Air Bubbles after siphon

[Lynnelt]

Well, we made it thru - our Vintner's Best Pinot Grigio is actually pretty good. But the rack siphon that came with the kit did Not want to work for us. I think it also had something to do with the filler wand not allowing the wine to flow into the bottles very well.

So husband decided to siphon it out by taking off the wand, and starting with his mouth. Of course that worked much better. But there ended up being a lot of air bubbles in the wine bottles as a result.

Is this going to be an issue? If so, what do we do? Thanks!!

Lynn

 

[sour_grapes]

So husband decided to siphon it out by taking off the wand, and starting with his mouth. Of course that worked much better. But there ended up being a lot of air bubbles in the wine bottles as a result.

I sincerely doubt that any bubbles that remained were due to your siphoning method.

I suspect that your wine was not sufficiently degassed prior to bottling. What efforts did you take to degas?

 

[olusteebus]

As long as those bubbles are not real small, fizzy (like soda). If they are you have gas and the wine needs degassing. If they are just large bubbles, don't worry about them.

Those bottling wands work better if you use a bottling bucket.

 

[Lynnelt]

He degassed it two weeks ago as per the kit instructions. It did everything it was supposed to do.

The kit does not tell us to rack it first before bottling, however, when searching for answers to the bubble question, I see that we probably should have.

To me, the bubbles are small. So if it is gas, what do we do next?

 

[Lynnelt]

p.s. it does not taste carbonated like soda. There are bubbles in a ring at the top of a couple of them. Some have a few along the side of the bottle.

 

[sour_grapes]

Is it already all bottled? If so, I would imagine you just want to live with the wine the way it is.

If not, you need to determine whether you need to degas more or not. Put some of the wine in a container that you can close, like a mason jar. Alternately, you can pour some in a container with a mouth narrow enough that you can cap it with your thumb or, worst case, your palm. Put some wine in there, shake it like crazy, then uncap the container with the opening near your ear. If you hear a "pffft" of releasing gas, it is not degassed all the way.

 

[olusteebus]

A test would be to take a cork out, with your hand over the top, shake the bottle a little and , with the bottle top near your ear, remove you hand. If you hear a pffft, it may have gas in it. It has to be a pretty pronounced pfft as even degassed wine will make some noise (I have found that to be true.)

did you degas it with a spoon? did you stir until the fizzy bubbles ended. I find it hard sometimes to distinguish between co2 fiz and just air bubbles.

If you degassed it, it is most likely ok.

 

[Lynnelt]

Ok thanks - and he asked me to ask, what happens if he doesn't? It *is pinot grigio. Not a red wine, thankfully. I wanted something easy for him to do for the first batch.

By degassing, I am assuming you are talking about stirring the gas out of it, right? Would he have to let it sit for a while longer or what after doing that?

 

[Lynnelt]

He did degas it with a spoon. Probably should have used something else, I gather?

And, if he doesn't do it again.....how long before we hear exploding bottles in the basement??

 

[Julie]

sometime when bottling using a wand, the wine will foam up slightly in the bottle. Did the foam dissipate quickly? I think you are find.

 

[Lynnelt]

Yes it did dissipate pretty fast. And when I tilt a couple of the bottles to the side, I do see a few little bubbles. But nothing major.

 

[Lynnelt]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAAKBs/r2KR40743gg/s800/rank%20amateur.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...o/qvw9jYI5mDc/s400/rank%20amateur%20label.jpg

 

[olusteebus]

A spoon is good for degassing.

I read the instructions for this kit:

. Vigorous stirring is required during this stage. Without
vigorous stirring, gas in the wine will prevent clearing.
At each stirring, whip the wine until it stops foaming.
Drill-mounted stirring devices (see your retailer) can
save labour.


You need to stir vigorously for a few minutes, let the gas dissapate and stir again. do this several times until the foamy bubbles do not form. Again, the foamy bubbles I am talking about are like soda carbonation.
Your wine seemed t
o have cleared very nicely. If there was a lot of gas in the wine, you would have had a lots of foamy bubbles at bottling. Besides, I would not want to risk oxidation by taking the wine out of the bottles to degas further.

 

[richmke]

And, if he doesn't do it again.....how long before we hear exploding bottles in the basement??

Watch your corks, every few days, in the beginning, then less frequently. If you see them starting to push out, then you have to uncork and degass. If the temp drops where the wine is stored, make sure you check more frequently then. Colder temps can cause the gas to come out of solution.

Actually, that might be a good test. Put a bottle in your fridge (standing up). see what happens over the next few days.

 

[Runningwolf]

Cold will cause CO2 to go into the solution. Heat will cause it to come out. That is the reason to warm up your wine sample before testing.

 

[Lynnelt]

Thanks, all~ We chilled a bottle and had some last night, it was delish. We are figuring that with the holidays coming up, we will be taking wine everywhere, so hopefully we will be able to drink it all fairly soon....in case he doesn't want to bother degassing again!

 

[Rocky]

Thanks, all~ We chilled a bottle and had some last night, it was delish. We are figuring that with the holidays coming up, we will be taking wine everywhere, so hopefully we will be able to drink it all fairly soon....in case he doesn't want to bother degassing again!

The wine tastes good. That is more than half of the battle. Enjoy it and perhaps add another method of degassing to your repertoire next time, e.g. a drill attachment or vacuum degassing with a pump.

Nice job on the labels!

 

[NorCal]

Yes, nicely done labels.

 

[olusteebus]

Sounds like you are good to go. Now, better be ordering some more kits as that one will go quickly.

 

[Charlesthewino]

I have had batches where I degassed and left the bottles in the basement for a month. Soon after exposing them to warmer air, I had issues with corks coming out. The warm temps do seem to activate the gas. I've also found it important to rack off the lees as soon as the SG stabilizes. Often the airlock will continue to be active but the fermentation is complete. Then I leave it in the carboy for several months before bottling.


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