1 Gallon Batches - should I bottle now?

Bottling early will make any adjustments to flavor very difficult. You can add sanitized clear glass marbles to help fill up the extra volume and reduce the headspace. Also stabilizing your mead with KMBS (sulfite) will help protect it from oxidation as well.

Hi - I agree on the glass marbles. You'll need quite a few, but they do work. Just remember to clean and sanitize them before dropping them in.

It's not an aging solution, but I bought the 'All In One Wine Pump' kit that came with the 'head space eliminator'. I haven't tested how long it can go with that on there, but so far a couple months when I have probably 4 inches of 'space' in a gallon jug doesn't seem to have any negative impact. The mead should be stabilized before using it as well. I only mention this as a possible future consideration.

If it is not that much of a head room, then I just use spring water.

This is not an unquestionable answer but if the airlock is showing pressure from inside the carboy I would argue that there is enough CO2 trapped in the headroom for you not to be over-anxious about oxidation. I have not performed any controlled experiments around this issue but my own experience suggests that you should be OK as long as there is enough out-gassing pressure.

Something else to consider is lead possibly being in the marbles. Some have it, some don't. I wouldn't want lead aging in my wine. Google it.

It is always good to make a bit more must than what your final volume goal is. If you're shooting for a gallon, then make 1.25 gallons of must up. When you transfer from primary to secondary you will leave the gross lees behind and your total volume will decrease. By starting with an "overage" you have some extra mead to "top off" with. And, if you have extra after topping off, then put it in a pint, half-pint, quart, beer, whatever bottle with an airlock for future topping off. If you're making traditional mead then you want need as much extra. But, if you're making a melomel or something else with fruit in it then you will probably have an abundance of gross lees to remove...thus reducing the volume of remaining mead even more.

Transferring from primary to secondary can cause a great deal of loss when trying to dodge the lees. I've about decided that the best route is to stick the racking cane in one spot, let it vacuum up the lees surrounding that one spot until clean and then let it pull the rest of the mead out of the jug from that cleared area. You *will* get lees sucked up in the transfer so why not save some time and clear a spot to siphon from. The one thing you *don't want* is to be wiggling your racking cane around in the jug as you siphon..that can cloud up the entire jug.

When you've siphoned all that you can while avoiding moving the cane around...stop. The lees/sludge/whatever in the bottom of the jug can be poured off into a quart jar or a wine bottle if no large pieces of debris are present. Place the jar in the refrigerator for a week or two and cold crash it. The sediment/lees should settle to the bottom and leave clear mead on top. Carefully pour the clear layer into a smaller container of some type or add it to whatever you've already saved if there is room.

Since you will be holding this "overage" for a short while as you rack from time to time I personally thinking saving them in PET bottles is good. Plastic Gatorade bottles are good for this. The caps can easily be drilled, a grommet inserted, and an airlock installed...multiple sizes, too.

Aw man!!!! I just looked at the pictures that you posted!!!! I *really* hope that you've done something by now to get rid of that headspace!!!

I would top off one of those jugs with mead from the other jug and look for a smaller bottle (a magnum 1.5L wine bottle?) to house the rest of the mead in.

Ah well, I see now that it's been ten days since the OP posted his/her first and only post. It would be interesting to see what course of action was taken.