Headroom for primary (AKA is my bucket too small!?!)

[Rhys79]

Ok, just finished getting my first batch of wine ready to pitch and I think I have a small problem. My 6.5gal brew bucket is now full to about 1" from the top. I thought I had left myself with enough headroom, till I added sugar and went oh crap. Is this going to be enough room to go ahead and pitch without having a disastrous mess on my hands, or do I need to get a 7.9gal bucket and transfer first?

That would present the additional problem of the fact that all the local brew shops are closed Sun-Tue, which leaves me with a bucket of must sitting unpitched for three days . Will the must survive that long without being pitched, do I need to add sulphite each day or so to make sure nothing takes hold till then, or what?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

What kind of yeast are you using?

 

[Yooper]

It should be ok. You may get a little foam out of the top, so put it somewhere it won't stain if you get a little overflow. You don't get too much of a foamy head with wine. In primary, I just cover mine with a clean towel and then rack to secondary once the SG is 1.020 or below.

 

[Rhys79]

I'm using Montrachet yeast. If Yooper thinks it'll be alright, I'll go ahead and pitch my yeast. I just didn't want a wine fountain all over my floor. I can always transfer to a larger bucket Wednesday when the shops are open and I can pick one up.

 

[Texron]

I have used Montrachet yeast on five batches of Apfell Wine. It produces little, tiny bubbles and is otherwise pretty uneventull. Like Yooper said, it should OK.