newbie question

Have homebrewed beer for several years with good success. I won a wine kit at our club Christmas Party, a nice Shiraz. The kit calls for secondary in a 6-gallon carboy. All I have is a 6.5 gallon carboy (I thought this was a standard size). Anyway, the kit says to top up to within 2" of the stopper, and I'm wondering if adding that much water is a good thing, or do I risk ruining the wine by not doing so?! Thanks in advance for your help!

Reply to
Brian
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If you need to get an additional half-gallon of liquid to top off your carboy with a kit, one way is to add the additional half-gallon of water mixed with about 1 pound of sugar. This will result in a slightly lighter wine, but maintain the wine's intended alcohol content, which will aid in helping the wine keep. You may want to use grape juice concentrate if you want to maintain closer to the intended taste of the kit, but adding a half gallon of sugar solution to a 6 gallon must will only weaken the flavor slightly.

If you have a hydrometer from your beermaking exploits, you can use it to more accurately make up a sugar and/or juice concentrate solution. Shoot for a "topping off" solution with a specific gravity of about

1.095, which will yield about 12 percent alcohol when fully fermented. Add this topping off mixture after doing the first racking, while fermentation is still somewhat active, but after the frothing phase is complete.
Reply to
Bruce_Nolte_N3LSY&

Brian,

If you don't want to change the balance of the wine kit as it was packaged, then go buy those glass beads that people use for decoration and add those to fill the extra space. Just make sure you clean them first. Many people also use these instead of topping up the carboy with water in a 6 gal. carboy. I saw some last weekend at a dollar store. good luck.

Scott

Reply to
Scott

Brian - Beware! If your 6.5 gallon carboy is anything like those in my cellar it will hold right at 7 gallons when full to 1/2 inch below the top. How many gallons of wine will your kit make? If you need more than a few ounces of water to top up your new wine you will adversly affect it. I would get some new carboys of assorted sizes, gallon bottles, etc. so you can store your new wine in full containers as it ages. I would avoid adding any water to the wine. If anything I would add a commercial wine of similar type to top up the wine.

I also make beer. I believe winemakers are much more concerned about keeping air away from their product than beer makers. However, I think it's just as important for beer. I make 6 gallon batches of beer so I'm sure I will have a full 5 gallon carboy, topped up to within 1/2 inch of the air lock for lagering.

Just say no to oxidation.

Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA

Reply to
William Frazier

I suggest topping up with a similar wine..... Two fifths should do the trick.

A.J.

Reply to
A. J. Rawls

Brian, I like your suggestion about the gallon bottles. Perhaps Bill can get some of those old 4 liter Gallo wine jugs used for their cheaper wines (Paisano comes to mind), and possibly some half-gallon containers as well. Avoid plastic milk bottles, they are thin enough to let oxygen permeate them.

Bottled water typically comes in 5 gallon carboys. I was able to find some empty ones at Wal-Mart for about 6 bucks each, or you can get bottled water for about $13 or so in a 5 gallon carboy which includes the deposit, then just keep the carboy. Keep a lookout for the old-fashioned glass carboys, I like them better than the plastics (the smooth sides don't trap sediment like the plastic ones).

It is difficult to predict exactly how much wine you will end up with in your final aging container, as there will be some loss from wine left behind with the sediments after siphoning off the clear wine. Small amounts of this leftover wine are not really worth trying to make drinkable, but if you are the frugal type and have some Bentonite handy, you can add about a half-gram per 750 ml bottle to the turbid leftover liquid. The bentonite will help it settle out, and provide you with some wine that should be suitable for cooking with.

Reply to
Bruce_Nolte_N3LSY&

Thanks all, this was helpful. My neighbor and fellow beer-brewing compadre has a 5-gallon carboy. To be safe, I think I'll use it and if there is any extra wine, will try to contain it in a 1/2 gallon jug.

Reply to
Brian

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