Great idea in principle- to use marbles but you really need to be sure that the glass is in fact lead free. Many glass products - including glass are made for "decorative" purposes and are not made for food. And any lead in the paint may leach into your mead if the pH is low enough and the ABV is high enough. A far better approach is your second one: make a batch larger than you intend to bottle - an extra pint or so is all you need for most fruit and for those that will drop a great deal of lees you might want to begin with 1.25 gallons. But I agree marbles are fine as long as you know that they are lead free.
@@ManMadeMead You are very welcome. Trouble is that I have often come across fancy bottles in craft stores that when I inquire I find out that they are for decorative purposes only and should not be used for food or drink. Not certain but technically lead in glass is prohibited for manufacture in the US but marbles and glass vessels often come from the PRC (China) and these objects are purchased by US companies for sale in the USA and they truly are less than safe. I am also not certain that they are a threat to your health IF - IF you were to use them as a stop gap measure but allowing mead or wine to stand on the glass for an extended period (say two or three months) is not wise: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass.
What do you suggest for second or third racking? For going from primary and secondary I agree make more but for other stages marbles seem like the best solution.
I appreciate this concept 2 years later, the only two answers too this problem I had found till this was add water or add a finished wine, but I didn't like either.
I get a 3L juice bottle with a siphoning tube instead through a hike in the lid and mix up some vinegar and bicarb inside to create co2 which i then tube into the headspace. Clears out the oxygen no worries!
My thinking is that as long as you are off-gassing CO2, do you really need to worry about oxygen in the headspace? CO2 is heavier than O2 and would tend to form a boundary layer. I've always wondered for ageing if it would be worth shooting a bit of CO2 into the headspace before placing the airlock back on. Granted this is coming from a position of very little experience, so if someone would like to comment on this, I welcome remarks!
Once your brew has completed fermentation & is racked it’s not going to continue off gassing. Some brews take longer to offgass than others, but I find after 3 or 4 weeks, there’s no positive pressure on my airlock & not much left when I degass after racking over. You could use bottled CO2, but that’s an added expense that most of us don’t invest in.
@@GreenWitch1 My thinking is that as long as it off-gasses a little, and you don't re-rack, the CO2 will remain even if there isn't positive pressure. It's a good argument for leaving the stopper/airlock in place as much as possible. I'm considering getting CO2, but it's probably a needless pain (and probably unnecessary) to remove it from the keg just for this purpose. Perhaps it might be worth it if the vessel had excessive headspace.
It's the same issue with wine turning into vinegar : There's an airborne bacteria that can enter the vessel and start turning ethanol into acetic acid. Pro wine is nitrogen filled before sealing.
Made a peach wine @ strong 7 gallon.... as it came out of primary I put it in a 6 gallon and a 1 gallon... after a few months I racked again leaving a lees and put both back together in a 6.5 gallon... it is finally really clearing (has been very cloudy) and in a month I will rack back into a 6 gallon till Im ready to bottle.
He asked about how you deal with headspace... I'm pointing out how I make larger batches and use multiple vessels of various sizes to not have headspace to fill! How does that not have to deal with the topic?
3 years late to the party, but I just give it a good pump from my sodastream co2 cylinder and close it up, hopefully purging the O2 a bit. Does it help? I'm not sure, but haven't noticed any weirdness so far so doesnt hurt xD
Hi, thanks for the video. The problem of headspace after racking is something that is actually bothering me. I am planning on buying some brewing equipment but I can't decide on brewing vessels because of this. Where I live (Italy), the common carboy sizes are 3 and 5 liters. There are 10, 15, 24 liters, but they are expensive, bulky, difficult to find and I'm not quite sure about how to seal them and fit the airlock because of their mouth diameters. I want to brew batches of meads in 5 liter carboys, but I don't know what to do if I have to rack for long term aging. Racking to another 5L carboy will leave too much headspace and surface area, transferring to a 3L carboy leaves too much brew behind (unless I plan for 3L of finished mead, which is not something I'd like). I really don't like the idea of filling up the space by putting marbles because I feel it can make it more difficult to re-rack for bottling and I will lose too much product. As alternatives I have: a) Bottling straight from racking and let bottle age b) Leave the mead on the lees for longer (1-2 months after completed fermentation) and then proceed with (a) c) Rack and top off with water (I'd have to adjust for a more concentrated must, which may be problematic in some cases), commercial wine, more honey (which would reactivate fermentation and produce more lees). I have also thought about 10L or 13 L plastic fermenter buckets which would be perfect for what I'm looking for, but they all come with spigots (on the stores available to me) and I got very discouraged by comments online saying the plastic spigots have many potential risks such as leaks, contamination, breaking by accidentally tripping on them and, honestly, I don't see much of a benefit from them (taking samples without opening, maybe?, I don't think they a good way of racking anyways). What would be your take on this? It would be really helpful :)
I'm pretty inexperienced myself, but if I were to guess a solution, I'll assume you want 3 L of product just as an example. You could do your fermentation in the larger 5L vessel, and only brew 3.5L (or whatever extra amount is appropriate), and the extra headspace will be filled by CO2 the ferment produces. This extra headspace should not be a big deal during fermentation. When it is done fermenting and you rack, transfer it into a 3L container with only very little headspace. You can do your bulk aging here and allow additional sediment to settle out before a final rack and bottling.
