# Degassing equipment



## brushwood24 (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm new to wine making so spending the money for an electric pump doesn't really make sense yet but I definitely noticed that the most time consuming and frustrating part for me so far is the degassing. I don't know if I'm being overly meticulous or what but I used one of those drill stirrers and then a vac-u-vin and after about 3 hours of pumping every ten minutes or so, there were still little bubbles coming up. I was trying to get to the point where there were no more bubbles so I would know for sure that my wine was fully degassed. What's a "normal" time for degassing with a vac-u-vin?


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## ibglowin (Apr 21, 2010)

I used the Vacuvin on my first couple of batches. I stopped after about 30 minutes or so. All the big foam and bubbles had long since passed. Both batches were bulk aged for 6 months and when bottled they were fully degassed. As long as you let them sit for a few months before bottling any residual with outgas. 

If your really in a hurry to bottle then I would do it for 30 mins or so. Then put the airlock back on and let it sit for another week and then hit it again with the Vacuvin and see what you get. Should not be much left after that but at least you should be safe to bottle if your in a hurry.


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## JimCook (Apr 22, 2010)

Brushwood,
If you are not necessarily in a hurry to bottle, time works wonders for degassing. I have stopped using a drill of any kind and found that wines were degassed even after sitting for about a month with no discernable levels of CO2 in when swirled in a glass or felt on the tongue. 


Also note that the CO2 bubbles are really small and tend to run up the sides when using a VacuVin - if you're pulling out bubbles larger than effective pinpoints, it's like not CO2. 


- Jim


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## pao1x (Apr 22, 2010)

I agree with Jim. I can find no compelling reason to beat my wine to death. I find that splash racking to an open primary and giving it a gentle stir does the trick quite well. I do this a couple times before barrel aging, which will guarantee no gas as well.



Paul


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## brushwood24 (Apr 22, 2010)

JimCook said:


> Brushwood,
> If you are not necessarily in a hurry to bottle, time works wonders for degassing. I have stopped using a drill of any kind and found that wines were degassed even after sitting for about a month with no discernable levels of CO2 in when swirled in a glass or felt on the tongue.
> 
> 
> ...



I didn't even think about that. The bubbles I was pulling up were definitely larger and not coming from the sides of the carboy.

I'm going to try bulk aging my next batch for three months before bottling.


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## JimCook (Apr 22, 2010)

Brushwood,


If you are going to use the clarifiers in the wine kits, do note that they generally require the wine to be degassed first. Of course, you don't have to add clarifiers immediately either (Mosti Mondiale instructions note that clarifiers can be added closer to bottling if needed). To amend my previous statement about not using a drill to degas, I also generally do not use post-fermentation clarifiers preferring to rely on time as well for this purpose. 


By your description of the bubbles, it sounds like you had already driven off the CO2. 


- Jim


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## brushwood24 (Apr 22, 2010)

I was still planning to use the clarifiers but I just assumed that I should use them after aging and right before bottling. I guess I need to read some more forum posts and figure it out.


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## JimCook (Apr 22, 2010)

That is a fine way to use them - the wine should be degassed through time at that point, so then it's justa matter of whether or not the clarifier needs to the secondary lees to work properly. You can also take a sample of the wine after aging and see how it looks in a glass to determine clarity. Three months of time would help to drop quite a bit of solids out of the wine.


- Jim


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## pracz (Apr 22, 2010)

So...Let me get this straight (as I absolutely hate degassing and cannot afford to invest in a vacuum pump just yet).

I am about ready to start a couple of CC's with grape packs (Showcase Zin and Red Mountain Cab). I plan on bulk aging for at least three months. Can I bypass the degassing phase (and the clarifiers for the bulk aging period)? If necessary I can alway add the clarifiers after the 3 months, correct?I just don't want to leave any gas in the wine.

Thanks,

Pete


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## Wade E (Apr 22, 2010)

3 months wont be long enough to naturally degas. Ive had a few wines that didnt degas themselves after 1 year so I dont play that game.


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## JimCook (Apr 23, 2010)

Pete, 


Depending on the wine, three months can be enoughtime to degas - I've had kit wines degas in four weeks, although this can depend on environmental conditions as well as racking techniques used. The most important thing to do is to test your wine (thumb-over bottle, swirl in glass, prickle-tongue taste, VacuVin, etc.).


