Degassing Technique Question

[gary1214]

When degassing I start with a paddle on my electric drill, being careful not to introduce air into the wine. Then I use a vacuvin and that works quite well. On the last batch I did, while I had the vacuvin in place and much vacuum on the carboy I rocked the carboy back and forth gently. It really seemed to bring a lot of additional gas (small bubble gas - CO2) to the surface. My thought was that this ought to be just fine since the carboy was under vacuum and I would not be introducing oxygen by the rocking motion. Anybody have any thoughts on whether this makes sense or am I missing something?

 

[robie]

I agree. I do the same back and forth motion when I use my electric vacuum pump. Any motion will help the CO2 turn loose easier.
Make sure you have the temperature up in the 70'sF, when you degas. Very cold wine does not degas well.

 

[SouthernChemist]

When degassing I start with a paddle on my electric drill, being careful not to introduce air into the wine. Then I use a vacuvin and that works quite well. On the last batch I did, while I had the vacuvin in place and much vacuum on the carboy I rocked the carboy back and forth gently. It really seemed to bring a lot of additional gas (small bubble gas - CO2) to the surface. My thought was that this ought to be just fine since the carboy was under vacuum and I would not be introducing oxygen by the rocking motion. Anybody have any thoughts on whether this makes sense or am I missing something?

My experience was pretty much the same. Just being under a vacuum won't necessarily cause the dissolved gas to all come out of solution, but agitation certainly will help that process.

I've also noticed that degassing appears to become easier once you've added some sort of clarifier.

 

[DoctorCAD]

When degassing I start with a paddle on my electric drill, being careful not to introduce air into the wine. Then I use a vacuvin and that works quite well. On the last batch I did, while I had the vacuvin in place and much vacuum on the carboy I rocked the carboy back and forth gently. It really seemed to bring a lot of additional gas (small bubble gas - CO2) to the surface. My thought was that this ought to be just fine since the carboy was under vacuum and I would not be introducing oxygen by the rocking motion. Anybody have any thoughts on whether this makes sense or am I missing something?

I put a hockey puck under the carboy and rock it on that. A perfect wine making tool!

 

[Dugger]

I find a tennis ball under the carboy allows for a good rocking or swirling motion and has a lot of give to it so very little pressure on the bottom of the carboy.