Racking

When racking, what is not acceptable void in 5 gal carboy? It is just below at the base of the filler neck. If too low what do i replace it with. The juice is Mixed Black. I have zinfandel from a previous box wine i did or should I use something else? From the looks of the hydrometer it reads 0.995 so i suppose it is a dry wine. I wanted semi-sweet or what ever is in between.

Thanks

There are basically three things you can do. Top off with water, top off with a similar wine or fill with argon gas to displace oxygen. It’s been a long time since I had a carboy that was low but IMHO if you’re only going to let it age a month before bottling, I’m not sure I’d even worry about it. I’m sure others will pipe in with opinions. I seem to remember letting it alone and bottling after a month or so and not having a problem. I would add a few grams of KMETA at bottling though. :cheers:

As steinbrau said, if it is only going to be there for a short time, don’t worry about head space. If you plan to bulk age it for a longer period, find a wine that is similar and top it up to within an inch of the stopper. Or you can use a wine that is not so similar. Water is a last resort, as it will dilute the flavor.

A final gravity of 0.995 isn’t that dry (0.992 is dry, while anything above 0.998 is unlikely to be finished). But if you want it sweeter, add campden tabs (1 per gallon, crushed) and a teaspoon of Potasium Sorbate, let it sit for a week or two, then add sugar to taste.

Agree about head space. You only really need to top up for longer aging. A month or two should be fine as is.

One of the easiest solutions for backsweetening is wine conditioner. Made specifically for this purpose. Contains all sorbate needed to inhibit refermentation.

Add to taste at bottling (or earlier if you like).

I need advice
by mistake instead of the target of tartaric acid in red wine was added to 10 g / hl potassium sorbate.
can you possibly resulting taste and odor to remove or mask?