In regards to 'adding clarifiers for bulk aging period',the clarifiers should not sit in the wine for an extended period of time. If you are following kit instructions then degas and add the clarifiers and bulk age at the end if so desired. It's very important that the overall process not be compromised for the sake of shaving off some work at one point of the process. 


One of the advantages of a forum is the exposure to a variety of personal experiences that you can reference. Most importantly, however, are your own personal experiences, and those can only be gained through testing.


- Jim


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## robie (Apr 23, 2010)

One thing I have learned about degassing is just before starting the bottling cycle and while the wine is still in a glass carboy, vacuvin the wine again and really pump on the vacuvin. I have been surprised at how many times I can still get out some additional CO2, even when I thought I had done a good job degassing earlier.


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## harryjpowell (Apr 27, 2010)

Someone mentioned two types of bubbles small and big, with the earlier being co2 and what is the other?


My first Vac. attempts I mainly saw small bubbles that made a denseer foam as I continued. I'm about 2 months into bulk with these and sounds like I should try the Vac again before bottling just to make sure?


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## ibglowin (Apr 27, 2010)

The think the consensus is its just Air/Oxygen being pulled into the system via leaks in the cap etc. 

If I am totally off the mark here I am sure someone else will chime in!


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## Pablo (Apr 27, 2010)

I picked up a brake bleeder from Harbor Freight. Works great.


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## grapeman (Apr 27, 2010)

Pablo said:


> I picked up a brake bleeder from Harbor Freight. Works great.






And after you use it enough you look like Popeye!




One ArmStrong Power Rating!


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## Wade E (Apr 27, 2010)

I would also assume its air after the C02 gas been pulled out but dont go panicking as its very small amounts unless you are sitting there with an electric running and running at this point. Its still way less then sitting there with a drill mounted stirrer IMO. I do use the drill mounted stirrer first vey quick before I apply the vacuum just to get some of the major amount out.


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## brushwood24 (May 3, 2010)

I just bought one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002FWIVCA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

from wal-mart for $17. It fit's perfectly on the bung and works great for degassing. Hopefully, it will last me a while.


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## Wade E (May 3, 2010)

It will burn out fate though and since you dont have a gauge on it you still will not know if its done but it will be an improvement most likely over just the drill, I would use both with the drill being first.


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## KSGuardsman (May 14, 2010)

Well, I broke down and bought the Gas Getter after seeing it in a back issue of Wine Maker. The gas getter is a vacuum injector (essentially a venturi) that connects to your your standard 1 hp (or larger) air compressor and draws a vacuum on your carboys. Since I already owned a compressor, I figured I'd give this a try. 

I have a 905-4, which has a four-way manifold, allowing you to degas up to 4 carboys at one time. They have smaller and larger sizes as well. 

I just used it this past week on two six gallon carboys In spite of the fact that both had sat in bulk for over two months (one for three months), I was amazed at how much gas I was able to extract. Taste was significantly improved, but since I have a personal bias, I will wait until they have had some bottle age time, then spring them on some of my wine loving friends for their opinion (they are used to stealing and drinking my green wine, so if they react favorably, I will know they perceive a difference).


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## harryjpowell (May 14, 2010)

I saw a video of that one that you hook to the air compressor, let us know how well it works!


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## Wade E (May 14, 2010)

In addition to degassing you should also set it up for racking over your wines and even bottling with the Boun Vino auto filler but only if there is a way of adjusting the vacuum as you only want a little vacuum for racking and bottling like about 5".


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## KSGuardsman (May 15, 2010)

I am seriously looking into that (perhaps my father's day gift???). I have all the major toys now, except for a filtering system. I do not have a Boun Vino auto filler, but I do use the Ferrari. 

The equipment does not specify the inches of mercury, however, so I do not know that detail. The recommended psi setting on the venturi (vacuum injector) is 65 psi. I am thinking through what I would need to use this to vacuum rack (what additional pieces I will need) and then once that is settled, decide what kind of inline filter I would want to purchase. 

Keep everyone posted.


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## KSGuardsman (May 27, 2010)

For those interested in the Gas Getter, I am becoming more and more convinced as I use it. 

Today at lunch, I came home and hooked it up to a three gallon carboy of POM/Cherry I am making as my first non-kit wine. Operating off of a 1 HP air compressor, I let the GG run all afternoon. When I got home, small bubbles were still rising steadily from the bottom of the carboy, so I let it go until approximately 10:00 p.m. 

I brought the carboy back in to clarify, and in adding the SuperKleer, I could not raise a single bubble, much less a head of foam off of the carboy when hand stirring after the addition of the clarifying agents. 

