Oxygen in headspace of carboy with Cider

[whatdoyameanman]

I had 5 gallons of cider in secondary fermentation that have fully cleared. I bottled half of it as i am carbing it, and needed the yeast alive to do so.

The two gallons i had left i added 2 camden tablets and potassium sorbate. I was told they need to sit for a week once those are added and then you can bottle. My dilemia is that i own one carboy so i put the two gallons back in the 6.5 gallon carboy it was in for secondary fermentation ( obviously i resanitized it).

My question is, will the huge amount of head space and oxygen affect my cider at all? Or does the potassium sorbate killing the yeast mean it makes no difference if there might be oxygen? Thank you

 

[gregbathurst]

The cider will most likely oxidise, though the camden tablets will help to slow it down. It's the same as leaving a half-full bottle of wine for a few days, when you come back it will be spoiled. It's better to bottle it all at the same time.

 

[whatdoyameanman]

Thanks for the help. I moved it to a three gallon carboy from the store and severly reduced the head space. Thanks again.