r/winemaking • u/_we_have_to_go_back_ • 10d ago

Grape amateur Too much head space?

Post image

First wine and I am on day 14 racking from the bucket to secondary, will it be okay for another 2-3wks?

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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4

u/Worldly_Anybody_1718 10d ago edited 10d ago

Is it still fermenting a little bit? If not I'd get one of those CO2 tire inflation devices and top it off with a little CO2.

1

u/_we_have_to_go_back_ 10d ago

It is still a little sweet, I think it will ferment a bit more.

7

u/GetAJobAndAHaircut 10d ago

It looks fine

3

u/bobmay 10d ago

Waaay too much. There is no way that is safe. Take it all the way to the neck. If still fermenting, you have some time, but when done top...no way this is safe as is.

1

u/_we_have_to_go_back_ 9d ago

Guess I'll get some marbles

1

u/curalisto 8d ago

that should work. thats alot of marbles.

1

u/burnen-van-loutin 9d ago

Can you add a similar finished wine to fill it to the neck?

1

u/curalisto 8d ago

That's the best course of action. Shouldn't be very noticeable at all.

2

u/Certain_Leader_2754 10d ago

Should be fine pay attention to your volume

2

u/Temporary_Driver_301 9d ago

If fermentation is basically complete - yes!

2

u/curalisto 8d ago

Anyone saying this is fine is off base. Leaving it like that will lead to browning in the short term.

1

u/_we_have_to_go_back_ 8d ago

That was my assumption, thank you.

4

u/grashopr68 10d ago

Too much headspace for my comfort. I ruined 5 gallons of chardonnay that way. Now I'm meticulous about as little headspace as possible and topping off with argon

1

u/_we_have_to_go_back_ 9d ago

Can you link what you use to top up?

2

u/grashopr68 9d ago

I’ve been using this

https://a.co/d/0ajAht1P

But have a scuba friend that has a tank of 100% argon and looking to put a fine flow regulator on that and use. I’ve bought about ~$100 worth of that stuff on amazon. So it’s not sustainable.

1

u/_we_have_to_go_back_ 9d ago

Gotcha, very interesting none the less. Thanks for sharing.

1

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