For fermentation, there is no problem with fermenting 5 gal's in a 6 gallon
carboy. The head space will be filled with CO2. After you rack it to bulk
storage is where you will have to decide what to do. You will need to put
it in something that is close to it's volume. Probably get some one gallon
jugs or a 3 and a couple of 1's.

Another option: Cranberry makes a great wine but it can be overpowering by
itself. You might consider making it up to 6 gallons by adding 2 cans of
frozen Welch's Niagara white grape juice (not more than that) in a gallon of
water to make up the 6th gallon. This would add some vinuosity and slightly
cut the sharpness of the cranberry without distracting from the cranberry
character. Just a thought.

Ray

"DAve Allison" > wrote in message
...
> Ok, so I'm not ready yet to crush my own fruit. Forgive me. I have
> successfully done 27 bottles of Shiraz from a wine kit, and the Pinot Noir
> is ready for stage 2. So as my primary fermentor is empty, I started
> wondering around and ended up with Cranberry Fruit Wine Base from Homebrew
> Heaven. 96 ounces makes 5 gallons. http://www.homebrewheaven.com/
>
> What I don't know - I have a 6 gallon carboy. Can I make 5 gallons in it,
> and all will work out? Or should I buy 2 wine bases, and use 1 1/6 of them
> to fill the 6 gallons up? Any thoughts?
>
> My neighbor is giving me 4-5 pounds of figs soon, so that will be my real
> first experiment. Using Jack Keller's website for recipes. I have a 2
> gallon primary and 1 gallon carboy ready to go.
>
> Again, you'all are just great for offering suggestions. It helps us
> novices.
>
> Learned a lot in this forum,
> DAve