Correct me if I'm wrong but one could also add some distilled water (which will result in a small amount of dilution) to make up the head space in secondary.
I would try to spray it down and get rid of any fruit or anything else left in it. Then I would just soak it in some star San and from there you’re good to use it again!
There's enough CO2 from outgassing to fill that headspace. With a tight lid it won't allow oxygen to oxidize the mead. If you wanted you could get a CO2 cylinder and inject CO2 into the jar or carboy to displace any oxygen and then seal the container. CO2 is heavier than air, so oxygen cannot displace it and it can't really waft or flow out..... No need to muck about with marbles. But he is right, less headspace is best so filling it up with product is better.... But as long as you know that the airspace is filled with CO2, then yer golden.
Only during the fermentation. During the aging stage it generally turns back to oxygen. The fermentation yields a “CO2 Blanket” over the top of the liquid. Protecting it from oxygenation
Great idea in principle- to use marbles but you really need to be sure that the glass is in fact lead free. Many glass products - including glass are made for "decorative" purposes and are not made for food. And any lead in the paint may leach into your mead if the pH is low enough and the ABV is high enough. A far better approach is your second one: make a batch larger than you intend to bottle - an extra pint or so is all you need for most fruit and for those that will drop a great deal of lees you might want to begin with 1.25 gallons. But I agree marbles are fine as long as you know that they are lead free.
Especially tricky if they come from the dollar store!
Thank you would of never thought of the lead factor this is why a novice like me needs more forums like this
Thanks for mentioning this!
@@ManMadeMead You are very welcome. Trouble is that I have often come across fancy bottles in craft stores that when I inquire I find out that they are for decorative purposes only and should not be used for food or drink. Not certain but technically lead in glass is prohibited for manufacture in the US but marbles and glass vessels often come from the PRC (China) and these objects are purchased by US companies for sale in the USA and they truly are less than safe. I am also not certain that they are a threat to your health IF - IF you were to use them as a stop gap measure but allowing mead or wine to stand on the glass for an extended period (say two or three months) is not wise: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass.
What do you suggest for second or third racking? For going from primary and secondary I agree make more but for other stages marbles seem like the best solution.
Thanks to the producer and the knowledgeable followers a novice like me needs ppl like you
I’m glad I can help!
I appreciate this concept 2 years later, the only two answers too this problem I had found till this was add water or add a finished wine, but I didn't like either.
I can't do this. I lost my marbles.
Lmfao
Dangit... I knew just as I thought of this, someone else probably already did!
You did gain a drum roll.
I get a 3L juice bottle with a siphoning tube instead through a hike in the lid and mix up some vinegar and bicarb inside to create co2 which i then tube into the headspace. Clears out the oxygen no worries!
Omg totally brilliant. I was wondering about this I've been looking for random off size carboys. But this solution is brilliant.
Thanks Garrett. I knew about the marbles, but I didn’t know there could be lead in them 🤯
Such a simple fix thanks for sharing 👍
My thinking is that as long as you are off-gassing CO2, do you really need to worry about oxygen in the headspace? CO2 is heavier than O2 and would tend to form a boundary layer. I've always wondered for ageing if it would be worth shooting a bit of CO2 into the headspace before placing the airlock back on. Granted this is coming from a position of very little experience, so if someone would like to comment on this, I welcome remarks!
Once your brew has completed fermentation & is racked it’s not going to continue off gassing. Some brews take longer to offgass than others, but I find after 3 or 4 weeks, there’s no positive pressure on my airlock & not much left when I degass after racking over. You could use bottled CO2, but that’s an added expense that most of us don’t invest in.
@@GreenWitch1 My thinking is that as long as it off-gasses a little, and you don't re-rack, the CO2 will remain even if there isn't positive pressure. It's a good argument for leaving the stopper/airlock in place as much as possible. I'm considering getting CO2, but it's probably a needless pain (and probably unnecessary) to remove it from the keg just for this purpose. Perhaps it might be worth it if the vessel had excessive headspace.
It's the same issue with wine turning into vinegar : There's an airborne bacteria that can enter the vessel and start turning ethanol into acetic acid. Pro wine is nitrogen filled before sealing.
@@GreenWitch1 …It will, and there will be enough to protect the wine from oxidation during clearing.
