# Degassing Techniques...Need everyones input please!!!



## pightr (Nov 3, 2010)

Hi all, I just wanted to post this thread up because I have searched around this forum and there doesn’t seem to be a dedicated degassing thread. Seeing how there are so many different ways and opinions on how to degas I would like to see everyone’s different techniques here. Seeing how gas gave me a big problem with my first attempt at making wine and I am still a newbie here I would greatly appreciate all the input. In my opinion this should be a dedicated thread like the wine terms is. I have looked around the forum for different suggestions on how to degas but I think it would benefit many beginners like myself on how to degas properly. 

Please leave your technique in detail on this thread. What you use, what you have used in the past, what you feel works best, what you feel works worst, how long you do your degassing process, how you have handled problems with gas before, and any other information you feel will be useful for people like myself new to wine making. Thanks in advance to everyone who replies to this thread.


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## Wade E (Nov 3, 2010)

Well I started with using the spoon to degas and found that very labor intensive and not very good so immediately upgraded to a drill mounted mix stirrer which works pretty well but leaves you guessing on if you did a good job or not. From there I used the Mityvac brake bleeder after using the drill mounted stirrer and together they make an awesome team as you have a gauge to know when you are done. Now a days I use an electric vacuum pump and get the job done fast and perfect.


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## pightr (Nov 3, 2010)

Wade E said:


> Well I started with using the spoon to degas and found that very labor intensive and not very good so immediately upgraded to a drill mounted mix stirrer which works pretty well but leaves you guessing on if you did a good job or not. From there I used the Mityvac brake bleeder after using the drill mounted stirrer and together they make an awesome team as you have a gauge to know when you are done. Now a days I use an electric vacuum pump and get the job done fast and perfect.



Which vacuum pump are you using these days? Could you give a model number or something similar to it and a price range? That would be great thanks!


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## Wade E (Nov 3, 2010)

These are bought on Ebay typically for under $100 with shipping. The model I have is rarely seen on Ebay but is where I got mine. Here is a great deal for one and its a good brand. If your intersested I would bid on it. You can degas, rack up hill meaning youll never have to lift a 6 gallon carboy off the floor again. You can also bottle with it if you purchase a boun Vino auto filler which costs about $35. and then you can also hook up a whole house water filter cartridge in between and filter your wine. Its really a multi purpose unit and if you have a bad back its a must.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Schuco-Aspirato...495?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e5f6453f7


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## KSmith3011 (Nov 3, 2010)

Degassing is a very important part of proper wine making. However, I have spent days trying to understand when my wine is properly degassed. I read somewhere to put some of my wine into a bottle and shake it, if it has bubbles, it still has gas in it. I always question authority, instead of shaking my wine, I shook a bottle of commercial wine, it filled with bubbles. That said, do your best to remove bubbles with what tools you have, work hard at it, but even commercial wineries don't remove everything.
I use a drill mounted gas wand for a few minutes to a few days.
Drink, and be Merry


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## Wade E (Nov 3, 2010)

You dont want to totally rid your wine of every bit actually as it would really make your wine very flat but this can only really be done oif using a vacuum pump with either no regulator on it or just by leaving it on for hours. Using any other method can sometimes be a real bear to get rid of the gas. The best thing to do is make sure yor wine temp (not ambient room temp) is 75* as C02 is much harder to get out at cooler temps.


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## Ernest T Bass (Nov 3, 2010)

I don't have a answer, only another question. When do you degas and do you degas only one time?

Semper Fi


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## Runningwolf (Nov 3, 2010)

I pretty much do the same as Wade but have a different set up. His is a lot more resonable to buy on Ebay and comes complete. Mine is a lot stronger and can pull more wine longer distances quicker. It also takes additional parts to get it up to speed for the wine cellar. If I had to recommend one, it would be the one Wade uses. I am attaching pictures of mine I just recently took for another thread with it degassing. Wade has a better picture of using it for racking.


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## Wade E (Nov 3, 2010)

Dan I see yours is an oil needed unit while mine is maintenance free but not really what Im asking. What I want to know is Ive heard these oil units can blow oil out the exhaust and even stink up a room, is this true? Heres a pic of mine doing a racking.


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## djrockinsteve (Nov 3, 2010)

This is why I ferment dry, splash rack, and stir vigorously for a minute or so in the carboy. Top off and clear for 6 weeks. Followed by aging for 6 -12 months then bottle. I will check for CO2 when I bottle but by this time all is gone. Aside from racking to my carboys, I siphon thereafter.

Everyone has their own reasons and ways to degass. It doesn't matter how, just that excess CO2 is removed before bottling.


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## Runningwolf (Nov 3, 2010)

Wade E said:


> Dan I see yours is an oil needed unit while mine is maintenance free but not really what Im asking. What I want to know is Ive heard these oil units can blow oil out the exhaust and even stink up a room, is this true?



Yes mine does take oil where yours does not. Absolutely it will blow an oil mist out of the exhaust. I keep a paper towel over it and that solves that problem. I have no problem with any smells at all. The mist is very minute.


