De-gassing after bottlening

[ViNesv]

I now realized that one batch of wine I made has too much gas. I am finding that I cannot properly de-gass wine when I try to do that in carboy, even if I am using drill attachment for that. Other batches that I de-gassed in primary fermenter has no such problem.
So can I fix wine that has too much gas and is already bottled? Should I uncork all bottles, pour into bucked, de-gass and bottle again? Or should I just try to de-gass each bottle when I open it? How?

 

[AZMDTed]

It's your choice. Either pour it all back into a carboy, heat it up to 74-75 and degas or degas each bottle as you drink it. If you intended to give some as gifts then keeping it in the bottle may not be great.

I've had this happen before too. I got a vacuvin for wine bottles and poured a little out to drink, then vacuum sealed it, shook the bottle to degas and then it's ready the next day for good drinking. You can also try an aerator to see if that degasses it enough for you as you pour it. In the worst case I stirred each glass with a fork before I drank it.

I've learned that the key to degassing is getting the wine at 74-75 degrees a day before I degas it. Anything under 72 I just couldn't get it all out no matter how many hours I stirred it with my drill and wine whip. I got an AllinOne wine pump just because of the degassing issue and it helps immeasurably.

Good luck.

 

[jgmann67]

I uncorked, poured back into the Carboy and degassed then rebottled. Very happy I did. If you're not going to let your wine age for 6+ months in 70*+ constant temps, you might want to think about getting a better tool for the job. I just got an AIO from Steve and think it will do very good things for me in this regard.

You might also consider going to a harbor freight or auto parts store near you and get a brake bleeder. Like this one:

http://t.harborfreight.com/brake-bleeder-and-vacuum-pump-kit-69328.html

Put your wine under 25" of vacuum for 30 minutes and you'll be amazed with the results.

 

[ViNesv]

You might also consider going to a harbor freight or auto parts store near you and get a brake bleeder. Like this one:

http://t.harborfreight.com/brake-bleeder-and-vacuum-pump-kit-69328.html

Put your wine under 25" of vacuum for 30 minutes and you'll be amazed with the results.

How can you use brake bleeder to de-gass wine? I am trying to find instructions, but I cannot. Can you please describe in a bit more details?

 

[jgmann67]

For that, you need a glass Carboy. The attachments included with the brake bleeder fit in the bung where your airlock would go. Pull your vacuum up to the 25" and gently agitate your wine. When the vacuum drops below 20", pull it back to 25". Repeat this for about 20-30 minutes. You should be right on the money.

 

[ViNesv]

For that, you need a glass Carboy. The attachments included with the brake bleeder fit in the bung where your airlock would go. Pull your vacuum up to the 25" and gently agitate your wine. When the vacuum drops below 20", pull it back to 25". Repeat this for about 20-30 minutes. You should be right on the money.

Hi,

Just bought brake bleeder and trying to follow your suggestions. It is very hard for me to get vacuum above 20''. I am pumping like crazy, but it never goes above 22'' and even that with a lot of effort. As soon as I move bottle a bit, lots of bubbles appear and vacuum drops to around 15''. It does not look that I have any leaks, so I am not sure if I do this right. How hard is for you to go above 20''? Do you pump for 3-4 min non stop or few pumps should take from 20'' to 25''?

 

[dralarms]

You're doing it right. It'll build you hand strength up too. Take a lot of pumps.

 

[Johnd]

Buck up and buy the electric vacuum pump from Harbor Freight for 99 bucks. Degas your wine in a snap and NEVER worry about it again. Save your hands for picking grapes.

 

[ceeaton]

+1 to what @dralarms is saying. You are doing fine, just have a bunch of CO2 locked up in that wine. I've been known to degass mine overnight. You will eventually be able to pull it up to 25 in/Hg vac, it just takes a lot of work sometimes.

I had the same issue with a Viognier I did last Spring, I poured it and it would have a slight head to it, like an under carbonated beer. I poured it out into a 6 gallon glass carboy, pulled 25 in/Hg for a few hours (while listening to the Phillies lose a lead) and rebottled the next day. I'm very happy with the results. So good luck!

++1 to what Johnd said, just haven't bought one yet.

