I ended up with 2 Italian ribbed which are slightly taller and narrower, and
2 Mexican smooth which are slightly shorter and fatter. I had no choice,
since I needed them and they were the only 4 in town from the 2 available
stores.

I'm guessing the actual volumes of the topped-up carboys, coupled with the
inaccuracies of the markings on the primaries, has caused this. Thanks for
the input folks.

Dan.




"pp" > wrote in message
om...
> "Brian Lundeen" > wrote in message
> >...
>> "Ray Calvert" > wrote in message
>> . com...
>> > Most jugs and carboys are rated where they are filled to a point that
>> > is
>> > much less than you would use for a topped up wine carboy. The
>> > difference
>> > can easily be 2 or 3 liters or maybe even more. Most of my 5 gallon
>> > carboy's will hold 5.5 gal's. Some of my 6 gal carboys will hold close
>> > to
>> > 7 gal's. You eventually get to know your carboy's.
>> >
>> 2-3 liters seems highly unlikely, no matter what your source of carboys
>> is.
>> We have measured overages in the area of 3/4 of a liter in the 5 and 6
>> gallon sizes.
>>
>> Brian
>
> I agree with Brian, the one time I measured the Italian 6gal carboy,
> it came to 23.6L. I'd suspect the measurements on the primaries might
> be more off in this case.
>
> As a side note, the Mexican carboys (sides without ribs) are usually
> smaller than the Italian counterparts, so it also depends what carboys
> you have.
>
> Pp