Degassing Kit Wine

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emptybee

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Hi all, a colleague of mine has been brewing Wilkos wine kits for a while and I decided to ask him how he degasses his wine. He asked what I meant and when I told him he said he has never had to degas his wine and never had fizzy wine.

So is it not a requirement? His kits take 20 or so days whereas I tend to do the 5 day cantina kits. Is it just a matter of the CO2 coming out of his wine during the primary fermentation but mine not having time to?

Thanks,

Max
 
If you do not degas you wont end up with something like a sparkling wine but it will be fizzy, when you see how much CO2 is released when degassing its obvious it would make a difference to the finished wine, clearing is also likely to take a lot longer as the sediment gets trapped in the tiny bubbles.

Using a degassing wand makes the job much quicker - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=48971

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwq3TpkqCE[/ame]

Here is my effort -

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I made something similar to what you've got Chippy (although without the extra bends) and have used it on the last few wine kits (before that just stirred with a spoon) which is why I was confused as to how he is getting away with not degassing. At what stage do you start running the risk of oxidising the wine though?
 
As long as the lid is left on there is no risk, the only difference i can see between degassing and not is the time it takes to clear and a slightly fizzy wine.
 
This is a new one on me, I have never ever knowingly degassed wine or heard of it before. Never had a problem with clearing or fizzy wine either.

Just checked my Boots beginners book of home wine making i bought back in 1982. The only reference i can find in it states;

"When fermentation appears to have finished naturally and the wine is still and beginning to clear from the neck of the jar downwards give it a good but gentle shake to get rid of any gas that has remained in solution"

I mostly ignored that so i guess i must be either just lucky or managed to get rid of most gas by racking. Sometimes ignorance is bliss :hmm:
 
All kit instructions I have read have said to shake the DJ several times a day for a couple of days.
I found clearing took longer when i used the shake method than the wand method i do now, wine will clear naturally if left long enough.
 
All kit instructions I have read have said to shake the DJ several times a day for a couple of days.
I found clearing took longer when i used the shake method than the wand method i do now, wine will clear naturally if left long enough.

I had a Youngs Elderflower wine kit, and its currently clearing.
All it said was to add stabilizer and finings then "during the next 24hrs agitate container at least 6 times. The more often the container is agitated the quicker the wine will clear".
I assumed this was because of the finings being in contact with the in-solution sediment, but perhaps it is their way of telling you to degass without needing a want/drill.

Would stiring quite well in hour intervals do the same (maybe nto as easily) as the degassing wand?
 
If you are using a DJ covering it with your hand then shaking it and releasing the CO2 every few shakes does the job eventually, stirring a FV with a long spoon also does the job but a wand makes it a two minute job.

There is a guide on how to make a wand from a coat hanger in the how to forum.
 
If you are using a DJ covering it with your hand then shaking it and releasing the CO2 every few shakes does the job eventually, stirring a FV with a long spoon also does the job but a wand makes it a two minute job.

There is a guide on how to make a wand from a coat hanger in the how to forum.

Cool, I did shake a lot, and quite a bit of gas came out. Hopefully it's enough, if not, Elderflower Wine is quite nice light sparkling, its the cab sav I don't want bubbly!
And I'd rather avoid buying a drill just for degassing
 

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