Driving off C02

[wineview]

After about 6-8 weeks, my practice has been to rack to a bucket and use a wine whip on a drill motor to drive off the C02 and eliminate any fizzy wine down the road. How long do most of you whip the wine to accomplish this? I've been doing 20-30 minutes and it's very tedious. Wondering if 20-30 is necessary?

Thanks

 

[Jal5]

It’s slow going even on a drill. I find i need to whip it several times maybe 10-15 minutes each. So i do it each racking. I’m moving to vacuum degassing and racking soon!

 

[cmason1957]

After about 6-8 weeks, my practice has been to rack to a bucket and use a wine whip on a drill motor to drive off the C02 and eliminate any fizzy wine down the road. How long do most of you whip the wine to accomplish this? I've been doing 20-30 minutes and it's very tedious. Wondering if 20-30 is necessary?

Thanks

Next time you visit a commercial winery and can talk with the wine maker, ask them this same question. You will get a blank stare or a laugh. I am pretty convinced that the entire idea of degassing came from wine kits to get them into a bottle in four weeks. Needless to say, I don't degas. Time and racking under vacuum remove any Co2. That's just the normal for our five rackings done to get the wine off any lees.

 

[wineview]

Next time you visit a commercial winery and can talk with the wine maker, ask them this same question. You will get a blank stare or a laugh. I am pretty convinced that the entire idea of degassing came from wine kits to get them into a bottle in four weeks. Needless to say, I don't degas. Time and racking under vacuum remove any Co2. That's just the normal for our five rackings done to get the wine off any lees.

"Racking under vacuum". Can you describe that process please?

 

[Scooter68]

"Racking under vacuum". Can you describe that process please?

He's talking about using a vacuum pump to rrack the wine like the "All-in-One" pump. Or any method where you create a vacuum to move the wine from one container to another. That process promotes the degassing process. (Note - promotes not does or completes the process. Degassing the easiest way it to simply age a wine properly - IMHO)

 

[wineview]

He's talking about using a vacuum pump to rrack the wine like the "All-in-One" pump. Or any method where you create a vacuum to move the wine from one container to another. That process promotes the degassing process. (Note - promotes not does or completes the process. Degassing the easiest way it to simply age a wine properly - IMHO)

would you consider six months in bulk enough time to degass or more?

thanks.

 

[CDrew]

would you consider six months in bulk enough time to degass or more?
thanks.

I've still had quite a bit of CO2 at a year, which the last vacuum rack for bottling solved. But even though you can see it under vacuum, you really can't taste any fizzy character to the wine. I agree, just let your usual winery practices take care of it. A few rackings, especially under vacuum will suffice. As much trouble we go to to keep oxygen away from the wine, all this talk of whipping up with wine with a drill motor seems counter intuitive.

 

[Scooter68]

6 Months should be but then if you wait a full 12 months to bottle I really really doubt that an significant CO2 is going to remain. See the last couple of posts on the following thread for some additional info.
The only wines I have bottled at or before 6 months were:
My first wine at 4 months (Learned my lesson on that one)
A couple of new wine recipes that went totally clear within 2 months.
1) A plum wine (3gallons) - Found out it needs more time to mature
2) A Pineapple Mango wine (1 Gallon) . Looked and smelled so good but again - It got better with age and I since started a larger batch - the 1 gallon was a test of an idea.

As to the CO2, none of my wines young or mature at bottling time have ever shown any signs of gas remaining when opened.

 

[jsbeckton]

Agree with others that time and vac racking are the best answer but can say from my “wine whip days” that some kits took 5 min and others took way longer. The warmer the wine is the easier it comes out but still seems to vary.

 

[Wayne Freeman]

Here's an apparatus I cobbled up from an All-in-One Wine Pump Headspace Eliminator and an old Vacu-Vin. Two or three times a day, as I go down to the garage or outside or to get a bottle or fill a carafe, I spend a minute or two pumping the Vacu-Vin pump. It's a good couple of minutes of exercise and gives the Wine Pump a rest for more important jobs. It usually takes about 2 weeks of this before there's no more off-gassing. The highly active bubbling you see is just after I finished a pumping session. This is the second day of degassing.

 

[chicken]

I have never degassed a wine in my life. I didn't even know it was a thing until maybe a few years ago.

Since we bulk age about a year before bottling, and usually rack several times, I guess the co2 works its way out on its own over time. We've never had an issue with fizzy wine in the bottle.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I will second cmaison.
From a theoretical point of view we want a non oxidative environment to preserve fruity flavors and have shelf life. If it is important for you to have a fast wine that can be consumed young then pull it mostly out, , , , just recognize that you are cashing in some shelf life.

 

[Ajmassa]

I have never degassed a wine in my life. I didn't even know it was a thing until maybe a few years ago.

Since we bulk age about a year before bottling, and usually rack several times, I guess the co2 works its way out on its own over time. We've never had an issue with fizzy wine in the bottle.

Lol. Same goes for me. Only knew the way my family made wine.
Few years ago I did my 1st kit and opening the instructions blew my mind!
Degassing? Clearing agents? Sorbate? Secondary fermentation? WTF is this?!
At that point I thought I knew nothing!
But In hindsight I’m extremely thankful I learned their old style first and not kits.

 

[user 36973]

Next time you visit a commercial winery and can talk with the wine maker, ask them this same question. You will get a blank stare or a laugh.

Yes, degassing is not done commercially because it happens during racking and filtering. See the picture in this thread for how even a "gentle" flexible impeller pump degasses the wine.