Degassing methods

[mew]

Is it possible to let the wine degass naturally under airlock? If so, how long would that take?

 

[cpfan]

Depends on a lot of factors....

1) temperature
2) how much gas in wine
3) how much headspace (area of wine surface actually)
4) probably other stuff

In reality, probably forever!

Another way is to decant the wine before serving. It should degas nicely in the decnter. Unfortunately, many (myself included) aren't organized well enough for this method.

Steve

 

[smurfe]

Steve is right, it will take close to "forever" in a glass carboy. Now if the wine is aging in a barrel it doesn't take all that long as the barrel can "breath" and the gas can disperse itself through the wood and surface contact. Not so with glass. It will naturally degas but it will take quite some time. I have a raspberry kit that has been sitting in the carboy right at 6 months that is still gassy. I need to just break out the Mix Stir, give it a beating and stabilize it.

Degassing is a pain at times. I have made many many kits and even after doing so many I still find one every now and then that didn't degas good. I opened a bottle of Merlot the other night that was gassy. I was devastated. I didn't find any sign of CO2 at bottling with a vacuum. Now, a year later I open a bottle and it looked like a grape soda in the glass. The funny thing was I didn't feel any fizz on my tongue or notice any off odors. There were definitely bubbles in the glass though and on the surface of the wine.

Smurfe

 

[Caplan]

The guys above covered this - It's a 'how long is a piece of string?' argument without knowing the details.
My 'string measurement' is to try and leave an airlock on as long as possible (rather than a closed top) before even storing a wine. De-gassing is something you need to do though - even if you don't use a whizz stick on a drill at least try and agitate your wine when you rack from primary to secondary by letting your wine gently 'splash' into it. I've found most fruit/grape wines clear well if you at least de-gas once and then continue to use finings under airlock.

 

[Sacalait]

Filtering your wine with a mini jet filter will degas it besides filtering.

 

[cpfan]

Filtering your wine with a mini jet filter will degas it besides filtering.

Muscadine:

I know that some people say this, but many others disagree.

Steve

 

[Sacalait]

Muscadine:

I know that some people say this, but many others disagree.

Steve

Steve
I learned this on another forum and was skepticle so I tried it and it's worked for me. All I can say is try it and see if it works for you.
David

 

[smurfe]

Filtering your wine with a mini jet filter will degas it besides filtering.

It don't always work. I filter all of my wines. I opened a bottle of Stag's Leap Merlot the other night that was not total degassed. It had been stirred like crazy with a Mix Stir, filtered with a Mini-Jet and bulk aged for 6 months. Still had CO2 in it. I was quite upset with myself.

Smurfe

 

[winemaker_3352]

I have a question about using the mini-jet filter for degassing.

Can this be used as a vacuum pump? It used a pump to siphon from one container to the next - passing the wine through the pads.

What if you connected the hose to the drilled bung, and disconnected the hose that routes to the pads and turned it on?

Would that break the pump? I don't know a whole lot about the construction of the pump - so not sure if it is bad or not.

 

[midwestwine]

I have a question about using the mini-jet filter for degassing.

Can this be used as a vacuum pump? It used a pump to siphon from one container to the next - passing the wine through the pads.

What if you connected the hose to the drilled bung, and disconnected the hose that routes to the pads and turned it on?

Would that break the pump? I don't know a whole lot about the construction of the pump - so not sure if it is bad or not.

You would burn the pump motor up it has to be moving liquid

 

[cpfan]

I have a question about using the mini-jet filter for degassing.

Can this be used as a vacuum pump? It used a pump to siphon from one container to the next - passing the wine through the pads.

What if you connected the hose to the drilled bung, and disconnected the hose that routes to the pads and turned it on?

Would that break the pump? I don't know a whole lot about the construction of the pump - so not sure if it is bad or not.

Waking up a 3+ year old thread. WOW.

Buon Vino does not recommend running the pump dry. I do not know what might happen to the pump, as it's not something that I have done.

Steve

 

[winemaker_3352]

Yeah - i saw that it was an old thread - but it touched on the question - so i piggy backed on it .

I figured that you probably couldn't use it as a vacuum pump - but thought i would find out for sure.

Thanks

 

[djrockinsteve]

Okay so here is my 5 cents worth (inflation raised it from 2 cents). Let it be known I was taught differently and have only experienced slight trouble when I strayed away from that.

My wine from juice, I ferment in a 6 gallon primary dry. Then splash rack into a secondary. Add clearing agent, and a pinch of k meta. Allow to age with airlock 6 weeks.

Rack off sediment, add oak and pinch of k meta then age 10 more months reds, 5 months whites and fruits.

Rack and sweeten if necessary or blend. WIt 2-4 weeks and bottle. Absolutely no gas.

Last season I racked to secondary @ 1.010. Had some gas in the bottle.

I do things differently but still get the same results. Whole fruit is different story.