Steps to degassing?

[FatPete]

I'm a planner, like to have things laid out before I proceed.

Does the following sound OK?

Must is clearing with a nice layer of trub/lees on the bottom of fermenter.

I figure in 2 weeks I'll take SG to be sure we're ready to bottle.

My batch is 2.5 gallons, so I figure I'll draw off about a cup or two of wine to mix thoroughly with 1 1/4 teaspoon of potassium sorbate and 2.5 crushed campden tabs.

Add that mixture to the secondary I am racking to and then rack the wine on top of it so it mixes together.

Now, I have been reading a bit on degassing. Is it necessary? If so, how can you tell if you need to degas?

Is an immersion blender a useful tool for degassing? How long should you degas before bottling? After degassing, should you let it sit before bottling or just go right to it?

Think I covered all of my degassing questions...for now...

 

[DoctorCAD]

If you are still throwing lees, it is NOT time to bottle.
Rack off the lees and let it sit 3 or 4 weeks. If no lees, then you are ready.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

You should degass first -m then wait as the wine clears and in several weeks you might be ready to bottle

 

[FatPete]

hmmm....looks like I have a plan...I'll check SG in two weeks, if .995 or thereabouts, I'll rack off trub/lees, to secondary with campden tabs and potassium sorbate...degas with immersion blender and bottle...Give it two months in the bottle and try it out...I think I'll have wine...

If SG is not where I want it, push it ahead a week and check SG again...

 

[BernardSmith]

No expert in this area but I think you want to be careful that an immersion blender will not pull in a lot of air. Are they not in fact designed to do that? If you are making a 2.5 gallon batch oxidation of your wine may not be a major problem ( You should get about 12 bottles) - unless you plan on aging your wine for some months or longer, but it will still affect the flavor and the color of your wine. I would think that you may want to degas using less aggressive agitation - a drill with a hard plastic whip (made from a coat hanger for example) will - I think - incorporate much less air into your wine. Or you might consider using some kind of vacuum to pull the CO2 from the wine without any agitation to the wine.
I don't own an immersion blender so I may be way off base here but don't some folk use them to froth air into milk?

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I totally stand by what Bernard Smith mentioned
A couple of questions - what wine are you making ?
typically degassing helps in clearing the wine - is your wine already clear ?

You already have wine as of right now - you will have better wine if you wait to bottle - It's all about patience

 

[saramc]

What type of wine are you making & when did you pitch the yeast?

Please, take the time to ensure that your wine is free of all dissolved CO2 as this helps the wine to clear naturally & you typically will have additional lees drop as the wine degasses and clears. When the wine is no longer gassy, is clear enough that you can clearly see newsprint thru the other side, and is no longer dropping any sediment a minimum of 30 days, preferably 60 days, after the last racking--then you can consider progressing to the bottling stage. To do so any sooner is simply setting a plan in motion for problematic bottled wine.

You will find as you advance in winemaking that you cannot plan for a wine to hit FG on a specific date, nor plan for it to be degassed on a specific date, or clear for that matter. If anything, plan to wait. But, if you are fine with bottling a wine which may be gassy, cloudy and riddled with sediment that is fine...it is what makes you happy.

If you are not backsweetening your wine it is totally unnecessary to add sorbate, just so you know. Many people prefer to avoid the addition of unnecessary chemicals if they can.

As far as using an immersion blender to degas, I would avoid this because this blending stick tends to create a vortex within the wine and will do nothing but introduce oxygen. If you have a Vacuvin-type system, used to vacuum seal a bottle of opened wine, you can adapt it for use to degas your wine.

 

[FatPete]

After doing even more research, it seems degassing certainly is a bit of a contested subject...
For the previous questions, I'm making a white from winexpert white grape concentrate (already was told after I made it this was a no-no, but bun done can't be undun..)

1 liter Winexpert White grape concentrate
2.25 Lbs sugar
4 tsp acid blend
2 tsp pectic enzyme
2 tsp yeast nutrient
H2O to 2.5 Gallons

Lalvin EC-1118

Today is day 14 in fermenter which is day 7 in secondary fermenter. When I racked to secondary 7 days ago, must was yellowish translucent in color, bubbling vigorously with fine bubbles...SG was 1.020, taste was a bit sweet towards a wine cooler kind of taste, but not overly sweet, slight tartness. Definitely fizzy with all the bubbles...

Drew a sample off the tap of the fermenter so not to introduce any O2, SG is 1.00 and the taste is, much to my delight, heading towards a Chablis-esque direction, definitely less sweet, which is my desire. Definitely clearing, definitely less bubbles. Bubbles in fermenter have slowed and are very fine in size.

I have plenty of patience. I'm in no hurry.

Racking and bottling definitely will not occur for at minimum another two weeks.

As for degassing? I think I'll go against my planner instinct and have that as a bottling day judgement call.

Just in case, I'll drop a few bucks and pick up the degassing tool for my drill if I'm in a debubbling mood! Tee-hee!

Happy Sunday!!