How to degas wine with a home made degassing wand

[Chippy_Tea]

I guess my cordless drill isn't as powerful as your corded one.

 

[Hatchet]

Hi. I haven't tried it yet but looks the part. It's a telescopic fly swatter cut to size of bottle neck.

 

[kelper]

Using your method Chippy, how long do you degass for? I bought a wine whip and it took ages. Must refine my technique as I was making a bit of a whirlpool.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

5 seconds forward and 5 in reverse for a minute is all it takes.

 

[Gulpitdarn]

Hi. I haven't tried it yet but looks the part. It's a telescopic fly swatter cut to size of bottle neck.

That looks a good idea! You wouldn't need to cut it surely as they are flexible enough to push into a demijon neck. Just be sure that it is not a used swat.

 

[Ebob01]

All your wine should be degassed for the reasons below -


Suspended carbon dioxide prevents wine from properly clearing.

White wines are especially sensitive to the amount of suspended carbon dioxide. An improperly degassed white wine can have a haze to it that won’t clear through fining.

Carbon dioxide increases the sensation of acidity in wine. While the acid isn’t really there it tastes like it is.

Despite all these reasons to remove the carbon dioxide you don’t want to remove absolutely all of it. This can leave a wine tasting flabby and boring. For the amateur winemaker, however, this is rarely a problem.

Even sparkling wine is first made as a still wine and must be free of carbon dioxide prior to making a sparkling wine.

Usually not being able to remove enough carbon dioxide to avoid the three negative effects listed above is what gets us in trouble. So, let’s look at the best ways to degas your wine.

How to Degas Wine

Apart from the wine not clearing properly, is there any other reason to Degas if making a sparkling wine? After all, you are basically just adding more CO2 again afterwards...

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Apart from the wine not clearing properly, is there any other reason to Degas if making a sparkling wine? After all, you are basically just adding more CO2 again afterwards...

There are two other reasons in the article you linked to.

 

[Nidger]

Shaking a DJ to get rid of the CO2 takes time and is a bit of a PITA and using a big spoon to degas 23 litres of wine is not much better, a degassing wand makes degassing a minute job.

You can also use it to mix all your ingredients meaning you dont have to heat water to dissolve the sugar, this saves time and cleaning sticky pans etc.

Watch click tricks video on how to make a degassing wand from an old coat hanger below.

When using the wand start in forwards for 5 seconds then switch to reverse for 5 and keep doing this for a minute.

This is mine -

(I removed the part i have blacked out in the picture as it made it difficult to get it into the DJ it also works in a FV)

Excellent,
I'll be rooting for one of these coat hangers later.
Thanks.

 

[Richie_asg1]

To degass in the bucket I'm using the standard plastic stirring paddle in a drill. Cutting off the useless little loop helps.
I'm going to buy another one to cut down (like the fly swatter) to fit the DJ neck, but with the bits cut off I can use a nylon nut and bolt to re-attach two paddles and make a commercial type one. (costing about £24)
Cutting down this...

to make one of these -

I think you can see where to cut it, and which bits to re- use.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I'm going to buy another one to cut down (like the fly swatter) to fit the DJ neck, but with the bits cut off I can use a nylon nut and bolt to re-attach two paddles and make a commercial type one. (costing about £24)

This is all you need for a DJ or FV, this is mine and its still going strong (i made it in 2014)

 

[jakejoe30]

How many times a day and for how many days do i need to do this using the DIY wand? Thanks

 

[Chippy_Tea]

5 seconds forward then 5 second reverse then keep switching every 5 seconds for a minute and its job done.

 

[buddsy]

I have one of these I got with a load of secondhand equipment I bought.

Really good fits through the neck then opens up as the drill starts. They dont seem to sell them at least in the UK any more?

buddsy

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I use something similar to this which is supposed to attach to a drill, but it's way quicker by hand. Drilling with it just makes a vortex which is useless. Like you say takes about a minute. Easier in a bucket than a DJ though. Also use it for mixing in sugar.

 

[mac1611]

This is mine for my drill .Works a treat .Piece of dowling or plastic rod ,wrap cable ties round it degassed in about 5 mins :)

 

[latchy]

I got one of these, but every time I reverse the drill one of the arms flips over so they're both on the same side which makes the drill shake. Just tightened the nut and bolt a little with a couple of sockets 5.5mm and 7/32".
Seems to have done the trick I tested in the kitchen sink full of water and no flip, but got a soaking coz wand wasn't fully submerged when I started drill

 

[jezbrews]

I use a paint mixer drill attachment. Only cost a quid or two.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I use a paint mixer drill attachment. Only cost a quid or two.

How do you get it through the hole in a demijohn?

 

[jezbrews]

How do you get it through the hole in a demijohn?

Sorry, didn't see that this was about demis haha

 

[Chippy_Tea]

No worries, a few members use paint stirrers in their FV's and I imagine they are very effective, the thin wand I use is a bit small for an FV but it does the job eventually so I have never tried anything else.