Wine Taking Days To Degass

[areader89]

So I moved one of my batches from the primary fementer...to a secondary carboy....fermenting seems to have stopped....i checked with a hydrometer...it reads .990....so now im degassing, yesturday i used a drill with a mix piece for 30-45 minutes..then put the airlock on...checked today, there's still tons of c02...used the drill again....then covered the top with my hand...shook..still tons of c02. Wine is starting to clear faster and faster though.

Is there something im doing wrong or can it take days to degas

 

[richmke]

30-40 minutes is a long time. You run a lot of risk of introducing O2.

I was told 2 minutes using a drill. I have a reversible drill. Drill in one direction until the top starts to move, then drill in the other direction. Repeat. Creates a lot of turbulance in the wine, but not where the air is. With a relatively calm top, the less air exchange. Also, the air immediately on top of the wine is likely to be the CO2 gas just released. I let the aging process take care of any remaining gas.

How long will you bulk age the wine? I read if you bulk age for 1 year, the wine will naturally degas by itself.

 

[areader89]

I dont really wanna wait a year to try it thats the thing im doing that with my other batches though....I just racked it again, this time...letting the wine spread over the sides...seems to have made a big difference...so now i just have the airlock on it and will let time do it's thing...drill it for 2 minutes twice a day and see what that does....i use a brake bleeder to take any o2 air out once im done.

 

[bkisel]

I feel your pain. I've added a 2-3 day degassing phase to my kit wine making procedures. I do the on-off-reverse stirring but then follow with hand vacuum pumping over the course of 2-3 days. Adding this phase and doing some bulk aging has taken care of the CO2.

 

[Arne]

Sounds like you are on the road to getting rid of the gas. how warm do you have the wine?? It will degass better if it is 70 to 75 degrees or so. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[3274mike]

listen to the senior members i had to uncork 5 gallons of wine and put back in a carboy not fun

 

[DoctorCAD]

90 to 180 days works perfectly.

 

[seth8530]

I am in the camp ( maybe a lonely camp) but I do not degass, I let my wine degass on its own over time while it bulk ages for at least a year. I have yet to experience a fizzy wine in one of my bottles. I would not recommend force degassing unless you are ready to put it in a bottle or drink it right then since you are removing CO2 from your wine which helps protect it from oxygen.

 

[olusteebus]

It seems to me that I can degass in less than an hour with a brake bleeder. At first, I keep it pumped up for about 15 minutes. Then I pump it up at about 20 lbs and just leave it alone. I do this for a while and it seems degassed to me.

 

[Wiz]

You should not try to rush the wine making process. If you are an impatient type perhaps you try another hobby. After fermentation is complete let it sit. I have never used a drill for degassing If you are making fruit wines it will degass itself after 3 - 6 months of aging. I have done kits and bulk concentrates. After fermentation I stir vigorously for 100 stirs 3 times in a week and have never failed in a thorough degassing.

 

[cmason1957]

I am in the camp with Seth. Let time do its thing. I generally use my drill mounted stirrer once or twice, then stop and I do that more so I can tell my wife, see I did need this. My whites are ready in 4-6 months, the reds in 10-12. I did have one kit wine that had some problems, but I tried to bottle it after 4 months.