Too much gas in the bottle

[wxtrendsguy]

Tried my hand at a Shiraz this time around and obviously I didn't get all the gas out before bottling. No I haven't had any explosions nor have I had to redecorate my cellar but after opening a bottle after 1 year it was aweful.


Anyway to degas it in the bottles and then recork them and let them sit for awhile to get over the shock?


Anyone ever tried it?


The wine has little flavor and all I taste is the alcohol.


Can this batch be saved or shall I use it to de ice the driveway...

 

[Waldo]

You could do each bottle with a vacu-vin. I tink that would work pretty good

 

[robie]

Are you sure it is CO2? Did it pop pretty big when the cork was removed? Or did it give off bubbles from the bottom, like champaige? What happens if you put your thumb over the top of an opened bottle, shack it real good, then remove your thumb?

Pour a bottle in a decanter and leave for an hour or so. taste it.
If still bad, repeat and try again in about 2 hours.
Maybe go for 3 hours if not better after 2.

If decanting works, you can decant each bottle when it is opened, or degas and re-bottle... what do you have to loose if it is otherwise bad?

 

[wxtrendsguy]

I am not sure which gas it is...its very fizzy, leaves a terrible tingle on your tongue.
No pop when you pull the cork but if you shake it up real well and then remove your thumb you'll get a pfsssst.

 

[robie]

Sounds really flat.
If "pfsssst" had one more 's' in it, I would be positive it is CO2.

Just kidding!

I would try decanting it. If it is CO2, it should dissipate and taste better. I hope yo can save it.
Sorry for your predicament.

 

[Dean]

This is a common CO2 issue that most kit wine makers face. Just decant your wine for a couple of hours before drinking. But if you could provide just a few more details, we can help you out better.

What kit was this? brand and kit name will help quite a bit. Did you keep good records? what was the finishing SG? What temperature was the liquid when you degassed it? How long did you degass it? Did you just use a spoon or did you use a drill mounted degasser?

 

[wxtrendsguy]

Vintners Shiraz
Final SG was .995
If I remember correctly the temperature was around 70F
I stirred up the fines in the carboy and then racked from the carboy to the primary bucket and vigorously stirred the mixture with a big spoon for about 10-15 minutes to degass. I then racked it back to the carboy and fined and stabilized, after the appropriate time I then racked to my bottling bucket and filled the bottles.

 

[wxtrendsguy]

While on the topic how does a winery do this task? I just can't easily visualize a guy standing on top of a 5,000 gallon tank with a huge plastic spoon vigorously stirring to degass the tank....

 

[wxtrendsguy]

I wonder if I could turn this into a Port?

 

[grapeman]

Wineries generally don't have a need to degas. The gas in whites dissipates by the time it is clear. Reds lose most of the gas during pressing and the rest of it is gone by bottling time since that is usually about a year later, not a month or two.

 

[Dean]

Kit wines seem to have far more gas than fresh grape wines. I think that Appleman hit on a part of it being lost during the pressing, and usually reds undergo a lot of punchdowns, pumpovers, etc that also help to get rid of CO2. They are also usually done in much higher volumes too with large open fermenter units. Also, they age their wines for at least a year or more before they even think of bottling or going to market.

In the future, try to raise the temperature of the wine by 5 more degrees before you degas. Anything under 74 or 75F and it's much harder to degass properly. Also don't stop during that 10 to 15 minutes. It should feel like your arms are burning and want to fall off.

Ok, now on to taste. This is a Vintners Reserve kit. Even after you decant the wine for a few hours to get rid of that CO2, it's still going to taste a little thin and alcoholic. This is just the nature of smaller kits. In order to get around that, you would need to do a much larger premium or super premium kit with at least 16L of juice and concentrate. The addition of a grape pack with either wet or dried skins will also help quite a bit in the taste department.

Of course everyone's palate is different, but most of us who post regularly, have determined using our own palates that Vintners Reserve kits are not to our tastes as a red wine. Now, what you can do, is make a darn nice sangria with that wine as a summer cooler.

Again, decant it, and maybe even shake it up in the decanter to help get rid of the gas faster and then taste it again. It should have more flavor, but will most likely still be thin.

 

[wxtrendsguy]

Well its been decanting for a couple of hours and I have been giving it a good stir...and surprise surprise its not as bad as it once was.

Still has a taste I cannot describe, but definitely better than what it once was. The alcohol taste has decreased dramatically but the grape flavor is still weak...

 

[wxtrendsguy]

Vintners Reserve was gift from unknowing wife...so smile and make wine I say...

Growing my own grapes, started them last year, 10 Corot Noir, 10 Cayuga/Reisling, 2 Riesling, and 2 Gewurztraminer. Corot Noir grow well in this part of eastern Pennsylvania while the Cayuga/Riesling is slower. Its a new grape from the Cornell research people. Supposed to have the cold hardiness of Cayuga and the flavor of Riesling. Powdery mildew I think was invented here. Even though both varieties are supposed to be resistant they still had problems, so this year I will be much more active in my spraying