It is nice to be able to degas my wine and not have to stand over it for several minutes every hour with a whip and a hand drill!


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## Wade E (May 27, 2010)

I really dont think running it like that is a good idea at all, there will always be bubbles as you are pulling a vacuum through your wine. You can pull aroma esters out doing so and pulling too much gas out can actually make your wine very flat not to mention pulling that much vacuum through your wine cab reduce your sulfite levels.


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## hannabarn (May 28, 2010)

With my limited knowledge, I agree with Wade 100 percent. You can always get small bubbles when using a vacuum pump and degassing too long will result in a loss of flavor!


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## ASAI (May 28, 2010)

Shucks! Now you tell me. I have always been concerned about what is in them tiny bubbles that keep coming up when I have degassed with Brake Bleeder for several weeks during clearing.


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## Runningwolf (May 28, 2010)

The tiny bubbles you pull in the beginning are what you do want out. Its once they start getting larger you know you are close to done.


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## drgags (May 28, 2010)

they claim if you filter your wine it reduces the amout of CO2 greatly, is that true..so i what i have done is hit my wine with the drill, and the vacu vin....then was planning on getting the rest with the mini jet...let me know what yall think


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## gaudet (May 28, 2010)

With at most 20 minutes of degassing with my aspirator it gets almost all the gas out. I let time take care of the rest. I degas when I stabilize and / or add fining agents. I try to let it set for at least 3 months before doing any more work, but by that time the gas is gone.

Not an expert, but I would think that filtering would help degas somewhat, passing through that filter medium has to do something.


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## Runningwolf (May 28, 2010)

drgags said:


> they claim if you filter your wine it reduces the amout of CO2 greatly, is that true..so i what i have done is hit my wine with the drill, and the vacu vin....then was planning on getting the rest with the mini jet...let me know what yall think





Yes it will help Degas any that might be left. I only filter my whites though.


When its time to stabilize I rack back to the primary use the drill to Degas and stabilize then I splash rack back to the carboy and add the clarifying agent.


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## Chef (Sep 7, 2010)

Does all wine need to be degased or just kit wine??


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## robie (Sep 7, 2010)

Wine fermentation creates CO2, which needs to be removed. Of course the CO2 left in sparking wines is what makes them "sparkle", so it is not removed.

Degassing commercial wines is typically accomplished more naturally in wine barrels while the wine is aging. A wine barrel creates a negative pressure inside, which tends to draw the CO2 out of the wine. If a commercial wine is not barrel aged, some sort of degassing has to take place. 

Leaving a kit or commercial wine in a bulk aging container under an air lock will eventually degas the wine, if left long enough.

Kit wines are typically not barrel aged and are not left to bulk age for long periods of time. I wrote "typically", because that is not always the case. I know several home wine makers who use barrels and lots of us bulk age, though not always long enough to degas naturally.

As a home wine maker, you should always degas your wine.


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## Chef (Sep 7, 2010)

Thanks Dancerman!! I only make fruit wine...this may be the problem I am having with the flavors....I will start degasing my wines and will report back.


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## Wade E (Sep 7, 2010)

The pressing of the grapes also disperses 90% of gas from fermentation while we with kits just gently rack over our wines which doesnt do much in the way of ridding this gas so most kit or juice wines need degassing.


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## grapeman (Sep 8, 2010)

Wade said:


> The pressing of the grapes also disperses 90% of gas from fermentation while we with kits just gently rack over our wines which doesnt do much in the way of ridding this gas so most kit or juice wines need degassing.





That is true of reds, but whites are pressed before fermenting so makes no difference in that aspect.


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## sipourit (Sep 29, 2010)

JimCook said:


> Brushwood,
> If you are not necessarily in a hurry to bottle, time works wonders for degassing. I have stopped using a drill of any kind and found that wines were degassed even after sitting for about a month with no discernable levels of CO2 in when swirled in a glass or felt on the tongue.
> 
> 
> ...



Very true. You can't really hurry the degassing of your wine. Leave it for a month or so. It will degassed its self.


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## robie (Sep 29, 2010)

In my experience, a month or so has never shown to be enough time to degas a kit wine, which of course doesn't get pressed after fermentation.

Maybe in six months to a year... maybe. Possibly my experience is because I live at 6,800 above sea level.

Another issue with leaving wine under air lock for extended time is the longer the wine bulk ages this way, the more of its aromas can become lost.


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