I stirred until I could stir no more...

[hanscastorp]

But I still have bubbles in my finished wine!

I finished my first kit wine in mid December, a Vintner's Reserve Shiraz. The early flavor, clarity, color, and aroma are all pretty good, but I'd love some tips on degassing for my next batch. All the corks have stayed in so far, but there's a definite shizzle to the wine. Any chance this is something that will go away with ageing? How do I avoid it next time around? Help, please! And thanks!

 

[Caplan]

Get yourself a de-gassing attachment for a power drill from your LBHS!

 

[hanscastorp]

I just looked it up. Who knew such a thing existed? Thanks, I'm ordering one today!

 

[Caplan]

Who knew such a thing existed?

It's a simple device that works well.

 

[DarkStar]

A mity-vac hand vacume pump works great and its alot easyier than stirring forever. I use that and one of the orange carboy caps to pull a vacume of about 15 to 20 in.hg when the gauge stays and doesnt fall its done.

 

[smurfe]

If it is CO2, it will not go away with aging. One tip is to buy a decanter and decant the wine for about an hour before serving which is a good idea even if you don't have CO2. The ones that aerate the wine as you pout it in the decanter is really nice and helps drive off CO2 faster.

Also, if you refer to the pictorial tutorial I did on another forum you can see that Spoon Bad, Mix-Stir good!

http://www.finevinewines.com//Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1136

Smurfe

 

[hanscastorp]

Thanks everybody!

Great tutorial, too. Informative and entertaining

 

[cpfan]

Personally, I feel that the spoon & the Mix-Stir (or Fizz-X or Whip or ....) each have there own place in wine making.

When starting the kit, I use the spoon only. But I use larger primaries so more room to get em going, so to speak.

For degassing, I use a combination of Fizz-X, vacuum pump, and spoon.

Steve

 

[FentonCellars]

I too got stuck into this same issue as well when I was waiting for my wine to clear in the secondary. I kept stealing from it and almost spitting it back out with the poor flavor and massive amounts of gas. I almost lost hope, until I found a drill attachment (can't find it online at this second) and read the instructions (twice daily for 2-3 days).

Oh, when you do this, make sure you don't degas on a new floor, in case the bubbles overflow.

When I did this, I went forward for two minutes/backward for two minutes. This quickened the pace of degassing. I ended up doing this three times and that was it.

I checked my wine and found the poor flavor from the gas and the gas itself was gone! I will do this every time from now on. My supplier doesn't agree with me/us that you need one, but I wouldn't go without one!

 

[smurfe]

I agree. I believe a Mix-Stir or one of the other drill mounted devices are a necessity. Many retailers will tell you lots of stuff isn't necessary to get you to buy today but will be glad to sell you what you really need on your next trip back asking questions on what can fix this or fix that.

Kind of like the post you see where a retailer says you do not need a larger primary bucket for a 6 gallon kit. There is no way I could recommend to a customer that they don't need the appropriate bucket but they know that they may not sell that kit today as you may not want to spend the money on additional stuff.

I would definitely inquire if the retailer will guarantee the kit using non-recommended equipment to make the kits. I doubt you will find many that say come back for a refund or replacement if you kit doesn't come out right using non-appropriate equipment.

End point. Do you absolutely need a stir device? No. But don't expect perfection without the proper tools to do the job right.

Smurfe

 

[conman610]

hey i like the idea of using the mighty-vac. cheap and easy and effective! hope it doesnt drip any brake fluid in there though...

 

[artieandgumbo]

For those who do the Mix-Stir method via the drill, how fast do you spin the drill - full speed or a mix of full and slow?

 

[cpfan]

I use a Fizz-X but believe that it is similar to the Mix-Stir. Stirring too rapidly (like a serfious vortex) will cause oxygen to be stirred into the wine. Too much of this will bind all of the SO2 (sulphite).

FYI, for that reason Vineco's wine chemist does not recommend using the Fizz-X. Don't know about the Mix-Stir.

Steve

 

[FentonCellars]

Heck, I went full speed forward for two minutes and then two minutes backwards immediately. Did this twice and didn't think twice about adding O2 to the wine. A few have tasted the wine and think it is professional grade (if you will). I guess my drill is slow.

 

[smurfe]

I use the Mix Stir, I give it short bursts on high speed. I give a few bursts one way and then a few bursts on reverse. I do change the drill to slow speed and stir steady for a minute and then go back to the high speed, short bursts.

Smurfe