Another Degassing Question

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Billberry

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I'm on my 2nd batch of wine ever; a 5 gallon batch of home made blackberry and it has been in the secondary for 5 days as I type this.
After reading countless threads here I have learned a lot more about the do's and don't's about winemaking and I'm going to degas this batch. Until I can come up with the funds for an AIO I'm going to degas this batch with a fizz-x wand.
I like the idea of checking it with a Vacu Vin once I think I have degassed it enough.
Currently all I have is 5 gallon better bottles and I know you can't use a vacuum pump on those but would a Vacu Vin be ok to use on a better bottle?
And will degassing the wine this way instead of the time method make it drinkable earlier? (Like will it taste the same in 6 months that it did in 9 months using the bulk aging method to let the CO2 dissipate?)
Thank You in advance for your input.
Billberry
 
I have never used a vacu vin, but from what i have read about and seen, it should be ok to use in a better bottle...you will not pull near the vacum that a vacuum pump will. I am sure others will chime in with answers also.
Any wine can be drinkable early with the proper steps taken.
I was splitting my batches, I would put half in bulk age, and the other have i would add campden and sorbate, and drink early.
Now i have no more room for one single carboy...I will be drinking most of mine early...for a while.
I opened a black berry last night that was 2 mos old, it was excellent.
 
The Vacu Vin really won't help much on a Better Bottle. It will just suck the sides in. When I first started making wine, I tried it before I realized it wouldn't work.. I got a good laugh out of it, though.
 
I would let it bulk age a bit - unless you are planning on drinking it right away.

I believe even with a better bottle it will still collapse under vacuum - not sure exactly when but it will eventually.
 
I've only got 4 kits under my belt but have not had much success with stir degassing. However, two days hitting the carboy with a vacu vin type hand pump seems to do the job. I'm thinking that a BB with wine up into the neck would not be a problem for degassing with a vacu vin but don't know for certain. My thinking is that the neck is strong enough and the liquid/wine would keep the BB from imploding.
 
I'm glad yours was drinkable early James. I wish mine had been, but my 1st trial 1 gallon batch was from a Jack Keller recipe and I didn't even stabilize it before back sweetening. The recipe didn't call for stabilizing or degassing but he probably had those steps on his extensive website somewhere else and at the time all the info he had on his site to a newbie like me was quite overwhelming. Once it aged in the bottle 6 mos. though it was pretty awesome stuff. I guess I didn't have to worry about spoilage from not stabilizing since the 6 bottles I had only lasted a month and THAT took the willpower of a saint!:dg
Thank you for that 1st hand knowledge about the Vacu Vin Robie.You saved me from looking silly lol, but I bet it was pretty funny.
I guess I'll have to break down and get some glass carboys since I plan on vacuum degassing my wine in the future once I can scrape up enough for the AIO machine.Maybe I can use my 5 gallon Better Bottles for a go at beer making.:h
 
Bulk aging worked really well on my 1 gal. batch Steve but I want to see if I can get the 9 mos. bulk+bottle aging drinkability in a shorter period of time by vacuum pump degassing my 5 gal. batch since I'm using the same recipe as the first batch. I'll be getting that AIO machine no later than a month from now once I prioritize my funds.
Money Prioritizing List:
1)All in One
2)Wine
3)Food
4)Bills
There! That seems about right!
I was thinking the same thing bkisel but since Robie has already tried it I'll just wait and get glass carboys this week.
 
The Vacu Vin really won't help much on a Better Bottle. It will just suck the sides in. When I first started making wine, I tried it before I realized it wouldn't work.. I got a good laugh out of it, though.

Agree. I have tried it and it just sucks in the better bottle sides and fills up the neck. funny, but won't do anything to degas.

I had a different brand stir wand I used before the Allinone Wine pump, but found it did not do much until I ran my drill at the higher rpm setting. It was more of a pulse on/off than just running the drill. Be careful not to create a foam volcano. Remember to switch drill directions regular so you do not create a vortex that pulls oxygen into the wine.
 
Bulk aging worked really well on my 1 gal. batch Steve but I want to see if I can get the 9 mos. bulk+bottle aging drinkability in a shorter period of time by vacuum pump degassing my 5 gal. batch since I'm using the same recipe as the first batch. I'll be getting that AIO machine no later than a month from now once I prioritize my funds.
Money Prioritizing List:
1)All in One
2)Wine
3)Food
4)Bills
There! That seems about right!
I was thinking the same thing bkisel but since Robie has already tried it I'll just wait and get glass carboys this week.

Keep a eye on craigslist !!
Great deals to be found all the time !!
 
Thanks for the heads up about Craig's list Steve and thank you everyone for such a speedy reply to my Vacu Vin question.
Does anyone know if vacuum pump degassing vs. time degassing speeds up the amount of time before a wine is drinkable?
 

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