Degassing

[jiml]

So working on clearing my wine per the kit's instructions. The instructions basically said to stir vigorously for 2 minutes and stir up the sediment. I did that and more. I would say I gave it a 10 minutes using a whip on my drill. I could tell the CO2 was getting less as time went. I added the clearing agents and metabisulfite. I stirred it another good 10 minutes(2 minutes on the instructions). At that point, I gave it a break.

My question is that I think I need to continue degassing. Do I need to add more sulfite to protect again oxygen when I am stirring? The stirring now is slow going due to the amount of liquid in the carboy.

I am going to bulk age, so should I just do more degassing in about 14 days when I rack it off the sediment and from there each time I rack it(3 months)?

 

[winemaker_3352]

What is the temp you are degassing at? Temps should be around 75* to do a good degass job.

If the carboy is full - i would draw some out so you can do a good degass job with the whip.

If you plan on bulk aging - you can let it degass on its on as well.

You might also consider looking at Wade's new and used pumps for this - does a much better job at degassing and racking.

As far as the k-meta goes - i wouldn't add to much - you don't want to over sulphite it - might also consider an SO2 test kit - so you know for sure if you need to add more.

 

[Lurker]

As Jon said, talk to Wade about a vac pump. I normally vac rack 4 times. I no longer have a need to degass since the vacuum pump automatically degasses each time I rack. Thankfully, degassing is no longer a concern.

 

[jiml]

I have all plastic carboys so vac degassing won't work.

The temp is 72F

 

[Wade E]

Its hard to tell if you degassed enough as only you can tell. I will say that you most likely have done enough so that it will clear fine and then another racking should do the rest. The sulfite level should be fine now as you just added it but in 3 months I would add another 1/4 tsp per 6 gallons.

 

[pightr]

Jim heres a thread I started a while back to get some more clear answers on degassing as I had a huge problem with my first kit with gas. I have since then converted to using a vacuum pump but still use my mixing stir to start things off. HOpe this thread gives you some help as it did for myself! Good luck.


http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10214

 

[jiml]

Sounds good. I appreciate the link. Read through it.

Just for giggles, I decided to see what would happen if I pulled a vacuum on my better bottle. I have a FoodSaver winesaver that works pretty well for saving wine in the bottle.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000808WSY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It immediately started collapsing the better bottle

I might order a glass carboy for pulling a vac on it.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Be careful with those foodsavers - they do pull a vacuum - but you don't know how much.

I would make sure you have a gauge of some sort to measure the inches of mercury you are pulling.

 

[sly22guy]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IlMqE1Nm_o"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IlMqE1Nm_o[/ame]

 

[Wade E]

Too bad the wine in that video is already degassed as when degassing you will get much smaller bubbles and lots more foam.