@@MmeHyraelle That’s never happened to me in many years of brewing. Good sanitation prevents Acetobacter. Not really a concern.
I use marbles as well. They really do work.
Made a peach wine @ strong 7 gallon.... as it came out of primary I put it in a 6 gallon and a 1 gallon... after a few months I racked again leaving a lees and put both back together in a 6.5 gallon... it is finally really clearing (has been very cloudy) and in a month I will rack back into a 6 gallon till Im ready to bottle.
What's that have to do with this topic
He asked about how you deal with headspace... I'm pointing out how I make larger batches and use multiple vessels of various sizes to not have headspace to fill! How does that not have to deal with the topic?
@@jonahbenson5020 Reading it fast I didnt notice you changed container size, just that you were losing some product. Makes sense now.
I needed this, thanks!
With that being said the marbles could help act as a filter while siphoning 🤷🏻♂️ just a thought.
everclear and distilled water but it also dilutes the flavor but u can also reinforce it with a concentrate if youd like
This was such a good tip!! Wow so easy!! Thanks for your vids
Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
i've got easy access to food grade dry ice, so I just drop a bit in when I rack.
Oh, that's a great idea!
I read where marbles may contain lead. So I don't personally use them and I don't recommend using them.
3 years late to the party, but I just give it a good pump from my sodastream co2 cylinder and close it up, hopefully purging the O2 a bit. Does it help? I'm not sure, but haven't noticed any weirdness so far so doesnt hurt xD
Have you ever broken the carboy/jar dropping those marbles like that? Could that happen?
I haven't but I'm sure you could!
Prickly pear mead?
One day!
Hi, thanks for the video.
The problem of headspace after racking is something that is actually bothering me. I am planning on buying some brewing equipment but I can't decide on brewing vessels because of this.
Where I live (Italy), the common carboy sizes are 3 and 5 liters. There are 10, 15, 24 liters, but they are expensive, bulky, difficult to find and I'm not quite sure about how to seal them and fit the airlock because of their mouth diameters.
I want to brew batches of meads in 5 liter carboys, but I don't know what to do if I have to rack for long term aging. Racking to another 5L carboy will leave too much headspace and surface area, transferring to a 3L carboy leaves too much brew behind (unless I plan for 3L of finished mead, which is not something I'd like). I really don't like the idea of filling up the space by putting marbles because I feel it can make it more difficult to re-rack for bottling and I will lose too much product. As alternatives I have:
a) Bottling straight from racking and let bottle age
b) Leave the mead on the lees for longer (1-2 months after completed fermentation) and then proceed with (a)
c) Rack and top off with water (I'd have to adjust for a more concentrated must, which may be problematic in some cases), commercial wine, more honey (which would reactivate fermentation and produce more lees).
I have also thought about 10L or 13 L plastic fermenter buckets which would be perfect for what I'm looking for, but they all come with spigots (on the stores available to me) and I got very discouraged by comments online saying the plastic spigots have many potential risks such as leaks, contamination, breaking by accidentally tripping on them and, honestly, I don't see much of a benefit from them (taking samples without opening, maybe?, I don't think they a good way of racking anyways).
What would be your take on this? It would be really helpful :)
I'm pretty inexperienced myself, but if I were to guess a solution, I'll assume you want 3 L of product just as an example.
You could do your fermentation in the larger 5L vessel, and only brew 3.5L (or whatever extra amount is appropriate), and the extra headspace will be filled by CO2 the ferment produces. This extra headspace should not be a big deal during fermentation.
When it is done fermenting and you rack, transfer it into a 3L container with only very little headspace. You can do your bulk aging here and allow additional sediment to settle out before a final rack and bottling.
Correct me if I'm wrong but one could also add some distilled water (which will result in a small amount of dilution) to make up the head space in secondary.
You could! I wouldn’t suggest that only because the dilution!
I know this is off topic, but what is the best way to clean a brew bag ?
I would try to spray it down and get rid of any fruit or anything else left in it. Then I would just soak it in some star San and from there you’re good to use it again!
Can I add water to the carboy to avoid headspace?!
You can! But you will water it down!
Not a problem during clearing process.
There's enough CO2 from outgassing to fill that headspace. With a tight lid it won't allow oxygen to oxidize the mead. If you wanted you could get a CO2 cylinder and inject CO2 into the jar or carboy to displace any oxygen and then seal the container. CO2 is heavier than air, so oxygen cannot displace it and it can't really waft or flow out..... No need to muck about with marbles. But he is right, less headspace is best so filling it up with product is better.... But as long as you know that the airspace is filled with CO2, then yer golden.
Isnt that headspace filled with CO2 gas?
Only during the fermentation. During the aging stage it generally turns back to oxygen. The fermentation yields a “CO2 Blanket” over the top of the liquid. Protecting it from oxygenation
How did I know it'd be marbles lol