 

[ViNesv]

Buck up and buy the electric vacuum pump from Harbor Freight for 99 bucks. Degas your wine in a snap and NEVER worry about it again. Save your hands for picking grapes.

I am from Canada and for that brake bleeder I paid 70+$. I can see vacuum pump like this:
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B005CO9FDW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Will this be good enough? It is 1.5CFM, your recommended is 2.5CFM - will that make any difference? Do these vacuum pumps all have standard ports so I can connect right size tubing?

 

[bkisel]

I would pour the wine out of the bottles in order to degas. I had to pour out my very first batch of bottled wine, for a different reason, and was able to "rescue" the entire batch.

I use a vacuvin to do my degassing. Mine is a little different than what you see in the first video but it works the same way. Better to have the head space you see in the second video when you're degassing.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKv-xPAL9Wk"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKv-xPAL9Wk[/ame]


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVh_uVhqlLU"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVh_uVhqlLU[/ame]

 

[jgmann67]

I am from Canada and for that brake bleeder I paid 70+$. I can see vacuum pump like this:

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B005CO9FDW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Will this be good enough? It is 1.5CFM, your recommended is 2.5CFM - will that make any difference? Do these vacuum pumps all have standard ports so I can connect right size tubing?

The manual brake bleeder does work very well. But, it's quite a workout for the uninitiated. The less headspace you have in your carboy, the quicker you can get to a good vacuum to pull CO2. Just leave enough room so you're not frothing into the tubing.

$70? Wow, that's a lotta bacon. If you're already looking to an electric pump, can you return the brake bleeder?

Before you buy anything more, you're going to want to really think this one all the way through. Nickels and dimes become dollars pretty quick in this hobby.

Take a look at the All in One system to get an idea of the design and do a CBA - can you design something like that for less? Some may, but not me. Steve at AIO has done the engineering already (quite the plus for me - as engineers go, I'm an excellent lawyer), so $200 +/- is a small price comparatively. Plus, the customer support at AIO is excellent.

Another question: What's the temp in you're carboy? The warmer the better for CO2 release. I don't know the optimal temp, but somewhere just north of 70*F (21.1*C) is good.

 

[Johnd]

I am from Canada and for that brake bleeder I paid 70+$. I can see vacuum pump like this:
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B005CO9FDW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Will this be good enough? It is 1.5CFM, your recommended is 2.5CFM - will that make any difference? Do these vacuum pumps all have standard ports so I can connect right size tubing?

ViNesv:

I've not used that one, but it looks almost exactly like the one that I have. It pulls 1.5 CFM, as opposed to 2.5 on the other, might just take a little longer, which might be good. When I have a relatively full carboy for degassing, the foam quickly rises to the top, so the pump gets turned on and off frequently to prevent sucking foam out of the carboy.
The port on the one you posted looks the same as mine. I bought a threaded fitting to go on it that has a tube sticking out that clear tubing fits right on to. On the other end (bung end), I have a fitting that slides into the tubing, it has a tapered cone that fits snugly into the open hole in your bung.
I do use the little plastic reservoir that fits in the tubing between the pump and the carboy (came with my pump) to prevent foam from getting pulled into the pump.
It all works like a charm to completely degas wine in one quick shot.
I'd be curious to know how the 1.5 works if you get it, please post your results if you do, I suspect it'll do just fine.

 

[Floandgary]

Back when I was in a big "newby" hurry to get stuff in a bottle, I also had that carbonation problem. Some I uncorked and re-degassed in bulk. Wadda pain. Then I decided to do each bottle as I uncorked them by simply giving it a good shake like you'd do a bottle of soda. Then came the splash pour to a decanter before drinking. Well the little light did come on before all of this, but I never saw it till a couple of years ago. Best kept secret and easiest to do ,,,, "leave it in the carboy under airlock for at least a year (reds)"... Benefits ,,,,, naturally degassed and aged as well!!! Try it------ You'll like it!

 

[Turock]

Why don't you do it the easy way--bulk aging. Bulk aging benefits a wine in many ways AND it degasses itself in the process. Unless this is an early drinking wine, you're making a mistake by manipulating a young wine so much.

