r/mead • u/Ze_Trollmeister • 20h ago

Question Too much Headspace?

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This is my first 5L batch and I was wondering if I had too much headspace with the secondary fermentation stage.

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

6

u/chainer1216 Intermediate 20h ago

Thats fine

4

u/Bergwookie 20h ago

No, its good, you should leave even a bit more, especially if you're using fruit or other foamy ingredients, but for a traditional it should work.

1

u/QfromMars2 13h ago

Its in secondary, thats enough

1

u/Bergwookie 13h ago

Yeah, missed that, for secondary it's perfectly

1

u/RotaryDane Intermediate 20h ago

Looks perfectly fine.

On these 5L carboys, you'll often see a bit of a line part ways up the neck. That is the 5L fill mark and a good fill level to keep headspace to a minimum. If filled to this level, you can expect to fill 6 pcs 70 cl bottles from one of these carboys.

1

u/Ze_Trollmeister 19h ago

Thanks for the info!

1

u/ISnipedJFK 19h ago

Ik zou hem persoonlijk nog net wat verder gevuld hebben, maar misschien dat get er net mee door kan?

Ik hou altijd als vuistregel dat mijn vaten gevuld worden tot waar het glas recht is ipv bol, De nek ipv de schouders.

Ik neem hoeveelheden in primaire ook altijd royaal dat ik eigenlijk net iets meer heb dan in mijn vat past, heb ik ruimte om de s.g. te meten, te proeven, te knoeien en het vat tot het hoogst mogelijke te vullen.

1

u/Peen-Stretch Beginner 18h ago

I love those classic looking demijohns.

1

u/Hurlikus 15h ago

What a cool vessel :)

1

u/howd_he_get_here 12h ago

Take this with a total grain of salt, but in my experience I've left many 5 gallon batches sitting in cheap plastic secondary buckets for months with what people here would call "way too much headspace!! 😰" and I've never noticed any detectable oxidation effects compared to my brews aged in airtight glass carboys.

I do stabilize all my brews with potassium sorbate and campden tablets, and I've read that the latter helps combat the effects of oxidation. So maybe that has played a factor in my case.

Again, take my totally unqualified opinion for the little it's worth. There is no reason to not aim for minimal headspace whenever possible. Just sharing my anecdotal experience as a moderate amateur who's brewed 50+ batches.

0

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