I've been making wine for two years now and I use 6.5 gallon carboys.
I've heard a lot about people topping up to the top so that there isn't
any oxygen to oxygenate the wine, however, I've found that once
fermentation begins it pushes out the oxygen and leaves co2 in the
carboy. I have had no problems with this method. The only concern
would be when I rack in to another carboy, but at the same time,
generally, you're supposed to stir the wine in order to get the co2 out
of it. Like I said, I've had no problems with this but I was just
wondering if anyone has any advice.

You're right . I've made wine in 5 gallon carboys that were only half
full . I keep it air locked and when I rack I try to run it down the
side of the new carboy rather than have the wine splash around a lot .
There's a lot of O2 to displace and shocking the daylights out of the
yeast won't help .

Seems to me that something that is relatively straight forward and fun
is too often looked at as having to be technical and ever so precise .

Obviously you need to follow the rules but for me, cleanliness is the
biggy . Keep it clean and the rest is no big deal .

I agree. Thanks. I figure, as long as the final product is good then
there's no need to get too technical. This stuff is fun, right?

You do not need to top up while it is fermenting as CO2 is being released
and it will displace the O2 as you say. But then you should not be raking
are fooling around with the wine while it is fermenting. Just let it go.
After it quits fermenting you need to rack it off the lees and that is when
you need to top up. There will be some CO2 still coming off for a while but
it is best to top up. You never top up to the top leaving no air in the
carboy. If you do, temperature changes will cause the airlock to blow or
wine will come out through the airlock. Toping up means within 1.5 to 2
inches of the bung in a 5 or 6.5 gal. carboy.

this stuff is not technical, it is just procedural. Things you need to
learn.

Ray

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I've been making wine for two years now and I use 6.5 gallon carboys.
> I've heard a lot about people topping up to the top so that there isn't
> any oxygen to oxygenate the wine, however, I've found that once
> fermentation begins it pushes out the oxygen and leaves co2 in the
> carboy. I have had no problems with this method. The only concern
> would be when I rack in to another carboy, but at the same time,
> generally, you're supposed to stir the wine in order to get the co2 out
> of it. Like I said, I've had no problems with this but I was just
> wondering if anyone has any advice.
>

I would agree with Ray but I top to within 1/2 " when the wine is
still. I would _never_ leave a still wine in a half full carboy, even
for a day FWIW.

As he mentioned, most of this is procedural. It's not rocket science,
wine makes itself. All the techno-geeky stuff I do does not make a bad
wine good; it keeps me from ruining a good wine.

Blending on the other hand is an art, I'm better at it now than I used
to be and ten years from now I hope to be even better. You can measure
all you want but taste is everything. The measurements only get you so
far; they keep you from making a significant error in judgment.

Joe

On blending, I find my bst results are actually done by intuition, just
be tasting and throwig things together. The practical problem I seem to
have with blending tests is that the wine ends up tasting differently
when the choesen blend is aged, and I might not like the blend then as
I did when I did the test. I guess I could age the blended samples
before making the decision but on smaller batches that just seem a lot
of effort.

Pp


Joe Sallustio wrote:

>
> Blending on the other hand is an art, I'm better at it now than I used
> to be and ten years from now I hope to be even better. You can measure
> all you want but taste is everything. The measurements only get you so
> far; they keep you from making a significant error in judgment.
>
> Joe

I left a 3/4 full carboy of Gewurtz in the fridge to drop out the
tartrate crystals in the fridge for one week. It was inerted with CO2
nearly every day.

It spoiled. I tossed 4 gallons.

I'm going to be investing in marbles or something .... any suggestions?

> wrote in message
ups.com...
>I left a 3/4 full carboy of Gewurtz in the fridge to drop out the
> tartrate crystals in the fridge for one week. It was inerted with CO2
> nearly every day.
>
> It spoiled. I tossed 4 gallons.
>
> I'm going to be investing in marbles or something .... any suggestions?

I'd guess that your spoilage problem was caused by (1) insufficient sulfite
and (2) the CO2 dissolving in the wine and sucking air in right behind it.
Also, you may have insufficiently purged the air with CO2. It takes a lot
more gas than you think to push out all the air, which is what you must do
for inert gas to be effective. A little squirt won't do it; to push the
air out a gallon of headspace takes ~7 gallons of gas. There is no such
thing as the so-called "blanketing effect" of a heavier gas.

Tom S
www.chateauburbank.com

wrote:
> I'm going to be investing in marbles or something .... any suggestions?
>
I've found it easier & neater (& cheaper) to re bottle a partially
filled jug or carboy into several smaller bottles. Keep an eye out for
sizes like 3 liters, 1/2 gal., pint, etc. Soon you'll be able to match
up your partial batches to some combination of filled bottles, and maybe
have a glass left over for "quality control".

I use 6, 5, 3, 2, & 1 gal bottles, as well as 4, 3, 1.5 liters and
standard & split wine bottles. A visit to a recycling center can
provide a good selection of the smaller sizes.

Closures for the bottles can be as simple as a folded piece of Saran & a
rubber band.

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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