So, the only thing I brew right now is mead. Around where I live, it's pretty easy to get one gallon containers of good local honey, which would be perfect for a four gallon batch.

Except that four gallon carboys apparently don't exist. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 6.5...yeah. Everything but 4. WTF?

So, instead I either have to make a three gallon batch, measure and weigh honey, and try to use 3/4ths of a gallon bucket, getting honey everywhere in the process; or buy it for a higher price in quarts; or get a five gallon carboy, and an extra quart of honey.

Yeah, yeah, I know...first world problems and all that.

Does anyone know of any four gallon carboys out there? Glass, preferably?

I was also looking at these:

Glass demijohn

I'm not sure about the shape or ease of handling on these though. And I'd end up making a custom stopper for it, for use with the airlock. Anyone have any experience with something like these?

Thanks in advance...

Or just use the five gallon and not worry about the extra headspace that's gonna contain CO2 anyway.

I thought about that, but aren't you supposed to limit the space in the carboy, especially after racking? Most of the stuff I've read and seen has people even adding sterilized marbles and such to bring the level up to the neck.

Just use a 5 gal. Don't agonise about headspace too much.

4 gallon/15 litre carboys exist, keep looking.

Fair enough.  I'd just hate to ruin so much mead at once.  

I'll keep hunting, I guess.

If you are that concerned about head space after racking, maybe pick up a 5lb tank of CO2 and try purging the carboy before racking.

That's just it...I'm only going by a few videos and some websites I've read.

SHOULD I be that concerned about headspace with a mead?  I've only made a half dozen gallons or so over the last year, and so far they have turned out good. I've been diligent about minimizing exposure to outside air and such. But if I don't have to worry about it that much, I won't.

They do exist.

I have two 4 gallon carboys. I got them from my Grandad who had 13 of them. He got them when my great Grandad died and they found his hidden moonshine still with all 13 bottles full of moonshine.

They poured out all of the moonshine except one gallon, that my Grandad stored in his shop. He told me it's never been opened and is over 40 years old.

He gave it to me before he died.

Here's my carboy with a 2.5 gallon batch

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Here's the moonshine!

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Just like everyone said, use a 5 gallon carboy.

When you rack it over to a new one just purge it with CO2 really good. Don't worry about the head space, at my work we put 7 bbls into a 15 bbl brite tank often.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'll quit worrying so much about headspace. New brewer OCD, I  guess!

Honestly, I wouldnt be all that concerned about it.
I had a cider/apple wine in secondary for ~1 year with no issues.
Even after racking there is still a good bit of dissolved CO2 that should come out of suspension and give you a "blanket" to prevent oxidation.

RDWHAHB

Honestly, a lot of people believe the less headspace the better.

I will make 5 gallon batches in my 6gallon bucket and let it purge out the nasty fermentation crud. Makes for less stuff that settles out after fermentation.

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I do 2 gal batches of JAOM in a 3 gal water bottle from Wallyworld.  Nary a problem.

Well, mead can and will oxidize. But only really in secondary. Headspace can be an issue, and the C02 blanket is kind of a myth.

Here's what you'll need to do. Buy a 6.5 gallon and 5 gallon carboy (or a brew bucket, stainless or plastic)

Second of all, buy 2 gallons of honey. You want 1.5 to 2 gallons of headspace to account for foaming, for when you degass your mead.
Primary in the 6 gallon (you can use a bucket, it's fine), when fermentation is complete, transfer into secondary. (primary takes 2-4 weeks)

In secondary, add potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite in the recommended amounts. This is called stabilizing. You can then backsweeten to your desired level. You can calculate the rough amount ahead of time to make this easier. Stir the honey in and then put on the airlock.
After a couple weeks, you can swap in a solid bung.

Potassium metabisulfite protects against oxidation, and it diminishes over time. If you let it sit for more than 3 months, you'll want to add more.

Thanks!  I tend to make smaller batches than that, but I can easily pick up a slightly larger bucket at the brew store, primary in that, then rack into my 3-gallon carboy for secondary.  I currently have about 14-15 gallons of honey laying about, and I need to get back to brewing.  I just moved, so I'm trying to get settled, and on top of that, I just had a flutter ablation, they went in through the veins in the groin, and I'm not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds for the next week.  

After that, I'll get some brewing done.

I also grabbed something off Amazon, it's a drill-mounted stirrer. It's good to mix the honey and water, and it's good to degass later.
At a minimum, I would degass every time nutrients are about to be added (if you don't, it'll foam up a lot anyway)

Degass- add nutrients - stir them in

And then after primary is complete, thoroughly degass before you transfer to secondary.

For 3 gallons, you'll raise the FG 0.013 per pound of honey added. So if it finished at 0.998, a lb would put you at 1.011 ish. The ABV drops slightly when you back sweeten, but that's life. You can make it stronger initially to compensate, if you like.

I was thinking of getting something for the drill, but the carboys have pretty narrow necks. I don't have any buckets.  Yet.

A couple quick questions.  The potassium sorbate and metabisulfate...by "stabilize," you mean kill the yeast, right? I haven't been doing that for a couple reasons. One, I belong to a couple historical groups, so I am trying to keep things more in that vein. Using modern yeasts is even sort of cheating, but using leftover honey water after honey extraction and hive destruction, throwing a rag over the vat to keep out bugs, and hoping natural yeasts ferment it is a pretty inconsistent product.    Still,  trying to keep things as historical (i.e. simple) as I can.  Two, I like the live yeast in the bottle naturally carbonating it. Seems to be very popular among my friends too.

So, is that what those two potassiums do? Kill off yeast after secondary?

Second question...if oxygen in finished mead is bad, how do I back sweeten? Just add honey and stir?  I haven't done any back sweetening yet. Also, with the live yeast in the bottle still, won't they just convert it to alcohol, defeating the process? Should I wait until near drinking time, pop open a bottle for a taste test, and back sweeten if needed a day or two before I serve it?  Or back sweeten, then just keep it in the fridge to prevent further fermentation?

So many questions for such a simple beverage...

Thanks!

It fits in the neck

Actually, they don't kill the yeast. Yeast death is something a little different (it's called autolysis), and you don't want that. It makes things taste bad. Sulfite prevents wild yeast and bacteria from spoiling wine, and protects against oxidation, and sorbate prevents the yeast from multiplying. (especially important when back sweetening). The oxidation is important, it can ruin the color and flavor of mead. Honey is precious and expensive, I'd use it and just don't tell anyone. You'll make better mead.  You don't want much yeast in your bottles for a couple reasons- it'll add a cloudy appearance when you serve the mead and 2- sitting on yeast can and will change the flavor over time, and usually not for the better.

Doesn't seem like a good solution for many reasons. 1- don't have enough space in each bottle 2- not consistent 3- pain in the butt / messy  4- how are you going to stir honey into it inside the bottle?
You do the whole batch at once, get it exactly to your taste, then bottle it up. If you stabilize mead, it shouldn't referment when you backsweeten, and it will be protected from oxidation. The added benefit is when you mix in the sorbate and sulfite, it helps the yeast drop out of suspension, and you'll be degassing the mead at the same time. If there's significant CO2 in the mead, that will reduce it's ability to clear on it's own.

Do you have a hydrometer? I use a hydrometer and a thief to grab samples- you can take gravity inside the thief. You should at a minimum take a measurement at initial must creation, and then one at the end. You can calculate ABV this way- maybe you already know that.

Cheers.

I do have a hydrometer. All of the must so far has started at 1.1. Highest alcohol content from mead so far is 11.5% or so. Some turned out weaker.

I'll look into getting those potassiums. Thanks!