when to check sg

[countrygirl]

the wine gods are looking over me, i think.
hubby says it's not a 3 gallon, more like 2 he says, so i've siphoned to it and airlocked it. also, i've just figured out how to put pics on here. i wanted you to be able to see the head space. is this too much? i have already bought an oceanspray blueberry, no high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors or additives. do i need to "top up" with that, or wait till monday and hope the other bungs come in and put it in the gallon jug with plenty left over to put in a wine bottle with an airlock for top ups then.

 

[djrockinsteve]

That looks like a low 3 gallon carboy. That is way too much head space. You should only have an inch or so. The amount of wine to air ratio is too much. If that is a 3 gallon do you have 2 one gallon carboys.

That may be too much to top off with your juice. With the head space now you have a day or two to resolve the head space problem.

You could add some of the blueberry and sorbate to a one gallon and add your wine. That should fill your 2 gallon carboys if you have / get them. You even may have a little left over you can put into a wine bottle and airlock.

Once you've done this once you learn a lot and it becomes easier.