Winemaking (rec.crafts.winemaking) Discussion of the process, recipes, tips, techniques and general exchange of lore on the process, methods and history of wine making. Includes traditional grape wines, sparkling wines & champagnes.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)   Report Post  
Kentucky
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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.

  #2 (permalink)   Report Post  
Scott
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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.
>



  #3 (permalink)   Report Post  
Joe Sallustio
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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. ) 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

  #4 (permalink)   Report Post  
Ray Calvert
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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.
>



Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Who Was It That Recently Asked About A Hot Water Heater -- I'm In Hot Water! Brooklyn1 General Cooking 85 17-03-2013 05:17 PM
Balloon Flowers [email protected] Asian Cooking 2 19-09-2008 02:39 AM
question about balloon wine kingvitamin Winemaking 5 10-08-2004 07:45 AM
How do you make Balloon Wine Know Won Winemaking 14 08-08-2004 09:09 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 08:55 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 FoodBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Food and drink"