Headspace question

[FFc]

I start out with a gallon of apple juice and pour out roughly 16 oz. to have some head space. So really starting to ferment say, 112 oz.

After a week, the bulk of the fermentation has slowed down so I check the SG and taste the 4oz. that fit into my hydrometer tube. If it's not low enough I'll let it continue to ferment and check a few days later (again drinking the 4oz. from the tube).

So now I'm left with 104 oz. After racking and leaving a few ounces I end up with about 96-100oz. ready for secondary.

Is 96-100oz. in a 1 gallon demijohn too much headspace for secondary? Would I be better off putting say 92oz. in a 96 oz. (Knudsen juice comes in this size) glass jug?

I bought some marbles to try but you really need tons of marbles to decrease the headspace. Plus, all marbles now seem to be made in China which makes me worry about them breaking up of disintegrating in my brew. Any thought or experience on this?

 

[Ace_Club]

First question is why bother transferring to the secondary? I've 5 gallons of apfelwein that have been in the primary for a year and am just now getting ready to bottle/keg it.

Generally, you want to minimize the head space when transferring to a secondary vessel as while there is some production of CO2, it will happen more slowly.

 

[Mrott]

if you're that concerned about it, just purge with CO2 and continue along with secondary. If there's no oxygen in there then there's nothing to worry about.