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## Wade E (Nov 3, 2010)

Okay, thats what I figured and why they dont use these in hospitals as it wouldnt be good for the patients.


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## winemaker_3352 (Nov 3, 2010)

Runningwolf said:


> Yes mine does take oil where yours does not. Absolutely it will blow an oil mist out of the exhaust. I keep a paper towel over it and that solves that problem. I have no problem with any smells at all. The mist is very minute.



Are you sure you don't have too much oil? Mine did that at first - i filled the oil up to the fill line - well later found out that you need to run it good and warm - and then fill to the line. I had way to much oil.

Now that i have it corrected - there is no oil that comes out - little exhaust - but not bad.


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## abefroman (Nov 4, 2010)

I use the thin end of a paddle, stir hard one way, then reverse, that generates a lot of foam.


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## mcoltezo (Nov 4, 2010)

Hi,

I'm pretty new to wine making (on our 4th or 5th at home kit). We found using the spoon rather frustrating and resorted to rotating it back and forth vigorously with two hands at the top of the bottle below the neck. We hang on well and this seems to produce quite a bit of foaming and bubbles. It does mark the table a bit but it's okay with the table we're using. 

Good thread idea. I like the one above that lets you keep the bottle on the floor as it takes two of us to lift it up. 

Cheers!


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## Dugger (Nov 4, 2010)

mcoltezo said:


> ... We found using the spoon rather frustrating and resorted to rotating it back and forth vigorously with two hands at the top of the bottle below the neck. We hang on well and this seems to produce quite a bit of foaming and bubbles. It does mark the table a bit but it's okay with the table we're using. ...



Try this with a tennis ball under the carboy and marking the table should not be an issue.


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## Dugger (Nov 4, 2010)

Degassing is the thing I have most difficulty with and I suspect this is true for most.
I intend to get a vacuum pump someday, but they are expensive - an Ebay pump is expensive here because of very high shipping costs.
I will degas at stabilization and make sure the temp is up at 23C/75F. I usually rack to a bucket to stabilize so I can stir easier. I use a paddle rather than a spoon and move it back and forth rather than stirring around. I do this until I get tired, then rack to a carboy, attach a vacuvin and pump additional gas out. I do this until I get tired. This usually completes my manual degassing.
Sometimes I will rent a vacuum pump/filter system and use this prior to bottling and this does a good job. Sometimes I will bulk age for awhile and this helps.
Most times I still seem to have some gassy wine and get frustrated and drink it!
I intend to get a vacuum pump someday.


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## Lurker (Nov 4, 2010)

Everything that Wade E did except that I no longer try to degas. After 4 vacuum rackings, there is no gas or at lease no discernable gas. My pump looks like Running Wolf's but I think mine is a little bigger, not in size but vacuum. It is the 2.5 CFM Vacuum Pump from Harbor Freight. Works great.


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## Lurker (Nov 4, 2010)

djrockinsteve said:


> This is why I ferment dry, splash rack, and stir vigorously for a minute or so in the carboy. Top off and clear for 6 weeks. Followed by aging for 6 -12 months then bottle. I will check for CO2 when I bottle but by this time all is gone. Aside from racking to my carboys, I siphon thereafter.
> 
> Everyone has their own reasons and ways to degass. It doesn't matter how, just that excess CO2 is removed before bottling.



I had no idea how many people splash rack, all we talk about here is how afraid of oxygen we are. It turns out that it really is our friend.


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## buddy (Nov 4, 2010)

There is a you-tube video that shows an interesting way to degas wine in a carboy, but because I am a junior member I am not allowed to post links, so I will break this link up to avoid being red flagged. In order to watch it you will have to remove the spaces between the characters.
h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = Z j L 8 0 h X k H d I
Perhaps a senior member can stitch the link back together for others to see.
I haven't tried it yet but will try it at my next bottling session. 
Has anybody tried this and what are your thoughts?


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## pightr (Nov 4, 2010)

buddy said:


> There is a you-tube video that shows an interesting way to degas wine in a carboy, but because I am a junior member I am not allowed to post links, so I will break this link up to avoid being red flagged. In order to watch it you will have to remove the spaces between the characters.
> h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = Z j L 8 0 h X k H d I
> Perhaps a senior member can stitch the link back together for others to see.
> I haven't tried it yet but will try it at my next bottling session.
> Has anybody tried this and what are your thoughts?


 
Here is the link not broken up: Thanks for the video link Buddy! And thanks to everyone else for posting their information on how they degas!! I really appreciate it and I hope other new wine makers like myself will find this information useful! 
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjL80hXkHdI[/ame]


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## pightr (Nov 4, 2010)

Lurker said:


> Everything that Wade E did except that I no longer try to degas. After 4 vacuum rackings, there is no gas or at lease no discernable gas. My pump looks like Running Wolf's but I think mine is a little bigger, not in size but vacuum. It is the 2.5 CFM Vacuum Pump from Harbor Freight. Works great.



