headspace after racking

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johnsonbrew

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How much head space is too much head space. After racking from primary to secondary on my Old Vine Zinfandel, I added almost a 750 ml bottle of wine to lessen the head space, I racked again for clearing and lost some of that, but not sure if there is too much head space for this process. The wine comes past the bend of the carboy but not up to the neck, I am guessing about 3 to 4 inches. Its been that way for a few days and I bought another bottle of wine to top off but now am wondering if it is necessary. Better to be safe than sorry? Will adding commercial wine to my wine after adding all the enzymes and such other additives be harmful at all at this point?
 
How much head space is too much head space. After racking from primary to secondary on my Old Vine Zinfandel, I added almost a 750 ml bottle of wine to lessen the head space, I racked again for clearing and lost some of that, but not sure if there is too much head space for this process. The wine comes past the bend of the carboy but not up to the neck, I am guessing about 3 to 4 inches. Its been that way for a few days and I bought another bottle of wine to top off but now am wondering if it is necessary. Better to be safe than sorry? Will adding commercial wine to my wine after adding all the enzymes and such other additives be harmful at all at this point?

If you plan to bottle in the next few weeks, then don't stress. If you plan on letting it 'bulk age' in the carboy, then think ab out lessening that space OR replacing the air in the carboy with an inert gas like CO2.

I used to top off, but now use a gas sprayed on top of the wine inside the carboy. If f orms a protective barrier by being heavier than air.
 
If you mean by bulk aging letting it sit in the carboy for months no, but it will be in there for another 3 weeks or so.
 
Any headspace that is not directly under the bung is too much.

What I mean is this- look at the carboy. Where it is narrowest, about 3 inches below the bung, is where the wine should be topped to.
 
johnsonbrew said:
If you mean by bulk aging letting it sit in the carboy for months no, but it will be in there for another 3 weeks or so.

I am one of those crazy people who never top off my wines. Even those that bulk age for several months. I don't like to mess with the flavor by adding stuff. So far I have not have any oxidation problems, ect. You should be fine for just three weeks. My wines are fruit wines, and I do not plan on them sitting around for years befor I drink them. Maybe grape wines are more delicate.
 
I always keep an assortment of carboys to fill when I do a wine. I have 6.5, 6, 5, 3, 1 and 0.5 gallon carboys/bottles to use so I have options when racking to keep the amount of free air space in each container as low as possible. I use white grape juice in my pear wine so if I need to top up in a secondary I have some juice to add and let a bit of fermentation to restart. Save those Carlo Rossi gallon jugs when you get them as they come in real handy when you find yourself in a situation like you are currently experiencing.
 

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