Lazy Wine Degassing

[LED_ZEP]

I made this for a bit of a laugh but it actually works.

A couple of members (you know who you are) were talking about the shortcuts they take and steps they miss out to speed up the wine making process. Part of this conversation mentioned how to degas without the elbow work.

Well here's my take on easy degassing. I clear my wines in a pressure barrel but the adapters you get with these airbed pumps would work with a demijohn and a rubber bung.

 

[Bigcol49]

Oooooooooh!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

For those that don't have an electric pump here is the slightly less lazy method which has been used by members in the past, you need to adapt a DJ bung to allow the server valve to fit.



[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rJOPHr9Tbw[/ame]

 

[Graz]

Nice to see a bit of brewing DIY however I really don't find it that much effort spending 5 minutes with a cordless drill and degassing wand when I do mine.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Nice to see a bit of brewing DIY however I really don't find it that much effort spending 5 minutes with a cordless drill and degassing wand when I do mine.

Same here and to be honest you are probably spending 4 minuted longer than you need to. :wink:

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[needmorstuf]

I have a wand and there is no way it is degassed after 60 seconds. When i put into 5l water bottles after degassing in the 23l carboy it still takes a good 5 or 6 shakes to get the gas out.

I have one of those pumps... well similar. I will now look into adapting it. thanks.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have a wand and there is no way it is degassed after 60 seconds

Well all i can say in response is if you let your wine ferment fully and use the forward and reverse for 5 seconds a time method there really shouldn't be a noticeable amount of CO2 left, we are not talking sparkling wine even when its not degassed and all i have found that happens when you don't degas fully is it takes longer for it to clear.

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[needmorstuf]

maybe I am a little impatient between getting down to 990 and degassing..

 

[Deltabrew]

What is the reason for degassing? I've looked everywhere and can't find the answer.
Is it purely to remove any potential fizziness or are there any taste downsides to it as well?

 

[Graz]

What is the reason for degassing? I've looked everywhere and can't find the answer.
Is it purely to remove any potential fizziness or are there any taste downsides to it as well?

Yep, simply to remove dissolved CO2 in the wine that is a residual of the fermentation process.

It would degass itself naturally if left long enough just like an opened bottle of fizzy drink does but aiding the process speeds up clearing the wine and shortly after that you can bottle into sealed bottles without any concerns over residual fizziness pushing the corks back out again!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Degassing also helps the wine to clear as sediment is not trapped in the tiny bubbles.

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[LED_ZEP]

Yep, simply to remove dissolved CO2 in the wine that is a residual of the fermentation process.

It would degass itself naturally if left long enough just like an opened bottle of fizzy drink does but aiding the process speeds up clearing the wine and shortly after that you can bottle into sealed bottles without any concerns over residual fizziness pushing the corks back out again!

Sums it up nicely.

I would just add that if you have a fizz in the wine when it's ready to drink that does have an effect on the taste, just like the difference between still and sparkling water.