “bulb” is that the fittings leak. Fabrication for vacuum needs to be done using gas quality materials.
* There are one inch plastic balls on Amazon for this task.
* Because of cost per inch I bought 1” LDPE rod from Granger for filling head space. The down side is LDPE density is under .990, ,,, to sink them I weigh one end with stainless steel.
* one of the vinters club folks has Delrin. If I make more I will use a higher SG plastic.
* test result with a vacuum gage we’re posted in a different thread. If you don’t use a tool to read where you are, vacuum is not reliable. ,,, or you assume leakage and pump back down every week.

Same. For wine that I’m storing a month or so, I use a bung and a one way check valve. I will apply vacuum every week or so. It is also has the benefit of pulling co2 out of solution.