WineXpert Degassing

[Mark]

This is my first kit (VR Australian Shiraz). Secondary fermentation took 10 days, at which time the SG was stable at 0.992 for 2 days. I degassed the heck out of it like the instructions said(with a drill-mounted MixStir for over 2 minutes), added the stabilizers and strirred, then added the Chitosan and stirred again. Seemed like no matter how much I stirred I still had some bubbles. Is that normal? Also, the MixStir circulated the wine so fast that it didn't really bubble until I stopped. Is it better to stir 2 full minutes and stop, or to start and stop repeatedly for a total of 2 minutes and let the bubbles dissipate each time?

 

[masta]

When degassing I find it best to start and stop repeatedly and also reverse direction and avoid creating a vortex.


This quote from Funky Fish sums it up well:



"My two cents: You do not want to form a vortex (tornado) in your wine when degassing. Why? The CO2 is driven out of suspensionat the low pressure areas behind the blades of the mix-stir. The best way to maximize the low pressure area is then the blade is moving at a different speed than the liquid. If you are mixing at a near-constant speed in one direction to form a vortex, then that means the liquid is moving at a speed closer to the mix-stir's speed. Which means that you are getting less pressure differential accross the blade (and less CO2 out).


So even the the vortex looks cool, it's not as effective for driving off CO2 (and may even aerate the wine, which is not desirable)."

 

[Mark]

Thanks (to both you and Funky Fish)! I also did the start/stop and reversal thing but didn't know which was better. But even after the third stirring I still had some outgassing. Should it have stopped by then? I also read the article in the tutorial section that said I may have a small infection that's making CO2 even though fermentation had ended, but it didn't really say if it was normal or not.

 

[masta]

It sounds like you did fine with the degassing as the drill mounted stirrer really does a great job.


Can you be more specific on what tutorial you were reading that mentions the part about an infection.

 

[Mark]

Thanks! I'm just trying to better understand how this all works...


My comment on possible infections was in the Resources part of this website, under Featured Articles Database and is titled Stirring and De-Gassing Your Wine.

 

[masta]

Thanks Mark as I couldn't remember where this was written. I never seen or heard of anyone having this issue that Tim is referring to but following proper sanitizing procedures you should be able to avoid any infection in your wine.


I know it can frustrating when degassing for the first time not knowing if you have stirred enough but I can tell you that using the mix-stir and following the instructions like you did will work just fine.

 

[Wade E]

Different wines make a big difference. My Barolo went super easy and my
sparkling wine kit is horrendous. I stirred this and stirred this at a
good temp and iy has a lot of gas in it still.