 

[ViNesv]

Why don't you do it the easy way--bulk aging.

Best kept secret and easiest to do ,,,, "leave it in the carboy under airlock for at least a year (reds)"... Benefits ,,,,, naturally degassed and aged as well!!! Try it------ You'll like it!

I am very newbie at wine making - I started from Sep 2015 - we are talking 4 months here . If I would have done bulk aging for a year, I would still have to wait before I could take advantage of my hobby. There is no way I can wait so long before I can start consuming my wine.
As I am starting to build up my wine collection, I am able to do more bulk aging. I have in total 3 carboys and now 2 carboys have Amarone that will be bulk aged for 3 months. I have read a lot online (example: http://www.finevinewines.com/Bottle-Aging-versus-Bulk-Aging.htm and many more locations) and found that most experts believe that there is no point in bulk aging wine from wine kit for more that 3 months. I am not sure if 3 months is enough for natural de-gassing though.

 

[jgmann67]

I am very newbie at wine making - I started from Sep 2015 - we are talking 4 months here . If I would have done bulk aging for a year, I would still have to wait before I could take advantage of my hobby. There is no way I can wait so long before I can start consuming my wine.

As I am starting to build up my wine collection, I am able to do more bulk aging. I have in total 3 carboys and now 2 carboys have Amarone that will be bulk aged for 3 months. I have read a lot online (example: http://www.finevinewines.com/Bottle-Aging-versus-Bulk-Aging.htm and many more locations) and found that most experts believe that there is no point in bulk aging wine from wine kit for more that 3 months. I am not sure if 3 months is enough for natural de-gassing though.

I get it. I would suggest a couple things to think about:

* The cheaper kits do peak quicker than the high end ones. If you're looking for early drinkers, you should start with them. Once they're in the bottle, bring some better quality kits in to the mix. By the time your early drinkers are gone, the Selection/Eclipse/LE type kits (basically the 16L kits or bigger) should be just about ready.

Regardless of what quality kit you choose, though, degassing is hugely important to the wine making process, so...

* If you can't bulk age for a year in a relatively warm space (again, think 68-70*F), then you really should find a better degassing method than the spoon. I've stirred till my arm fell off (typing this with one hand, of course). Still had Co2. So, whatever degas option you choose, balance your expense against your effort and result.

* When choosing a degas method, I would pick the one that minimizes your wine's exposure to oxygen as much as possible. In addition to lost appendages, vigorous stirring as the degas method gives your wine the greatest chances at oxidation.

I'm only a year in to this hobby and still have a lot to learn. But, for what it's worth - that's what I think.

 

[jumby]

I am very newbie at wine making - I started from Sep 2015 - we are talking 4 months here . If I would have done bulk aging for a year, I would still have to wait before I could take advantage of my hobby. There is no way I can wait so long before I can start consuming my wine.
As I am starting to build up my wine collection, I am able to do more bulk aging. I have in total 3 carboys and now 2 carboys have Amarone that will be bulk aged for 3 months. I have read a lot online (example: http://www.finevinewines.com/Bottle-Aging-versus-Bulk-Aging.htm and many more locations) and found that most experts believe that there is no point in bulk aging wine from wine kit for more that 3 months. I am not sure if 3 months is enough for natural de-gassing though.

I've been making wine kits for years and 3 months seems to be the sweet spot for me.

 

[Floandgary]

ViNesv ,, We were ALL there too,, anxious to sample the fruit of our effort. Just passing along some tips for future reference. True some of the kits can be drinkable quite soon, but I'd keep one of the Amarones in the carboy for as long as possible. You'll be surprised what a little more aging will do. BTW I do juice buckets so therein may lie the difference in our processes. Full steam ahead and enjoy

 

[Turock]

New wine is terrible tasting--compared to what it tastes like after aging. What the heck--I recommend 1 year of aging but until you get past the huge excitement of,"I can't wait to try it," age it for 6 months. Which will at least allow the wine to clear up some,some of the CO2 off of it,etc. Pull some off the carboy to try. You can always add some marbles to get the level back up to full after sampling it. But in another 6 months, the full intensity of flavor will be even better.

It's like the old saying, "Do you want it FAST--or do you want it GOOD."