Which vacuum racking item do you have or use? If it is degassed after only 4 racking using this item it seems well worth it as long as it is not $1000 bucks ha. Thanks for the info


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## pightr (Nov 4, 2010)

Thank you everyone for posting your information about your different techniques. Some other information that would really help people like myself in the future would be the steps you take while degassing or the timeline you use to degas. I found an older post where Wade said with his wine he believes it is degassed when using his vacuum pump. He sets it at 20 on the gauge and if it drops below 16 on the gauge in a 1/2 an hour then it is not degassed. If it does not drop below 16 then it is degassed. I am trying this method at the moment so thanks again to Wade and everyone else that has posted on this thread! I really appreciate it!!!!!!!


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## Dugger (Nov 4, 2010)

I watched the video and found it interesting - this is the same vacuum pump I use, but I did not think this pump could generate enough negative pressure to degas a carboy; perhaps I was wrong.
Another thing is the size of the bubbles the chap describes. I have been under the impression that the small bubbles are CO2 and the large bubbles are a sign to stop degassing. The video describes the small bubbles as sulphur dioxide and the larger as carbon dioxide. Again it seems I was wrong.
What are others' experiences/thoughts about this?


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## Brian (Nov 4, 2010)

That video looks good but for the same price or less you can get a Mityvac brake bleeder from Harbor freight and it has a guage and everything. It is amazing how much gass you get out with it and it is really not that much work.


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## wineomaker (Nov 4, 2010)

I Started out using Tums then i switched to Prilosec, that seems to work good for me,   just kidden


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## mcoltezo (Nov 4, 2010)

Dugger said:


> Try this with a tennis ball under the carboy and marking the table should not be an issue.



Hi,

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't think I could safely put the carboy on the ball.

cheers,


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## DavidB (Nov 5, 2010)

I have found that cussing at the wine for all those dang bubbles helps a lot. Course, it doesn't do anything for the gas issue but it sure makes me feel better sometimes. I don't understand how you can have two carboys sitting next to each other. One has cleared and is ready to bottle / drink. The other one is rolling in bubbles. Same wine, recipe, fermentation and processing. Can't understand why one is and one isn't.


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## Wade E (Nov 5, 2010)

The smaller bubbles are C02 and the bigger bubbles are just vacuum being pulled through your wine. When fermentation is finished I degas my wine right then and there is little if any S02 in the wine at that moment and there is usually tons of the smaller bubbles!


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## Dugger (Nov 5, 2010)

Thanks Wade for confirming that the small bubbles are the CO2.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Nov 6, 2010)

I dont think this guy really has his facts straight. The gas in your wine before you degass does not make your bottles blow, its post bottling fermentation by the yeast or bacteria that makes the new gas that pops corks. If you want to know what size bubbles CO2 makes shake up a soda and watch the bubbles, they are small like at the beginning of degassing, your wine is saturated with CO2, much more than with sulphur gas. Also with using the vacuvin, you have to pump that sucker hundreds of times and using one of those bungs is a good way to have is sucked into your carboy or crack the lip, better to use one of those pretty orange caps with the 2 outlets. Crackedcork



pightr said:


> Here is the link not broken up: Thanks for the video link Buddy! And thanks to everyone else for posting their information on how they degas!! I really appreciate it and I hope other new wine makers like myself will find this information useful!
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjL80hXkHdI


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## WVMountaineerJack (Nov 6, 2010)

Runningwolf said:


>



Dan, safety note, that gallon jug is not meant to pull a vacuum, the glass is thin and can implode easily, you might want to wrap it with duct tape to keep the glass from flying all around when it implodes.

Crackedcork


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## Runningwolf (Nov 6, 2010)

CrackedCork said:


> Dan, safety note, that gallon jug is not meant to pull a vacuum, the glass is thin and can implode easily, you might want to wrap it with duct tape to keep the glass from flying all around when it implodes.
> 
> Crackedcork



Hey thanks for the tip. Actually I just picked up some jugs on craigs list and I think I'll use the one I like least for this use. I can put this one back in line for juice. I had these displayed like they are just for the picture. I usually keep the pump and jug together in a milk crate. But just the same I am going to take your advice. Love the forum, we all learn something from each other.


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## Wade E (Nov 6, 2010)

Oh yes, I didnt even see that. Do you remember Jobe on FVW? He imploded a gallon jug with a foodsaver pump and those dont have as strong a vac as your pump.


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## Lurker (Nov 6, 2010)

DavidB said:


> I have found that cussing at the wine for all those dang bubbles helps a lot. Course, it doesn't do anything for the gas issue but it sure makes me feel better sometimes. I don't understand how you can have two carboys sitting next to each other. One has cleared and is ready to bottle / drink. The other one is rolling in bubbles. Same wine, recipe, fermentation and processing. Can't understand why one is and one isn't.


Next time do your cussing straight on, not out of the side of your mouth.


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## Ernest T Bass (Nov 6, 2010)

*DeGassing*

I found out tonite that you can't use a vacuum pump to de gas using a 4 gallon plastic water carboy. It will suck it flat at about 15 inches. I shook it and sloshed it around and will hope for the best..

Semper Fi


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## RedNeckWino (Nov 7, 2010)

I tried using the vacuum on my food saver. Not quite strong enough. Looking for a used vacuum pump.


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