Specific Gravity ThingieYou can usually buy a tall thin cylinder for the hydrometer. My test cylinder takes just a bit less than a cup of the must. After...
What about using Argon. Its a noble gas and heavier than air and readily available from welding supply stores. You can get one of the small 20 cubic foot bottles and a cheap regulator with a flow meter for a little over $100 if you shop around. You don't need to buy one of those expensive industrial grade brbutt regulators (victor brand) you can get a cheaper one for indoor use. The bottles are ususally certified for about 10 years. The gas is very cheap. 20 cubic foot of argon is equal to about 150 gallons of head space, so it should last. Heres the trick set your flow regulator to 8 cubic feet per hour (little floating ball) and every minuite is one gallon of gas that comes out. I was thinking that if you had two gallons of head space do you really need two gallons of argon? Remember its heavier than air and will blanket the wine. Since its a noble gas it wont mix with any other gas including oxygen, nitrogen ect. Its used in TIG welding to blanket the melted metal to prevent oxidization. Its a little investement up front though.
Hap
