How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

Hello!

Just finished bottling my first two batches - Ken Ridge Showcase Australian
Shiraz and Legacy Piesporter. The wines are nice and I'm pleased with the
quality; however, I didn't get as many bottles as I'd planned - 26 from each
6 gallon batch. Of course there was a little sampling so I was expecting
perhaps a bottle shy but 4? No way.

My question: Is there normally this much "lost" to evaporation

TIA

How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

TIA,
Although I usually make only fruit, veggie, and herb wines - there seems
to be a big difference sometimes in how much wine you get after you make the
same batch amount. Some batches have a lot of gunk leftover after one racks
the batch for the first time. And depending on what you can recover from the
gunk to use for top-up later will help you to maintain your batch level
later, after repeated rackings to get the wine clear. So it kindof
depends...does it surprise me...no, but there are ways to help reduce the
loss.
Darlene

"JB" > wrote in message
...
> Hello!
>
> Just finished bottling my first two batches - Ken Ridge Showcase
> Australian Shiraz and Legacy Piesporter. The wines are nice and I'm
> pleased with the quality; however, I didn't get as many bottles as I'd
> planned - 26 from each 6 gallon batch. Of course there was a little
> sampling so I was expecting perhaps a bottle shy but 4? No way.
>
> My question: Is there normally this much "lost" to evaporation
>
> TIA
>
>
>

How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

I'm supposing you started with six gallons at primary fermentation. Did you
account for the volume of lees left behind during racking? Yes, 6 gallons
times 3.8L per gallons calculates to thirty 750ml bottles -- but *only* if
that is how much was in the carboy when you start bottling, and only if you
also bottled up the lees left then (if any from those kits).


"JB" > wrote in message
...
> Hello!
>
> Just finished bottling my first two batches - Ken Ridge Showcase
> Australian Shiraz and Legacy Piesporter. The wines are nice and I'm
> pleased with the quality; however, I didn't get as many bottles as I'd
> planned - 26 from each 6 gallon batch. Of course there was a little
> sampling so I was expecting perhaps a bottle shy but 4? No way.
>
> My question: Is there normally this much "lost" to evaporation
>
> TIA
>
>
>

How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

I have done many kits. After the stabilizing step, they normally say
"top up" to within 2 inches of the top of the 6 gallon carboy for final
stages of clearing. I "top" with other wine, not water. Some kits need
1-2 bottles (750ml) of like wine, and others, sometimes need 4+ bottles
of wine to "top it up". The final rackings - after stabilizing - should
have very little lees in the bottom, so you might lose 1/4 to 1/2 bottle
to that final racking. I normally get 28-30 bottles per kit.

Does this help? In the 6 gallon carboy, how close to the top was the
wine? within 2 inches?

DAve
p.s. evaporation? if you have a airlock on it, it should only lose 1/4
inch and that might not be evaporation but settling after all the
bubbles go away. smile. (not very technical terms here, sorry)

JB wrote:
> Hello!
>
> Just finished bottling my first two batches - Ken Ridge Showcase Australian
> Shiraz and Legacy Piesporter. The wines are nice and I'm pleased with the
> quality; however, I didn't get as many bottles as I'd planned - 26 from each
> 6 gallon batch. Of course there was a little sampling so I was expecting
> perhaps a bottle shy but 4? No way.
>
> My question: Is there normally this much "lost" to evaporation
>
> TIA
>
>
>

How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

Zero had better be lost to evaporation unless you are making vinegar
in a hot area.

Some yeasts are more flocculant than others, in other words some
yeasts leave a thick film of sludge while others a fluffy layer.
Either way, when you rack you can recover a lot of that by placing it
in a smaller container (topped) and letting it settle. A 6 gallon
batch of anything not made with any fruit pulp should easily supply 25
to 27 bottles of finished clean wine. As Dave, I top with wine so as
not to dilute, but either way a full 5 gallon container holds a
minimum of 25 bottles, other containers can hold more of the settled
lees.


Dave,
2 inches is fine at first while it's still giving off a bit of CO2 but
you may want to top to around 1/2 inch when you are aging for months.
I do it that way.

Joe

How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

Joe Sallustio wrote:
> Zero had better be lost to evaporation unless you are making vinegar
> in a hot area.
>
> Some yeasts are more flocculant than others, in other words some
> yeasts leave a thick film of sludge while others a fluffy layer.
> Either way, when you rack you can recover a lot of that by placing it
> in a smaller container (topped) and letting it settle. A 6 gallon
> batch of anything not made with any fruit pulp should easily supply 25
> to 27 bottles of finished clean wine. As Dave, I top with wine so as
> not to dilute, but either way a full 5 gallon container holds a
> minimum of 25 bottles, other containers can hold more of the settled
> lees.
>
>
> Dave,
> 2 inches is fine at first while it's still giving off a bit of CO2 but
> you may want to top to around 1/2 inch when you are aging for months.
> I do it that way.
>
> Joe
>

Joe, I'll top to within 1/2 inch from now on in final aging/clearing.
Sounds good. thanks.DAve

How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

I'm maybe a bit paranoid about that to be honest. I had what I think
was a mycoderma infection begin forming on a wine that had around 2
inches of headspace. I don't seem to have that happen anymore.

Joe

How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

I had the same experience as Joe, mycoderma. Since then, I've topped
up to the first knucle of the carboy or higher and haven't had a
problem.

RD

How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

On Aug 24, 7:43 am, RD > wrote:
> I had the same experience as Joe, mycoderma. Since then, I've topped
> up to the first knucle of the carboy or higher and haven't had a
> problem.
>
> RD

Same here with mycoderma although in my experience it was more related
to the type of airlock used - I usually use Fermrite waterless
airlocks for convenience at the early stages. I only got the infection
under those. After I switched back to regular S-shaped airlocks, no
further issues.

It's a good idea to keep the airspace small in general but in my setup
it's not always practical. I don't have a cellar so the wine temps can
vary quite a lot over relatively short periods of time, especially in
summer (wood frame, no air conditioning). I find it easier to leave a
slightly larger air space then having to deal with the possible
contamination of the wine seeping into the airlock or topping up when
we get cold weather. No isues this way... so far.

Pp

How Much is Lost During Fermentation Process?
 

RD wrote:

> I had the same experience as Joe, mycoderma.
> Since then, I've topped up to the first knucle
> of the carboy or higher and haven't had a
> problem.
>
> RD

I have started to spritz the top of my wine in my
carboys with a spray bottle containing SO2
solution (even ones that are topped up) whenever
I take off my airlock to smell or clean up the
airlocks and this seems to also help control the
mycoderma.