3 gallons in a 5 gallon demijohn

[Fubblechunk]

Hi hive mind,

This bank holiday we wen't out and picked 9kg of damsons which are currently soaking in water extracting their juice.

The aim is to make 3 demijohns worth of wine but I'm curious, can I use a 5 gallon demijohn for the secondary fermentation?

The idea behind this is I don't really want to do too much cleaning and sterilising of individual jars for this stage.

Once the initial fermentation has finished I plan to rack into the 5 gallon demijohns for secondary fermentation.

My thoughts are that the spare space will be filled with carbon dioxide so this shouldn't be a problem.

Once the secondary fermentation has finished or nearing finishing I plan to rack into individual gallon demijohns with an air lock before a final racking and storing before bottling.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance

 

[Vinotinto]

Sounds fine, the CO2 will protect the headspace

 

[LED_ZEP]

I agree with Vinotinto it should be fine

I clear my wines in a pressure barrel and often it's only 2/3 full and I've never had a problem. Another advantage with this is because of the valve in the lid it's completely sealed but if for any reason it starts to ferment again the pressure can escape.

 

[Fubblechunk]

Thanks both, I'm adding the yeast and sugar this weekend though it looks like it's naturally started fermenting already.

If it goes well I might even write a post :thumb: