muscat wrote:

> On Dec 9, 4:19Â*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
>
> There are some inert gasses you can put into the void. I do not
> recall which ones use but any midsized winery would know.

Argon and Nitrogen are the two used by wineries.
I think Nitrogen is fairly inexpensive but Argon is not. There is a safety
issue with Argon, it can take your breath away - permanently.

Variable capacity stainless tanks with a floating lid are also an option but
a bit on the pricey side. If I ramp up my white wine production, I may buy
one.

My answer to the OP would be to stock up on various size glassware.

I just bought a couple cases of apple cider in one gallon glass jugs from a
cider maker near me (to make cyser and also for the jugs). Another thing I
am going to buy is a "jug wine" that comes in a 5 liter jug - just for the
container; OK, I may drink the contents also :-). I am searching for
products that come in 1/2 gallon glass containers. I don't have too many
1/2 gallon glass jugs.

It takes some time and expense to build up multiple size glassware but I
think it is worth it.

In my winemaking, I use 6 gallon, 5 gallon, 3 gallon, 1 gallon, 1 liter, 1/2
gallon; and after I buy my jug wine, 5 liter. I also have a bung that fits
a 1.5 liter or standard 5th wine bottle and going in the opposite
direction, I have a 15 gallon demijohn.