Did I Over Agitate My Wine?

[Johnd]

Wrong...the receiving carboy has been evacuated of air before the wine starts to flow into it. With vacuum racking, virtually zero oxygen exposure occurs.

Another "benefit" is that the vacuum works only on the surface area of the wine and with thin-film degassing, a huge amount of surface area is available for the vacuum to work on, when in a carboy, the surface area is tiny and the vacuum must pull gas from deep in the wine.

I also never have to follow the steps that you laid out, stirring, starting and stopping, large headspace, foaming...none of that is ever needed with vacuum racking.

How about we just say both ways work and leave it at that.

The pump is incapable of vacuuming out the all the air, check the specs, only 22 inHg. There is oxygen whether you believe it or not. Do I think it makes a difference? No.

I can degas and rack 6 gallons of wine with a pump and a racking cane in just a few minutes, not multiple rackings. Do I think that's a big deal? No.

Look, I'm not trying to convert you, use whatever method works for you, but take caution when you respond to a post that your way is "a much better way", it's certainly a good way, but there are many options for all activities.

The AIO is a fine product and I commend Steve for his ingenuity. In you opinion, your way is better, I'm cool with that. In my opinion, my way is better, you need to be ok with that too. No big deal, I'm just making the best wine I can and trying to share my methods with folks asking for help. I know the good folks here have helped me a ton, you included Doc!! Drink up.

 

[NorCal]

I vacuum rack as well. Cheers.

 

[scram]

OK, my 2 cents. The best way to vacuum rack is to have a valve on the wine line. Pull a good vacuum prior to opening wine line valve. This ensures the maximum amount (not 100%) of oxygen is evacuated from the carboy prior to introducing the wine into the environment.
I prefer time in bulk and vacuum racking and degassing with the aio pump over whipping any day. Not to say whipping doesn't work well, in my mind it's an added step and added labor that can be avoided.
Do what you like and do what works for you...

 

[AZMDTed]

I know for me that whipping is effective, if done for about an hour which may induce problems later on with all the air I put into it. I haven't experienced any problems yet, but it could still be lurking.

Splash racking and degassing during racking under a vacuum several times, after having done about 20 minutes of whipping, hasn't proven to be completely reliable.

So for hundred bucks I'm willing to try the Harbor Freight vacuum pump. I have it now and some tubing and fittings. I hope to give it a try this weekend on five carboys I have in various stages of aging.

I plan on trying it with carboys with about 6 gallons in them, as well as filling two carboys with about 3 and doing the slosh method while under vacuum. I also have a batch of Shiraz just out of the barrel in 3 gal carboys that I'll try it on. I should know for me, whether this works, soon.

I firmly believe that given all the discussion on degassing and Vandergrift's insistence that 4 minutes of whipping is all you need, that there are other factors at play. Temperature is likely the biggest. But I'm guessing altitude and atmospheric pressure are others. What else, I don't know. But the bottom line is that if you have something that works for you then by all means do it, be happy, and share it. But it may not work for others and their situation. But the more we share the more ideas we have to try. Thanks to all.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

This is my personal take on CO2 removal –

Wine temperature needs to be somewhere near the 75 degrees range for best results. When vacuum racking, you will be removing the CO2 at the same time you are racking it. It will take several scheduled rackings to remove most all the CO2.

With the Allinonewinepump – it will pull a vacuum between 22-24 in hg – which is a safe zone for most all glass carboys. I would not suggest putting over 25 in hg and trying to tilt and shake the carboy to help remove any additional CO2. It is not worth anyone getting hurt – just for Co2 removal.

You can do the following options using the Allinonewinepump –

Start the pump and pinch off the transfer line to build up some vacuum prior to transferring – unpinch the hose no longer than 1 minute of the pump running. This will help as the receiving carboy has a vacuum in it prior to transferring, causing additional CO2 being released.

Also using the Headspace Eliminator – will aid in the removal of CO2 – just hook up the Allinonewinepump and let it run for approx 1 minute and you will see the CO2 being pulled out of the wine. Once you shut off the pump – it still will be removing Co2 until you reach a vacuum where it is not powerful enough to remove anymore. You then can add more vacuum to your carboy by turning on the pump again. This procedure will make your pump last a lot longer rather than pull a constant vacuum on it for extended period of time, and you will be safer as well.

 

[cmason1957]

I have had my all in one for about four years now. I have never had any of the problems with degassing that some others have. I stir my wines twice or three times a day while they are fermenting, not stir to beat the crap out, but just to give it all a good mix. Then I do my normal three to four rackings. After the third, I generally have very little Co2 issues. Oh and everything I do is in my basement at 65 or so degrees. Maybe folks aren't getting good seals at the carboy and air is getting into the mix and causing issues.

I do think that back to the back rackings aren't really doing any good. You should probably wait at least a day or four between each, give the wine some time to react and rest.

 

[bkisel]

For the past 3 years I've been using a Vacu Vin hand pump. It is labor intensive but if done with the wine in the 75F range it is effective.

On YouTube I see where folks use a Food Saver to vacuum out the CO2. Not sure but maybe a decent Food Saver could be bought for less than $100.00 US.