Rack carboy to the top?

I've transferred 5 gallons to a 6 gallon carboy for settling. The fermentation has stopped, which is fine, but I'm worried about the excess air ( don't want vinegar) it’s air locked. Should I top it off or not worry about it and allow to rest?
This is my first time making cider, so thanks to all the great info I have found here….
If anyone cares:
10 gallons/ 2
Fresh pressed UV treated cider from local orchard. 2 pounds of dark brown sugar to each primary fermenter.
Used Wyeast 4766…each got its own packet
After a 2 weeks the fermentation slowed way down so I transferred to my 2 glass carboys.
The one I’m leaving as is, the second I added a few cinnamon stick, coriander and sweet orange peel.
I did sample some in the transfer, very dry ( will back sweeten) not sure on the gravity, in all the excitement I forgot to get an OG. Oops learning. So I guess I will never know the FG. But the smell was quite strong.
Again thanks for all the info.

I assume that you would be topping the 6 gallon off with cider from the other 5 gallon. In this case you would be removing some of the possibility of air contamination but I do not believe it is necessary. Just don't shake the carboy and it should be fine. CO2 is heavier than oxygen, and if it ferments even just a tiny bit more that CO2 will make a nice thin gas shield which should keep your cider safe.

Thanks for the info. Thats what I was hoping for, gas shield.

Remember that co2 will dissipate, out to the atmosphere so I wouldn't leave it like that for very long. I'd rack to a smaller carboy, or top up.

^true, but in his case topping up would just remove the beer from one carboy to the other, essentially moving the air gap to other carboy. Smaller carboy would be the best option

Should I transfer the "plain" into the "spiced" to close that gap, then rack the remaining into a smaller carboy. Or should I just remove the airlock and cap it off, since the fermentation has stopped?

dawgmatic said:

^true, but in his case topping up would just remove the beer from one carboy to the other, essentially moving the air gap to other carboy. Smaller carboy would be the best option

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It's not beer, it's cider. But anyway, a smaller carboy is indeed the best option.

NC_Buckeye said:

Should I transfer the "plain" into the "spiced" to close that gap, then rack the remaining into a smaller carboy. Or should I just remove the airlock and cap it off, since the fermentation has stopped?

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I was not aware that you had a smaller carboy. how big is it?

dawgmatic said:

I was not aware that you had a smaller carboy. how big is it?

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3 gallons. I think, correct me if I'm wrong, but transfering from plain into spiced to close the air gap, then rack into the smaller sould work.

If you want to make things excessively complex: I had a "situation" with three gallons in a five gallon carboy; had racked into it off the lees and not thought things through. I didn't expect a lot of CO2 to come out (pretty much dry at that point), but I didn't have anything else handy to age it in.

I *did* however have baking soda, vinegar, a beer bottle and balloons. Put a spoonful of soda in a balloon, an inch or two of vinegar in the bottle, attach the balloon to the neck of the bottle and lift it up so the soda falls into the vinegar. Balloon fills with CO2! Clip it off with a clothespin, repeat a few times until you have a few balloons full of CO2.

CO2 is heavier than air, so I gently "poured" it into the carboy, and it pushed the air out. Put on the airlock and left it for a month, it did superbly.

Science!!

inexplorata said:

If you want to make things excessively complex: I had a "situation" with three gallons in a five gallon carboy; had racked into it off the lees and not thought things through. I didn't expect a lot of CO2 to come out (pretty much dry at that point), but I didn't have anything else handy to age it in.

I *did* however have baking soda, vinegar, a beer bottle and balloons. Put a spoonful of soda in a balloon, an inch or two of vinegar in the bottle, attach the balloon to the neck of the bottle and lift it up so the soda falls into the vinegar. Balloon fills with CO2! Clip it off with a clothespin, repeat a few times until you have a few balloons full of CO2.

CO2 is heavier than air, so I gently "poured" it into the carboy, and it pushed the air out. Put on the airlock and left it for a month, it did superbly.

Science!!

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WOW....lost for words. Never would have thought of that. Not sure I want to do that, but cool!

+1 to inexplorata for ingenuity. It's crazy, so crazy it just might work...

Buckeye, you need to weigh your options. I personally think you'll be fine if you leave it be for awhile. If you wanna keep aging for several months then you might want to do what inexplorata suggested. If you want to rack to the smaller carboy, have some bottles ready to get that last gallon out of the plain batch put away. No sense in wasting cider