Well, I just invested in four 32-gallon Brute barrels that will serve
as my primaries.
Today i am testing my new diaphram pump from Morewine, and marking my
barrels for volume.

And generally playing in my wine cellar. :-)



My plan was to use them to hold 25 gallons of juice each. But in
filling them with 25 gallons of water, I noticed that i only have
about 6 inches of headspace. The barrel is about 20 inches in
diameter. I would esitmate that the proportion of wine in the barrel
is about 85% full. This gives me only 4.3 cuft of headspace.

Depending on fermentation rates, 80% full 5-gallon buckets can get
full when full-on fermentation.

Having never fermented this large of a batch, i don't know what to
expect.

Is this too little headspace? Should i back it down to 20 gallons?

we've always erred on the conservative side; two thirds of the
primary/barrel's volume is our headspace rule. So, the low 20's would be my
belt & suspenders limit on headspace with grapes. Coming down to the
basement at 5:30 AM in my pjammies & finding "must overboard" isn't a
pleasant way to start my day... We've never just juiced it, so no experience
there. just MHO regards, bob


"Wayne Harris" > wrote in message
...
> Well, I just invested in four 32-gallon Brute barrels that will serve
> as my primaries.
> Today i am testing my new diaphram pump from Morewine, and marking my
> barrels for volume.
>
> And generally playing in my wine cellar. :-)
>
>
>
> My plan was to use them to hold 25 gallons of juice each. But in
> filling them with 25 gallons of water, I noticed that i only have
> about 6 inches of headspace. The barrel is about 20 inches in
> diameter. I would esitmate that the proportion of wine in the barrel
> is about 85% full. This gives me only 4.3 cuft of headspace.
>
> Depending on fermentation rates, 80% full 5-gallon buckets can get
> full when full-on fermentation.
>
> Having never fermented this large of a batch, i don't know what to
> expect.
>
> Is this too little headspace? Should i back it down to 20 gallons?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

On May 21, 5:04*pm, "bobdrob" > wrote:
> we've always erred on the conservative side; two thirds of the
> primary/barrel's volume is our headspace rule. *So, the low 20's would be my
> belt & suspenders limit on headspace with grapes. *Coming down to the
> basement at 5:30 AM in my pjammies & finding "must overboard" isn't a
> pleasant way to start my day... We've never just juiced it, so no experience
> there. *just MHO * regards, *bob
>
> "Wayne Harris" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> > Well, I just invested in four 32-gallon Brute barrels that will serve
> > as my primaries.
> > Today i am testing my new diaphram pump from Morewine, and marking my
> > barrels for volume.
>
> > And generally playing in my wine cellar. * * *:-)
>
> > My plan was to use them to hold 25 gallons of juice each. *But in
> > filling them with 25 gallons of water, I noticed that i only have
> > about 6 inches of headspace. *The barrel is about 20 inches in
> > diameter. I would esitmate that the proportion of wine in the barrel
> > is about 85% full. *This gives me only 4.3 cuft of headspace.
>
> > Depending on fermentation rates, 80% full 5-gallon buckets can get
> > full when full-on fermentation.
>
> > Having never fermented this large of a batch, i don't know what to
> > expect.
>
> > Is this too little headspace? *Should i back it down to 20 gallons?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Oh yeah. I have overflowed too many primaries, it's messy. I like
2/3 to 3/4 as a rule. I do the same with beer.

Joe

On May 23, 12:42*pm, Joe Sallustio > wrote:
> On May 21, 5:04*pm, "bobdrob" > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > we've always erred on the conservative side; two thirds of the
> > primary/barrel's volume is our headspace rule. *So, the low 20's would be my
> > belt & suspenders limit on headspace with grapes. *Coming down to the
> > basement at 5:30 AM in my pjammies & finding "must overboard" isn't a
> > pleasant way to start my day... We've never just juiced it, so no experience
> > there. *just MHO * regards, *bob
>
> > "Wayne Harris" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > > Well, I just invested in four 32-gallon Brute barrels that will serve
> > > as my primaries.
> > > Today i am testing my new diaphram pump from Morewine, and marking my
> > > barrels for volume.
>
> > > And generally playing in my wine cellar. * * *:-)
>
> > > My plan was to use them to hold 25 gallons of juice each. *But in
> > > filling them with 25 gallons of water, I noticed that i only have
> > > about 6 inches of headspace. *The barrel is about 20 inches in
> > > diameter. I would esitmate that the proportion of wine in the barrel
> > > is about 85% full. *This gives me only 4.3 cuft of headspace.
>
> > > Depending on fermentation rates, 80% full 5-gallon buckets can get
> > > full when full-on fermentation.
>
> > > Having never fermented this large of a batch, i don't know what to
> > > expect.
>
> > > Is this too little headspace? *Should i back it down to 20 gallons?- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Oh yeah. *I have overflowed too many primaries, it's messy. *I like
> 2/3 to 3/4 as a rule. *I do the same with beer.
>
> Joe- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I am buying a 5th barrel and thus taking my 32 gallon primaries from
25 down to 20 gallons per. That will give me about a 30% free
headspace..
Thanks all.