Why so many glass carboys ...?

[Shurt1073]

I would make one or two fruit wine kits a year starting in 2016 with one bucket and one glass carboy. I read some of these posts and guys are talking about having 6-8 or more carboys but it totally makes sense to have bunches if you are letting the wine sit and clear properly. It takes time.

It would be cool to have enough wines going at once where each week you're able to always be messing with your wine hobby! Plus, wine is heart healthy ...... I could be saving my own life! Yes, I've convinced myself to start making more wine.

How many wines do you have going at once?

 

[hawkwing]

Probably more than a dozen on the go. Probably 20-30 carboys. I pick them up used though.

 

[QuiQuog]

Yikes! That’s too many for me. I’d have a hard time keeping it all straight. I usually will only have 2 at one time. Right now I have 3 bulk aging. I only own three 6 gallon, and two 5 gallon carboys.

 

[vinny]

I started making wine last January. I made a raspberry wine from the garden harvest that was in the freezer, which is still aging, and the hobby bit me hard. I have made around 60 gallons in that time. I've made carrot, dandelion, triple berry, dragons blood, malt hard lemonade, skeeter pee, and 6 different kits.

I was trying to make a kit or two every couple of months so that when things matured I would have a constant flow of things in secondary that I could move to bottles as we went through them. I also wanted variety. I got busy with projects and haven't done any kits in quite a few months. I saw a post on here of a member that had just put 10 kits or so into secondary. They were all lined up pretty on the counter. I thought why not? It costs the same if I buy one every other month or 6 at a time. Over the last month I have picked up 5 kits that I am going to get going in the next couple weeks once winter hits. It is way more convenient to store unmade kits and maturing wine in carboys than it is to store that many bottles. Storing bottles full or empty takes up a LOT of space compared to carboys.

Because I was new I really wanted to taste what I was making. I was advised here to make a kit with half the oak and it would be ready this past September. I split the batch into a 3 gallon carboy and bottled half in april. I got to taste it while gauging the development, also I can note the difference between bottle and bulk aging in carboys. I still have full bottles, but have yet to bottle the second half to compare.

Kit wines are incomparably better with at least 3 months aging beyond the kit 6-8 week time and this is where you need the storage if you want a constant supply of bottle ready wine. Some here age a year, others 2 depending on the wine and what they made it from, kit/grapes.

It is WAY easier to move around a 3 gallon carboy than a 6. It is also very convenient to bottle half the batch. I have a Shiraz, a Merlot, and a Diablo Rojo in bottles and in 3G carboys. That's 45 bottles to rotate and store instead of 90. I do have quite a few bottles and yesterday I was going to bottle 2 or 3 6 gallon batches that are now ready, but I decided to filter first and left them to settle after racking. I am now thinking I am going to split them to 3 gallon carboys as well.

That's the long winded answer to say that many of us have a lot going at a time. It is still very strange to me that I like hauling wine around the house, washing carboys and bottles. Nothing about any of that is 'fun', but I really enjoy making wine and experimenting with gallon batches of random things from the yard and garden, as well as making kits. The wine I am making is better than what I was buying and I am learning so much about it.

If you get the bug like a few of us newer members have, you will have the urge to make a lot. Gallon jugs and 3 gallon carboys are something to consider. I store my wine away from where I bottle it. I can rack to 3 gallon carboys and walk them over to where I'm set up. I need a dolly for a 6 gallon and then I still have to lug it onto the counter.

Just some thoughts to consider as you decide how you plan to set up. I got all my equipment used. I got 2 full set ups from different people for a couple hundred bucks, total. It's a good way to get everything you need including bottles, then you can sell off or give away what you don't use. Or buy more? I have 6 3 gallon carboys and 8-10 6 gallon.

 

[Shurt1073]

It is WAY easier to move around a 3 gallon carboy than a 6. It is also very convenient to bottle half the batch. I have a Shiraz, a Merlot, and a Diablo Rojo in bottles and in 3G carboys. That's 45 bottles to rotate and store instead of 90. I do have quite a few bottles and yesterday I was going to bottle 2 or 3 6 gallon batches that are now ready, but I decided to filter first and left them to settle after racking. I am now thinking I am going to split them to 3 gallon carboys as well.

If you get the bug like a few of us newer members have, you will have the urge to make a lot. Gallon jugs and 3 gallon carboys are something to consider. I store my wine away from where I bottle it. I can rack to 3 gallon carboys and walk them over to where I'm set up. I need a dolly for a 6 gallon and then I still have to lug it onto the counter.

Just some thoughts to consider as you decide how you plan to set up. I got all my equipment used. I got 2 full set ups from different people for a couple hundred bucks, total. It's a good way to get everything you need including bottles, then you can sell off or give away what you don't use. Or buy more? I have 6 3 gallon carboys and 8-10 6 gallon.

I really appreciate your response and its given me a lot to think about 3 g vs 6 g or splitting up a 6 g batch. I'm going to start several wines when I return home from the winter in March. Its either been fruit or dessert wines for me but thats all going to change next year. I need a dry red, plus a semi sweet white so next year will be interesting. The FWK are popular and that is what I'm leaning towards 2023.

