Wine no 1:Topping Up

[halfastory]

Started a gallon last night and wanted to say how great the tutorial is. Followed the instructions to the letter and fermentation is underway. Its bubbling through the airlock every four seconds.
My question now is when do I top up? There's a gap between the shoulder of the demijohn to the bung that needs filling.
I used ordinary wine yeast along with the wine nutrient and citric acid but it didn't fizz like in the tutorial.
Also, can anyone tell me if there's a difference between plastic fermenters and glass demijohns? I seem to be able to get a lot more liquid into the five litre plastic than the glass demijohn so would this make a weaker brew?
Thanks in advance for your help.

[Her Lushness]

I usually top up about 5 days after starting a brew, or when I'm sure it's not going to bubble up in the airlock. Basically you top up when the initial frantic first ferment is done and it's settled down to a slower "bloop"

A Demijohn holds an imperial gallon which is 4.5 litres, and your plastic 5 litre fermenters therefore hold 0.5 litre more.

A sneaky way to top up without loosing too much of your must is to start off your wine in a 5 gallon container, and then when you do your first racking, put it into a standard glass DJ which you should be able to fill full without transferring too much of the cloudy sediment over, and avoid having to top it up for that racking at any rate.

Assuming you make up 5 litres of must to start with, and it has an SG of 1080, you won't be making it any weaker by using the above method. If I'm fermenting in a bucket to start off with, ie using fruit to ferment on the pulp, I always make sure it comes above the 1 gallon mark on the bucket so that I can afford to waste some of the yukky clag at the bottom of the bucket when I strain and transfer to a DJ. If there's any more liquid over, I keep it to one side in the fridge or in a smaller bottle with an airlock on it so that I can use it for topping after my first racking. If you don't have any top-up liquid, it's no big disaster to use grape juice or water, you won't affect the wine dramatically if it's only a small amount.

I hope that answers your questions!

[Mamgiowl]

Another way to top up is to add a sugar syrup made up to the same SG as the wine is at that moment, then you don't add or detract anything from your wine. That's how I do it anyway.

[lockwood1956]

great advice already given

Isn't this hobby great?

[Her Lushness]

Another way to top up is to add a sugar syrup made up to the same SG as the wine is at that moment, then you don't add or detract anything from your wine. That's how I do it anyway.

Thats a good idea, I never thought of that, thanks!

[Darren]

Ive started doing mine i a five gall container its much easier for the initial ferment and like you say saves on the topping up if you just go over the 1 gall mark then you can sieve it into a dj after the initial ferment has died down. I am starting a 2 gall batch of tinned strawberries tonight and will start it of in the 5 gall and then split it into 2 dj much easier

[halfastory]

Thanks so much for all the advice. Its reassuring to know I can ask questions as I go along and get a reply so quickly as well.

[Her Lushness]

Thanks so much for all the advice. Its reassuring to know I can ask questions as I go along and get a reply so quickly as well.

Dont worry about asking questions; the only stupid question is the one you DON'T ask...

We've been where you are when we started off, and not all of us have been lucky enough to have this forum to hold our hands through our first few batches, luckily for you, we're here to help, and will hopefully be able to prevent you having any disasters. Believe me, I've had more than a few disasters that could have been avoided had I found this forum earlier!

[halfastory]

If I make wine number 1 in a five litre fermenter will it still be one litre of grape and one litre of apple juice with more volume of sugar syrup?
Is it still 1.5lbs or do I need more? Once the syrup goes in and I take a reading, what happens if i've added too much?

[Mamgiowl]

First don't add it all at once. Put in a lb, take a reading, add half the rest and so on until you get the desired SG. If you do add too much dilute with water to bring the SG down a bit. It won't matter if you've got more than a gallon as you'll lose some of the volume when racking.

If you've added way too much sugar, get some more juice, make up to 2 gallons and start from step one.