30 gal fermenter w/ muscadine

[Mer-Baer]

Hello! This is my first time posting in a forum. I can't seem to get the answers I need so I'm hoping someone can help me here.
For the last two years we have made a 5-7 gal bucket of wine. This year we are trying a 31.7 gal fermenter.
I basically times my recipe by 5. (Possibly 6 depending on the space left)
My question is regarding the water, could I just eliminate some the water and just add more grapes? And if I do that do I need to add more of the other ingredients?

Commercial wineries state they cannot add water and I can't seem to find a recipe that doesn't say to top it off with water.

 

[garymc]

Using some water with muscadines is common. If you are using more grapes and less water, then you should add less sugar. Think of it this way, the water has no sugar in it and the grapes have some. You are probably going to be asked a whole slew of questions about what you are doing because you don't offer much information. The only other comment I would make based on what you have written is to make sure you have enough head space in your primary for when the cap floats up so it doesn't overflow.

 

[Mer-Baer]

Muscadine

For this first batch I'm using 180 lbs of white muscadine.
25 tsp Nutrient
12 tsp Pectic Enzyme
25 Campden tabs -crushed
60 lb of sugar
5 packets of yeast (Moncherat or Premier Cuvee)
The calculations state it would be 22 gal of water but that seems high to me. This is where my question arises about just adding more grapes instead of all that water.

I was considering only using 5 gal of distilled water.

How much head space do you recommend leaving in that size of a fermenter?