Elementary Question

[Midnightblue69]

So I've looked for an answer to what seems to be an extremely simple thing but honestly haven't gotten what I feel to be a confident answer... In a nutshell, if you start a 5 gallon batch of wine how much will you bottle? That is to say each time you re-rack your run and loose volume, do you loose quantity of wine or do you add water to compensate for the loss?

I've been making my fruit wines for some time and simply move to smaller carboys each time I re-rack. I currently have a batch of Blackberry that I'm about to re-rack. I have a 5 gallon carboy full as well as a 1 gallon jug, I believe after I siphon both I should have about 5 gallons total but I intend to re-rack at least 2 more times before I bottle. Do most people add water for the loss of sediment or do they simply loose volume as they go?

 

[Seamonkey84]

Add more wine, glass marbles, or smaller carboy(s) before going with adding water.
From my limited experience, if I want to bottle 2.5-3 gallons (a case of 12bottles) I aim for just over 4 gallon batch in primary.

 

[bernardsmith]

This is a great question and the answer is not to use a carboy as your primary. To plan to bottle 5 gallons of wine you MUST start with more than 5 gallons and so you begin by fermenting in a bucket. Excess when you rack (Note the word "excess" ) you keep in the fridge and use to top us when you again rack. If you start with 5 gallons you should be planning to bottle about 4 - 4.5, not 5. If you plan to bottle 5 gallons your plan should not necessary cause you headaches to think about ways to dilute the wine or fill excessive headroom with marbles and the like. You simply begin with 5 PLUS gallons.

 

[Bubbles2]

What is funny is that if you consider it before you start as I do... ( I have a bucket that is marked at 12oz Strong) Sometimes I get a 1.5 liter left over and it kills to just fridge it for top off. I know you lose 8-10 oz on a re rack, so you can top up with a like wine..if you do not have from another "like" batch in the fridge.
Heck I just did a Pear Fig and it came out to 4 gal which was planned for 3 but after wringing out the bag and a heavy hash marked bucket... Anyhow. 3 in a carboy and 1 in a jug, Used H20 before separating, but added a qt of H20 between the 4 gallons and now have a 1qt ball jar to top off.
Eg., Make it with a High O.G and top off with water. So if you have an 1100 start, 16 oz of water won't make a diff. as far as dilution goes.
Another thing to do is that 8-10oz left in your carboy on transfer, toss that in a ball jar, let it settle, decant to another clean jar and use that for the next top off.
You might use 16oz of water in a 5 gallon batch which equates to nothing, especially on these stronger home mades. I think the manufacture are not allowed to add water, but that might a France or Italy thing as well??

 

[Maylar]

How much you get after racking depends on how much lees you have. That varies with juice and yeast. As a general rule I'll start with 5-1/2 gallons to end up with 5 in secondary. When that's clear enough to bottle there will be a quart or so lost to fine lees. So a 5-1/2 gal batch ends up filling about 23 750 ml wine bottles.

 

[Seamonkey84]

How much you get after racking depends on how much lees you have. That varies with juice and yeast. As a general rule I'll start with 5-1/2 gallons to end up with 5 in secondary. When that's clear enough to bottle there will be a quart or so lost to fine lees. So a 5-1/2 gal batch ends up filling about 23 750 ml wine bottles.

Yes, Totally dependent on your starting mix
With lots of fruit in primary, Expect to loose upwards of 25%. with just juice or traditional mead, about 10% loss. This is another reason I don’t rack off the lees until it’s completely cleared in the carboy after primary is done, then I usually rack just one more time when it’s crystal clear in secondary.

 

[Shawn Cassidy]

Everyone makes excellent points. I always plan on loosing volume, so I always go one to two gallons over my intended finish. Extras are a bonus (and usually go into the suicide bottle). I hardly ever rack off wines anymore than once. I leave them in primary until done, cold crash, and then rack before bottling.