It would be nice to find some local used carboys.

Very interesting reply Vinny ... thanks for giving me more to think about.

 

[vinny]

Very interesting reply Vinny ... thanks for giving me more to think about.

You are most welcome!

The FWK are popular and that is what I'm leaning towards 2023.

These are not available in Canada, yet. If I could get my hands on one I would buy it today. The reviews from members here are very impressive.

 

[vinny]

The FWK are popular and that is what I'm leaning towards 2023.

Someone else will have to chime in to correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe these kits take longer to mature than your standard 6-8 week kit. Just somethinge to keep in mind. Hopefully someone that has made one will chime in on that note, though.

 

[BigDaveK]

Like @vinny, I've been at this for about a year and the hobby hit me hard. I was a bit concerned some time ago so I now have a rule - only 2 wines in primary at a time. There's a slight chance I won't live forever so my philosophy has been get them made and aging pronto!

Without being too specific I have double-digit quantities each of gallon jugs and 3-gallon carboys. I have a few 5 gallon from my hard cider days but they get heavier every year.

 

[hawkwing]

I have 4 three gallon carboys. I need more of them. They don’t come up used as often though. I just got a bunch more clear glass gallon jugs. I could have got dark ones but chose not to.

 

[ChuckD]

I have two sixes and a three in bulk from last fall. A six and two three’s from this fall. And I have two bushels of apples and 35 lbs of rhubarb that need to be made this month.

I had four carboys when I started them picked up 7 more on Craig’s List. I originally thought I might sell a few carboys because who need eleven of them? Well, turns out ‘this guy’.

 

[winemaker81]

Yikes! That’s too many for me. I’d have a hard time keeping it all straight. I usually will only have 2 at one time. Right now I have 3 bulk aging. I only own three 6 gallon, and two 5 gallon carboys.

Label EVERYTHING! I used to believe I could remember which was which ... I was wrong, totally wrong.

Last weekend I started two large batches of Grenache and two of Tempranillo. These are REALLY easy to tell apart, but I made fermenter labels with index cards, a Sharpie, and packing tape. I also have small batches of 3 other grapes, which are NOT easy to tell apart. In these cases, the labels are required. I also make carboy labels with paper, tape, and string. Barrels get painters tape labels.

I read some of these posts and guys are talking about having 6-8 or more carboys but it totally makes sense to have bunches if you are letting the wine sit and clear properly. It takes time.

All true. And it depends on personal needs and desires. If you're going to make a 1 US gallon batch every week, you need 50+ jugs.

Up until recently, I had 8 batches going -- bottled 6 in the last 2 weeks, and have 2 remaining. Last weekend I started 7 batches which will condense into 3 batches (two of which are 18+ gallons each), and started 2 more today. Once the last two of the 2021's are bottled, I'll have 5 batches.

Other folks are making 60 US gallon barrels of a single batch.

Figure out what you want, what are your goals? From there determine timelines (e.g., aging reds for a year), how many batches you want to make, and then determine the number of secondaries you need. Also take into account what you have room for -- not just primaries and secondaries, but finished wine. It's really easy to make a lot of wine, then realize you don't have bottles to bottle it in, or places to put those bottles.

 

[Jovimaple]

I started in early December 2020 with a 1 gallon fruit wine equipment kit, which came with a fermenting bucket and a carboy. For Christmas that year, Hubby got me a 4-pack of gallon carboys. I decided to start a 3 gallon dessert wine kit shortly thereafter so I got a 3 gallon carboy. Oh, and more 1 gallon batches so of course another 4-pack of the gallon carboys and another 3 gallon.

I now have eight 3 gallon, three 5 gallon, and eight 1 gallon (I gave one of these away since I don't use them as often anymore). I made 30+ batches in 2020-2021, but many were 1 gallon batches. In 2022, I am up to batch #13, with at least 2 or 3 more planned this year.

I am limited on space so I don't want to get any more carboys at this time. I make sure I have at least 1 empty of each size so I can rack directly into a clean carboy and not have to rack into a bucket, clean the carboy, and rack back into it.

I second Vinny's observation that 3 gallon carboys are much easier to move around. My kitchen has more counter space and a bigger sink, so I like to do as much as I can there. I can move full 3 gallon carboys myself to my fermenting/aging space but need Hubby's assistance to move 5 gallon carboys and fermenting buckets with 6 gallons of must, and I try to limit having to move them very much.

I currently have two 6 gallon batches (split 3/3 and 5/1), and two 3 gallon batches aging. Bryan is right that it's easy to forget what each batch is and when I need to rack them or add kmeta, etc., so I made laminated carboy tags and I use wet erase pens so they are reusable.


The moral of the story is carboys breed like rabbits unless you're careful!

 

[BigDaveK]

Speaking of carboys...
If you use plastic, Homebrew Ohio has five 3-gallon plastic carboys in stock for 19.99 each. Free shipping with 59.99 purchase. I think they're 29 on Amazon.

Gee, they had more than 5 when I looked yesterday.

https://www.homebrewohio.com/pet-carboy-3-gallon/