On Dec 9, 6:19 pm, Dave > wrote:
> I'm a new winemaker and have a question about filling up the carboy
> after racking. The standard advice is to use water, a similar wine, or
> a smaller carboy. Would it be possible to add something to the carboy
> to bring up the volume? There are food grade balls made of plastic,
> rubber, glass, metal, etc. Maybe a handful of marbles or stainless
> steel ball bearings for those of use with limited budgets. <g>
>
> Has anyone ever tried this?
>
> thanks,
>
> dave

You can use sanitized (with sulfite solution) marbles, but I would
only recommend it as a last resort. It will probably take more than
you think. I used a 2 lb. bag of decorative marbles to take up about
2 inches in a 1 gallon jug. Using metal would increase the chance of
cracking the carboy when adding or removing the "filler". Another
issue is when you rack, you will end up losing more wine due to having
to work above the sediment that is on top of the marbles. Unless you
are doing a unique fruit wine or trying to maintain varietal purity, a
similar cheap wine is the best way to go.

Stephen