De-gassing wine

[Sandimas]

I know this subject comes up regularly but, as a complete newbie to wine, I'm struggling and could do with some help.

I've had a 6-bottle red kit (Beaverdale Barolo) going in a demijohn for over a month. Followed the instructions and transferred it to another demijohn after 28 days, at which point I added in the stabiliser and started de-gassing. I don't have a drill so am doing it with the handle of a stirring spoon, it's removing plenty of gas and producing quite a head, which dies down after a few mins. But I've been doing this for 8 days, not the 3-4 days as per the instructions, and I'm still getting plenty of gas out.

Should I keep doing this until the gas dies down, and when's that likely to be, or move onto the next stage of adding the Kieselsol and Chitosan?

 

[alanywiseman.]

Put a clean hand over the top and give the DJ a gentle shake if pressure is built up then keep degassing. If not then move on to the next stage.

 

[Sandimas]

Many thanks :thumb:

Still plenty of pressure so I'll keep de-gassing, think I'll shake it now rather than stir as it seems to dislodge a lot more gas.

 

[tonyhibbett]

This is quick and effective.
Pour the whole lot into another bucket from a height of about 2 feet. Job done!

 

[Sandimas]

Thanks, I'll try that next time, will certainly beat the time it's taken me to de-gass this one.

The good news is that, after the last shake, there's no pressure, just a few bubbles coming up so I think it's nearly there. Thanks again for the wisdom of the forum, you can't beat a bit of experience as us newbies are always worried about ruining our early brews

 

[alanywiseman.]

If there is no pressure then it is done. The raising bubbles will be the gas that you shake in if you get what I mean.

 

[Megaross]

Wouldn't splash rack it, yes it will degass it but it'll also oxidise the frig out of it and potentially introduce unwanted bacteria. If your wine is high in sulfites or you've added potassium metabisulphite then it won't do it much damage but you're realistically going to be better shaking or stirring and introducing minimal oxygen to it.

Splash racking is a last ditch resort to reduce levels of hydrogen sulfide (when your wine smells like it fell out of an ****). Bit of basic chemistry means H2S + O2 = SO2 + H2O (Or more specifically 2 H2S + 3 O2 = 2 SO2 + 2 H2O)

Essentially converting hydrogen sulphide and oxygen to sulphur dioxide which can be almost beneficial to wine, depending on your school of thought, still a last ditch kind of thing.

If it works for you then good luck to you buddy but I certainly wouldn't splash rack unless I had to :thumb: