Head Space troubles

[Burquebrewer]

So it seems from all ive read that too much headspace in the secondary and all subsequent fermentation/ aging vessels is bad. This causes me some concern and I was wondering if I may be able to reacha good solution here.

My problem:

I make 2.75 gallon batches of mead. Sometimes, I make one gallon batches. My fermenter sizes on hand (at least in glass form) are 6.5 gallons, 5 gallons, 3 gallons, and 2.5 gallons. I usually tend to have active fermentations, and so I use the three gallon fermenters for 2.75 gallons of mead. After first racking, I wind up with just about 2.5 gallons, which is perfect to put in a 2.5 gallon fermenter. After racking the second time, I usually have aboout2.25 or 2.3 gallons, which seems to be leaving too much headspace? After the next racking, I have closer to two gallons, which is great to separate into two 1 gallon jugs.

The problem is that period after racking the second time. it will sit 30 to 60 days with a few inches of headspace in a 2.5 gallon container? Bad?

I thought about racking straight into two one gallon containers and a third half gallon carboy, but then I feel I've got to mess with trying to start three separate siphons, I'm going to leave behind a lot more liquid as well if I'm siphoning off of three small sediments in those three containers? Also, where to go from there, If I leave liquid behind in the one gallon jugs, I am siphoning them into even smaller bottles? Seems like a losing battle. How do others deal with this?

 

[dan6310]

If you have access to Co2 you can put a blanket of Co2 over the mead and you should be good for a while. You can also add sanitized marbles/glass beads to take up the space.

 

[Maylar]

I deal with it by having a few 1/2 and 1 gallon glass jugs. They get a lot of use. During racking I'll "pinch" the siphon hose to temporarily stop flow while lining up the next jug. After a while you get good at anticipating how much yield you'll get from a batch.

 

[mwilcox]

I do the same as Maylar, or if the volume is fairly small, I'll top off with a bottle or two of a previous batch of mead. The latter works especially well when I've made a melomel with a ton of fruit; a little Trad on top dilutes to sane levels.

 

[Burquebrewer]

Thanks All! I ordered several 1 gallon carboys from amazon last night.