Does a small amount of mead need to age the same amount of time as a larger batch?

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Apendecto

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I've only made beer before and I only have a few batches under my belt but I'm interested in mead.

But having never tasted it, I wouldn't want to make 5 gallons. I figured I'd make a small 1 gallon batch and see what it's like in a year or so.

What's the time line on a small batch compared to a larger one? The same? Quicker? None of the above?

Thanks.
 
Makes sense. Do you need headspace in a fermenter for mead like beer?

Thanks.

PS Michigan, eh? Cool.
 
Pretty much as Yooper says.

I often keep a 1 gallon brew in a 2 gallon bucket, until it's got to about 1030 to 1020, and at that stage you will have finished any late additions of honey or other adjuncts that might cause it to foam like hell when they're added.

It then gets racked to a 1 gallon carboy/demi-john jug with as little airspace as possible and is airlocked until the ferment has finished (ignore bubbles in the air lock - go for 3 identical gravity readings, each one taken a couple of days apart - only then can you consider the ferment finished).
 
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