Topping Off with a water balloon ?.
 

Yet another newbie question from here in Kentucky.
I commenced racking my first batch of wine with one 5 gal and two 1 gal
carboys of of SG .994 Buffalo grape wine. Still cloudy but am told be
patient. I had to use all but 1/2 gal of my 2 one gal jugs of backup
wine to fill the 5 gal carboy. I expect to be short of wine on the next
racking in 6 weeks. I really don't want to add anything to the batch
other than Buffalo grape wine.
Would placing a sterile balloon in the receiving carboy, filling it
with pure water and then tying it off to achieve a full carboy work ??
I would do this before racking into the carboy and expect I would have
to do a trial racking to calculate volume needed to top off. I will
worry about getting the balloon and water out of the carboy after I
have racked the wine off to the next jug.
Please let me know what you think.

glass marbles are an acceptable alternative for topping
up the carboy. easy to clean and sterilize.
cheers
scott
"Kentucky" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Yet another newbie question from here in Kentucky.
> I commenced racking my first batch of wine with one 5 gal and two 1 gal
> carboys of of SG .994 Buffalo grape wine. Still cloudy but am told be
> patient. I had to use all but 1/2 gal of my 2 one gal jugs of backup
> wine to fill the 5 gal carboy. I expect to be short of wine on the next
> racking in 6 weeks. I really don't want to add anything to the batch
> other than Buffalo grape wine.
> Would placing a sterile balloon in the receiving carboy, filling it
> with pure water and then tying it off to achieve a full carboy work ??
> I would do this before racking into the carboy and expect I would have
> to do a trial racking to calculate volume needed to top off. I will
> worry about getting the balloon and water out of the carboy after I
> have racked the wine off to the next jug.
> Please let me know what you think.
>

Don't do that, what if the wine takes on the taste of the baloon?
Rubber and wine aren't normally in contact with one another for any
length of time. I think a safer bet (if necessary) is to use a similar
wine, you would not be adding much at all.

Don't rack until there is a reason, I'm not sure how you ended up
losing 1.5 gallon in racking unless you you were pressing off the
skins. 1/2 gallon to top should work out well for you; it's 10 %.
Make sure that half gallon is topped up too if you want to stick with
only one variety in this batch.

Patience is a virtue, especially in winemaking. :o) You should start
to see the wine clear in the neck and striate soon if it's done
fermenting; maybe a month from now it will look mostly clear, it will
look darker where it's clean. You can use a flashlight to see how
things are going. Look for the beam itself; if there are suspended
solids you will see the beam reflect off of them.

Joe

The next racking will probably not have near as much sediment so the 1/2
gallon you have left over will probably be close to adequate. You will
probably not have to add much water or other wine. You might consider
picking up some smaller carboys to rack into. A 3 and a couple of 1's. and
some 1/2's to be sure.

Chew on a balloon sometime and then decide if you want that taste in your
wine. I would not.

Ray

"Kentucky" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Yet another newbie question from here in Kentucky.
> I commenced racking my first batch of wine with one 5 gal and two 1 gal
> carboys of of SG .994 Buffalo grape wine. Still cloudy but am told be
> patient. I had to use all but 1/2 gal of my 2 one gal jugs of backup
> wine to fill the 5 gal carboy. I expect to be short of wine on the next
> racking in 6 weeks. I really don't want to add anything to the batch
> other than Buffalo grape wine.
> Would placing a sterile balloon in the receiving carboy, filling it
> with pure water and then tying it off to achieve a full carboy work ??
> I would do this before racking into the carboy and expect I would have
> to do a trial racking to calculate volume needed to top off. I will
> worry about getting the balloon and water out of the carboy after I
> have racked the wine off to the next jug.
> Please let me know what you think.
>