Other De-gassing kit wines

[thinman56]

I made a World Vineyard California Pinot Noir back in the middle of October, starting gravity 1.088. I racked at 7 days and SG=1.00, degassed the first time with the additiives a week later at SG=0.995, and then degassed frequently over the next few weeks. It's finally degassed and ready for bottling, but why did it take so many turns with the power-whip to get the gas out? I have a couple other kits in the works, and so far they're better on the gas end, but it still takes a few rounds, while the kit instructions imply that 4 or 5 minutes the first time will do the trick. I'm using a 1/8" SS rod bent into a loop on the end of a drill for a whip. Temperature pretty steady in the 70F to 78F range (carboys wrapped in an electric blanket). By the way, it tastes fine now, it was a little 'oily' when the gas was still in it.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[GEM]

I think kits tend to be gassier. You might try bulk aging the wine for up to a year. That is supposed to both make it better and deal with the gas better.

 

[TonyP]

Like people, some wines have more gas than others. I have several thoughts on your post, but first your question. Perhaps I'm a cynic, but I suspect that if kit makers told you it would be difficult to degas their sales would fall.

Your overall situation sounds unusual and I'd like to hear how you knew the wine needed further degassing. Be careful not to confuse oxygen with CO2. As you whip, the vortex can introduce oxygen into the wine, which looks like smaller bubbles than CO2. On the first degassing though, it seems unnecessary to me. Degassing before fermentation is complete means you have to do it again because further fermentation creates more CO2.

Your tool may be part of your problem, but I can't tell.

 

[cpfan]

Personally, I find that a round-and-round motion with a drill or spoon is not as effective as a back-and-forth motion. I know that stores sell drill attachments as degassing tools (heck I ran a store and sold them), but I do not believe that they are the solution (so to speak).

Steve

 

[pmf2000]

De-gassing wine use to be a very painful process for me. The instructions make it sound as if you stir the your spoon for five minutes, then all of the CO2 will be gone. The truth is that 5 minutes of stirring rarely does the job (at least for me). If you are removing the C02 in a couple of rounds, I believe that is in the realm of normalcy.

 

[ShelleyDickison]

I used to have an awful time degassing wine and then I got the All In One Wine Pump. About 4 rackings between carboys and it is all taken care of. Total time about 1/2 hour. Ever since I started doing this my wine has also cleared a lot faster. Also makes bottling go quicker from a couple of hours to a half hour or so. Love it.

 

[thinman56]

'You might try bulk aging the wine for up to a year.' I'm much too thirsty to wait that long. I will, however, tone down my expectations for how soon these wines are available and bulk age longer than a couple weeks.

'Degassing before fermentation is complete means you have to do it again because further fermentation creates more CO2.' Yea, I thought the fermentation was done at SG 0.995, but I'll give future batches a little more time to finish.

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[terroirdejeroir]

"Your tool may be part of your problem, but I can't tell."

Just spit Cab Sauv on my keyboard.

+1 on the allinonewinepump