I brew beer so I have (2) 6.5 gallon glass carboys. I have heard that using
a 6.5 gallon carboy is not recommended because of the .5 gallon of head
space but wouldn't the escaping CO2 keep the wine from being oxidized?

The reason I ask is that I do not want to purchase a 6 gallon carboy
specific to wine making because I will not be doing it that much especially
since I already have similar equipment from beer brewing.

Thanks,

--
-=SW=-

I use my 6.5gallon carboys for making wine. I start my wine in a big bucket
for the first 3-7 days then rack over to the 6.5gallon carboy. I have heard
of people using there CO2 to purge the air out of the carboy, racking, then
with low pressure purging the air again. Since the yeast is still active it
will just push it right out. I racked a strawberry wine today from the
bucket to the carboy and i didnt use my co2. Within 5 minutes of attaching
my airlock it was active again. I started out at 1.090 and racked at 1.010
(a little late) but it is still active as hell. I went all grain so i am
using carboys for wine and beer kegs (15.5 & 7.75gallon) for beer.

Hope this helps ya,
Joe Romero
Panama City, FL


"SWalters" > wrote in message
...
> I brew beer so I have (2) 6.5 gallon glass carboys. I have heard that
using
> a 6.5 gallon carboy is not recommended because of the .5 gallon of head
> space but wouldn't the escaping CO2 keep the wine from being oxidized?
>
> The reason I ask is that I do not want to purchase a 6 gallon carboy
> specific to wine making because I will not be doing it that much
especially
> since I already have similar equipment from beer brewing.
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> -=SW=-

Joe wrote:

> I use my 6.5gallon carboys for making wine. I start my wine in a big
> bucket for the first 3-7 days then rack over to the 6.5gallon carboy.
> I have heard of people using there CO2 to purge the air out of the
> carboy, racking, then with low pressure purging the air again. Since
> the yeast is still active it will just push it right out. I racked a
> strawberry wine today from the bucket to the carboy and i didnt use my
> co2. Within 5 minutes of attaching my airlock it was active again. I
> started out at 1.090 and racked at 1.010 (a little late) but it is
> still active as hell. I went all grain so i am using carboys for wine
> and beer kegs (15.5 & 7.75gallon) for beer.

thanks for the reply. I am going to jsut go ahead and use the 6.5 for the
wine. I just wanted to make sure the little .5 gallon of headspace is as
unimportant in wine as it is in beer brewing. The blanket of CO2 keeps
everything inline.

I'm probably going to start with a $90 kit with some oak chips in my
Cabernet, Merlot, or Cabernet/Merlot. I have yet to buy the kit but will
after my next two brews.

--
-=SW=-

I did a 5-6 gallon batch of strawberry wine and it cost me mess than 30
bucks. I did have all the chems i needed though. Check the farmers markets
for great prices on fresh fruit. just my 2cents.

joe

"SWalters" > wrote in message
...
> Joe wrote:
>
> > I use my 6.5gallon carboys for making wine. I start my wine in a big
> > bucket for the first 3-7 days then rack over to the 6.5gallon carboy.
> > I have heard of people using there CO2 to purge the air out of the
> > carboy, racking, then with low pressure purging the air again. Since
> > the yeast is still active it will just push it right out. I racked a
> > strawberry wine today from the bucket to the carboy and i didnt use my
> > co2. Within 5 minutes of attaching my airlock it was active again. I
> > started out at 1.090 and racked at 1.010 (a little late) but it is
> > still active as hell. I went all grain so i am using carboys for wine
> > and beer kegs (15.5 & 7.75gallon) for beer.
>
> thanks for the reply. I am going to jsut go ahead and use the 6.5 for the
> wine. I just wanted to make sure the little .5 gallon of headspace is as
> unimportant in wine as it is in beer brewing. The blanket of CO2 keeps
> everything inline.
>
> I'm probably going to start with a $90 kit with some oak chips in my
> Cabernet, Merlot, or Cabernet/Merlot. I have yet to buy the kit but will
> after my next two brews.
>
> --
> -=SW=-

Nothing wrong with fermenting in the 6 1/2, but once you start aging
and such you'll need to eliminate that air space. If you have a 5
gallon carboy you can use that and a 1 gallon apple juice jug or
something similar. You'll find as you make more and more wine you'll
want lots of different sizes including plenty of 1 gallon jugs and
some 3 gallon carboys as well. I don't have a 6 gallon myself and
don't really miss it.

Miker wrote:

> Nothing wrong with fermenting in the 6 1/2, but once you start aging
> and such you'll need to eliminate that air space. If you have a 5
> gallon carboy you can use that and a 1 gallon apple juice jug or
> something similar. You'll find as you make more and more wine you'll
> want lots of different sizes including plenty of 1 gallon jugs and
> some 3 gallon carboys as well. I don't have a 6 gallon myself and
> don't really miss it.

That's good advice regarding that 1 gallon jug...thanks. However, I still
do not understand the reasoning behind .5 gallon of space being a problem
if it's filled with CO2.

--
-=SW=-

people dont like using a blanket of co2 for wine.

other than that, dont know.



