fermenter room

how much room should I leave in primary and secondary to prevent to much oxygen or is this a dumb question ?

In primary, headspace is actually needed because the mead can use the oxygen and is pushing out co2. Sometimes mead foams a little during fermentation, so you'll need a little headspace. In secondary, you want to minimize the headspace. It's best to top up to within an inch or two of the bung, since that opening is the smallest and will minimize the headspace.

oh I forgot to ask is a carboy a must have for mead I just scored some 2 gallon buckets I was thinking of using these (they are food gread )

gmaupin said:

oh I forgot to ask is a carboy a must have for mead I just scored some 2 gallon buckets I was thinking of using these (they are food gread )

Click to expand...

You can't really bulk-age in a plastic bucket... for primary it would be fine (I think a lot of people use them so it is easier to add/remove fruit)

i wouldn't want to age in a bucket. from what i hear they are difficult to get an air tight seal around the lid. but as for primary they are fine because the yeast are throwing off so much CO2.

The head space in a bucket is far too much for secondary. In a carboy, you have maybe an inch wide area that is open. You still have a bung, but it's about an inch wide where there is a possiblity for oxidation. That's really good, and you won't taste any oxidation. The headspace for a bucket is as wide as the bucket- not good at all. Even if you fill the bucket to the top, the headspace could be 12 inches across, and it will ruin the mead.