Deagassing

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jrvernon

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How do I know the wine is degassed? I had a little issue last week when I racked it (for the second time) and used a whip degasser for the first time. I had two issues, one...my head space was too large and two...I whipped the crap out of it and made wine foam. This happened about a week ago and the foam has settled to a slight white haze on the top. Should I complete the process of degassing again or just let it sit? It is clearing, however, a little hard to tell as it cleared out very well in the first racking.

It is a Island Reisling kit wine and according to the instructions, should clear in four weeks.
 
Responding to your last point first, the wine may not clear if not adequately degassed.

On determining whether the wine is degassed, the most frequently recommended test is the “Poof Test”. Using a vial like test tube or the hydrometer or thermometer container, add some wine, cover with your finger and shake. There should be some bubbling but not a lot. Remove your finger and see if you get more than a slight "poof", which indicates CO2.

To me, the emphasis is less on the “poof” and more on looking at the level of foam produced by the shaking. If your shaking produces 1/2 inch or more of foam, continue degassing.

Keep in mind that wine should be at 70F or higher or it may not degas. It is often good to degas, let the wine sit an hour, then do it again.

In terms of clearing, it happens a little at a time and will take several days before it's really noticeable.

Finally, I can't figure what's causing your "haze" on top of the wine.
 
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Starting out, no matter how long I whipped the wine, I still had fizzy wine that had a haze. I made the purchase of an All-in-one pump for racking/degassing and have not had any fizzy or hazy issues from not thoroughly degassing.
 
This may be a dumb question, but I will ask anyway. :D Won't the wine degas itself if one bulk ages the wine in a carboy for 6 to 12 months? I also drill wiped it before going to bulk aging. Your advice is appreciated.
 
This may be a dumb question, but I will ask anyway. :D Won't the wine degas itself if one bulk ages the wine in a carboy for 6 to 12 months? I also drill wiped it before going to bulk aging. Your advice is appreciated.

Not a dumb question, at all. Historically, wine degassed naturally (over time) and stirring / whipping to degas only really became popular with the advent of wine kits. It's an interesting balance between patience in wine making and the desire to taste the result.

I believe the secret to degassing is in temperature more than anything else. If you can get the wine to 72F, the wine will degas fairly quickly. Of course I'm not suggesting aging at 72F (which would be a mistake) - only a few days.
 
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winemaker_3352 said:
Could be pectin haze.

Did you add any pectic enzymes in during primary??

Did not add anything other than what kit provided. (Did not have any pectin envelops) so I think the "haze" is merely the dissipated foam.
 
Yeah - being that this is from a kit - you are probably right.

Pectin usually comes into play with grapes and fruit...
 
Can you over-degas? I had the hardest time getting the 'poof' to go away on a recent World Vineyard Pinot Noir kit wine, my first kit. Whipped it for a few minutes when I was supposed to at two weeks, then several other times over the next few weeks, before I finally put it in the basement at 60F and left it alone for about six weeks. Just bottled it, not bad, it tastes like something we'd pay maybe $8 for. I'm hoping a couple months in a bottle will bring it up to $10...
 
Can you over-degas? I had the hardest time getting the 'poof' to go away on a recent World Vineyard Pinot Noir kit wine, my first kit. Whipped it for a few minutes when I was supposed to at two weeks, then several other times over the next few weeks, before I finally put it in the basement at 60F and left it alone for about six weeks. Just bottled it, not bad, it tastes like something we'd pay maybe $8 for. I'm hoping a couple months in a bottle will bring it up to $10...

While you can't really over degas, degassing creates risks - the primary one being from the introduction of air into the mixture. I believe less is better than more when it comes to racking or degassing and I wouldn't do either more than necessary.

Two other points. First, getting the poof to "go away" is probably next to impossible. A slight poof will always be there. In addition, a small amount of residual CO2 is always possible and not a problem. It's not likely most wine makers remove 100% of CO2 by mechanical degassing.

Second, if you bottled the wine and tasted it soon afterward the wine may have suffered from bottle shock. Give it at least a month. Beyond that, however, World Vineyard is a nice product but not great (in my view). If you got it to compare to an $8-10 commercial bottle, I'd say you did fine.
 
Thanks, Tony. Care to share your favorite kit maker? I have some chemistry background, so I'm also looking at doing my next batch from juice and managing the additives myself. Got some reading to do beforehand.
 
Thanks, Tony. Care to share your favorite kit maker? I have some chemistry background, so I'm also looking at doing my next batch from juice and managing the additives myself. Got some reading to do beforehand.

When it comes to reds, I like RJ Spagnols Cellar Classic Winery Series. You can't go wrong with any of them, particularly the Italians. For whites, there's Spagnols Cru Select, but also, Cellar Craft Showcase (a slight favorite). I recently did a Monti Mondiale Chardonnay, but it's still early. Monti Mondiale is something to consider if you go the juice route instead of a kit.
 

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