Ok.. I keep reading these recipes for one gallon of wine,to make it a short question. can I make 1 gallon of wine in a 5 gallon ail pail or will it be too much head space? If not where can I get smaller pails/ for a gallon of wine I would need about a 2 1/2 gallon pail correct? please help,it's starting to drive me nuts looking for the answer... thank you
1 gallon of wine question
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DoctorCAD
Well-Known Member
For the first 10 days or so (primary fermentation) any size pail larger than the batch will work.
For the next 60 days to a year, a one gallon glass bottle (called a carboy at this stage) is needed.
Go to the store and buy a gallon of Carlo Rossi wine and drink it, poof, instant one gallon glass carboy!
For the next 60 days to a year, a one gallon glass bottle (called a carboy at this stage) is needed.
Go to the store and buy a gallon of Carlo Rossi wine and drink it, poof, instant one gallon glass carboy!
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
All of this.
Just bought some Carol Rossi this past weekend in fact. It's about two dollars more than buying an empty one gallon carboy. Two dollars for a gallon of wine sounds good to me
Transfer the wine to empty bottles and you can transfer the same day you bring it home.
FYI you'll need a Bung (#6 I believe) and another airlock, then you'll be good to go.
Plus, it's beneficial to use a larger vessel for your primary if you are fermenting with fruit. For a 1 gallon batch, the added space taken by the fruit won't be an issue. Might have a gallon and a half worth of volume when you start. After your primary ferment is about done and you are ready to transfer to your secondary (the glass carboy), you rack as needed leaving the fruit pulp behind. That takes away from your initial total volume and leaves with about a perfect gallon in your carboy with no need to top up.
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
OP, you can also put your fruit in a brew bag for the primary fermentation (about a week) in the bucket. It doesn't bring out all of the pulp and it's not totally necessary but it sure does help.
Thanks for all the responses.... I was under the impression that there couldn't be that much head space in the fermenting buckets
so it's ok for the primary but not the secondary?
so it's ok for the primary but not the secondary?
Correct. The primary fermentation utilizes alot of oxygen. Also why people talk about aerating the must during the first week give or take. So open top with no airlock isn't a bad thing. After you rack into the secondary, after fermentation has slowed to a certain point, you'll want to keep the headspace at a minimum to avoid the oxygen and utilize an airlock. Especially when/if you bulk age in the carboy. Headspace is a no no because possible oxygen is a no no.
