Winemaking Lesson 15 - Degassing 

As an aside, the reason we are concerned with de-gassing the wine kits is that the manufacturer wants you to bottle in 4-8 weeks, which is normally not enough time. There are 2 reasons for this. One, the manufacturers risk is from the time you start the wine until you bottle it. Second, the faster you bottle, the faster you drink and the faster you will buy another kit. There is some marketing in everyting!

Allinonewinepump makes a wonderful vacuum system for racking,filtering and bottling. There’s also a headspace eliminator that puts your wine under vacuum. I’ve never had a carboy implode. A demijon on the other hand is another story. That glass is thin and can shatter.

The nice thing about using 1-gallon jugs is that you can just shake them up to de-gas them! Not quite as easy with a 50-60 pound carboy full of wine. All wines will de-gas themselves over time. The amount of time depends primarily on the temperature. Warmer liquids will release gas faster than cooler liquids. If you store your carboys or jugs in an area where the temperature is above 70 degrees, they should de-gas themselves in 2-3 months.

Can the Wine Saver be used as an alternative to topping up head space in the carboy?

Great videos. Thank you. One tact I've employed for whipping wine is to grab two carboys and whip half of the wine in each. That way I can whip the bejeezus out of the wine and not have it spin out of the top. I then put it under vacuum using my Blichmann vacuum pump with a sintered SS disk in the carboy for anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. I've found that I have to degas under vacuum again whenI add my clarifiers. They seem to catalyze more gas evolution. However, for full transparency, I've NEVER HAD A STILL WINE! Even if I can't get any bubbles under vacuum, when I pull a cork after a month or several, my wine still has dissolved gas via taste and thumb-and-shake test method. I don't get it... No matter if it's a kit or right from the juice, never ever is it completely still like the big boys make. HELP!

Can you also use the vacuum accessory of the higher end FoodSaver machines?

@WineMakersToyStore I have two one-gallon jugs of mead that are about 4 months old. I'm planning on bottling it at about 6 months. How long should it take to degas itself, and do you just let it sit there with the airlock on it for an extended period of time? I made some apple wine that I bottled at about 4 months and it was still a little bubbly (I had no idea about degassing at the time, but discovered it when I opened a bottle a few weeks later). I appreciate you sharing your expertise!

When using the the vacuum technique how do you know when all the gas is out, does the gas stop bubbling up and the pressure wont drop anymore ?

I read you degas during hte first week of primary at least two times a day. But when and how often do you degass in secondary and aging? Thank you

Is this a contest for how many times you can say "Car Boy"?!

You can definitely wait for the wine to de-gas itself. The wine kits are made to be bottled before the wine has enough time to de-gas, so this technique is necessary to make sure you don't have a carbonated wine.

When using the vacuum, you want to look for the fine bubbles coming up the side of the carboy. When they stop, you are finished de-gassing.

Regarding the "wine volcano" is this a good way to make it foam and degas or is the volcano a bad thing because it is pulling in air?

Can you use the vacuu vin on a plastic 6 gallon carboy?

On my Winexpert instruction sheet it says "without hard stirring, trapped gas in the wine will prevent clearing". Gas is an issue long before bottling time. If entrained gas interferes with the action of your fining agents, can you achieve the same clarity by racking every three months for a year? Is your house large? Does your basement get hot in June and July? You might have trouble leaving your wine under glass for a whole year. There are practicalities in everyting!

I really like the idea of using a vacuum to degas your wine, but as I use all plastic in my ferments, I don't see it being viable.

Where to buy that equipment for de gassing

@Logcabincookin OK, so I asked my question JUST before you gave the answer in your video.

"This is a carboy for me to carboy into another carboy by using a carboy to carboy this carboy until this carboy is carboyed" - This video

No, The sides are not firm enough to not give when you create the vacuum.

I degas in a bucket, more surface area for CO2 to rise without creating a wine volcano

what about just waiting until the CO2 will bubble out by itself? :)

As long as you have a half decent seal when degassing, there's no way you're going to aerate the wine. Your carboy's head-space is cull of CO2.

Why not just leave the fizz in it and run the batch threw cheese cloth 1 time and bottle it up as it is in beer bottles ? 3 weeks and 1/4 tsp bottle sugar in each bottle of no more than 22 ounces .. bam (I like the snap top beer bottles)

Wow, I wouldn't use a drill-powered metal rod in a glass carboy. I degass in a 7.9gal plastic bucket.

The volcano is pushing CO2 and oxygen out, as such, it will not pull oxygen in.

How funny... I though I invented something by using a product that already existed. I did the exact same thing with a wine saver but I just drilled out a bung and permanently shoved it in there to use that on whatever carboy im ready to degas.... oh well.... great minds think alike..

Note to self, always de-gas in a bucket x)

i dont understand degassing wine clearly