Oak barrel, how full is full?

[mcwilcr]

I recently purchased a just emptied 10 gal American rye whiskey barrel. Last night I transferred an American barley wine into the barrel, ~10.5 gal went in the barrel but I still have roughly 2.5" of head space between the beer and the bunghole. I will be aging this beer for at least 6 months in the barrel. Is this amount of head space going to be an issue? at least the entire top stave from head to head is not in contact with beer, possibly the top three staves. Will they still absorb enough moisture from the neighboring staves that the barrel will stay sealed? I'm trying to decide if I need to brew a small 1gal batch of beer so I can top off the head space. I assumed having 11 gal would give me enough extra beer minus the dregs left in the primary but I was apparently wrong.

 

[mcwilcr]

Is it necessary to have a barrel full to the bung for long term aging or is a couple inches of head space acceptable?

 

[Cyclman]

You don't want head space. It will oxidize the beer.

 

[Bobby_M]

If your shoes aren't wet, it's not full enough.

 

[mcwilcr]

Thanks, I'll brew a small batch and top it up then. Or, I have a brown ale that is a very similar recipe( same yeast, hops but less, darker crystal and larger percent of grist than in the barleywine) I could use in a pinch if the two weeks the barrel will sit with the head space is something to be concerned about. What do you guys think?