--
Joe Romero
Panama City, FL
"SWalters" > wrote in message
...
> Miker wrote:
>
> > Nothing wrong with fermenting in the 6 1/2, but once you start aging
> > and such you'll need to eliminate that air space. If you have a 5
> > gallon carboy you can use that and a 1 gallon apple juice jug or
> > something similar. You'll find as you make more and more wine you'll
> > want lots of different sizes including plenty of 1 gallon jugs and
> > some 3 gallon carboys as well. I don't have a 6 gallon myself and
> > don't really miss it.
>
> That's good advice regarding that 1 gallon jug...thanks. However, I still
> do not understand the reasoning behind .5 gallon of space being a problem
> if it's filled with CO2.
>
> --
> -=SW=-

Once your fermentation is complete and you are aging your wine, there will
be little, if any, co2 produced by the yeast, therefore you will get oxygen
in the headspace to oxidize the wine.

Al

"SWalters" > wrote in message
...
> Miker wrote:
>
> > Nothing wrong with fermenting in the 6 1/2, but once you start aging
> > and such you'll need to eliminate that air space. If you have a 5
> > gallon carboy you can use that and a 1 gallon apple juice jug or
> > something similar. You'll find as you make more and more wine you'll
> > want lots of different sizes including plenty of 1 gallon jugs and
> > some 3 gallon carboys as well. I don't have a 6 gallon myself and
> > don't really miss it.
>
> That's good advice regarding that 1 gallon jug...thanks. However, I still
> do not understand the reasoning behind .5 gallon of space being a problem
> if it's filled with CO2.
>
> --
> -=SW=-

"Alfonse" > wrote in message
.. .
> Once your fermentation is complete and you are aging your wine, there will
> be little, if any, co2 produced by the yeast, therefore you will get
oxygen
> in the headspace to oxidize the wine.
>
> Al

Al,

Are you assuming that the carboy will be opened a few times? I do try to
age in carboys of an appropriate size to allow me to leave only an inch or
so of headspace in the neck, but there have been times when I simply didn't
have an available containers of the correct size. In that case, I just
leave the wine be, properly sulfited, until I can rack it into a carboy of a
better fit. With the headspace filled with CO2 and an airlock affixed,
there should be no worries about oxygen entering the carboy or oxidizing the
wine.


--
Cheers,
Ken

Beer and wine are different, you really do not want that headspace
after fermentation is complete with wine.

Wine ages much longer than beer normally, especially reds. That makes
it more suseptible to oxidization over time. You do not want to
depend on CO2 from fermentation as a gas blanket since it really has
to saturate the wine to be effective, once you rack it gets a bit of
air in it. You rack a few times with wine, usually once with beer.

If you have a tank of CO2 from beer making that can work, but I can't
really advise you on how long to bubble it through. Most people use an
inert gas, I see nitrogen and argon used. Anything that displaces all
of the oxygen should work. They make gas dispersion tubes for this if
that is the route you want to go. I am not speaking from experience
since I top up.)

6 gallons to start will work out to 5 to 5.5 gallons of finished wine
once you rack a few times. Most winemakers either top it up with
other wine (you could use a bag in the box) or use smaller containers.
I top up to 1/2" from the airlock. I use 3 - 6.5 gallon carboys, but
most of mine are 5's.

Regards,
Joe

> Miker wrote:
>
> > Nothing wrong with fermenting in the 6 1/2, but once you start aging
> > and such you'll need to eliminate that air space...

> I still do not understand the reasoning behind .5 gallon of space being a
> problem if it's filled with CO2.

Ken,
When I bulk age my wines, I usually sample it every few months just to make
sure that all is OK. So, I'm assuming that any co2 will escape and not be
replaced - I don't have a co2 dispenser. So I always make sure there is
little head space just to be safe.
Al

"Oberon" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Alfonse" > wrote in message
> .. .
> > Once your fermentation is complete and you are aging your wine, there
will
> > be little, if any, co2 produced by the yeast, therefore you will get
> oxygen
> > in the headspace to oxidize the wine.
> >
> > Al
>
> Al,
>
> Are you assuming that the carboy will be opened a few times? I do try to
> age in carboys of an appropriate size to allow me to leave only an inch or
> so of headspace in the neck, but there have been times when I simply
didn't
> have an available containers of the correct size. In that case, I just
> leave the wine be, properly sulfited, until I can rack it into a carboy of
a
> better fit. With the headspace filled with CO2 and an airlock affixed,
> there should be no worries about oxygen entering the carboy or oxidizing
the
> wine.
>
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Ken
>
>

Joe Sallustio wrote:

> 6 gallons to start will work out to 5 to 5.5 gallons of finished wine
> once you rack a few times. Most winemakers either top it up with
> other wine (you could use a bag in the box) or use smaller containers.
> I top up to 1/2" from the airlock. I use 3 - 6.5 gallon carboys, but
> most of mine are 5's.

Thanks to all who've helped. I will attempt to use my 5 gallon and an
additional 1 gallon jug after my primary fermentation to limit any of these
issues.

--
-=SW=-