Apprehensive wine kit user....

[Egon]

Evening all. Long time lurker and reader but dont post that often, be gentle..:)

Ok, i've tried wine kits and had mixed results. I made up 4 bottles of wite from just grapes and instructions off the net and they were great but every wine kit i've tried has tasted nasty and the last one even decorked two bottles resulting, i think, in red sparkling....

So i have a beaverdale Rioja 6 bottle in my posession. Read the instructions and followed to the letter.
The kit makes 4.5L of red, so i have it in a 5L demijohn. Sound ok so far? water added, up to temperature of 20'c ish, added yeasties and wood chippings (saw dust more like..).
Now i leave it 15-20 days....

Whats a good way of "degassing"....actually, mores to the point, what IS degassing?
I've done beer kits and have made up turbo ciders, but wine making seems to be evading me...:)

 

[PD]

Welcome to the forum
I'm not a big winemaker so I'll leave your questions for one our experts...
however you might find this informative

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/degassing-wine-73008/

 

[BerkshireBadger]

Read the instructions and followed to the letter.

I've spotted your first mistake! :lol:

Wine kit instructions are notoriously bad and suggest you'll have wonderful tasting wine in a couple of weeks. Rather than use their timings, let the wine take its own time over fermenting, wait until it has finished then leave it some more. Don't expect it to taste good straight away - young wine is very sharp and acidic and it needs time to mellow - the stronger the wine the longer it needs to mature. As you've only just started it you should be okay! :thumb:

Degassing is removing the gas that gets dissolved in the wine during fermentation. My favourite way is, after racking and stabilising, to place a (washed) hand over the neck of the demijohn and give it a damn good shake. Do that a couple of times then leave it alone to clear in its own time.

 

[bobsbeer]

Some people go wild and rather anal about degassing, but it is an important stage so should not be dismissed. The reason we do it, is to help the clear. Dissolved co2 holds particles in suspension, so in order for the wine to clear properly we need to get rid of it. Commercial winemakers allow the co2 to disperse naturally, by leaving the vats of wine to mature in bulk over time. We are rather more impatient, so a more mechanical method is employed. A good few really good shakes is all that is needed. But some have created and use vacuum machines, pumps and other contraptions to remove any trace of co2. In my opinion there is no need to go to such lengths. A good few shakes is all I do and then add finings.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Whats a good way of "degassing"....actually, mores to the point, what IS degassing?
I've done beer kits and have made up turbo ciders, but wine making seems to be evading me...:)

I use one of the coat hanger de-gassers like the one here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwq3TpkqCE

 

[Egon]

aha! cheers guys. i did think that the time involved was a bit quick!
instructions that bad eh? oh dear....looks like i have some serious reading to do!

love the plastic coat hanger method :)

cheers for the linky to the other thread, all the questions i was looking to ask! :)

i'm an engineer, so mad inventions are quite normal....:)

so, if i leave this fermenting for about 15-20 (instruction) days in my back bedroom, then add the stabiliser, at this point i degas?

 

[BerkshireBadger]

Leave it until it has finished fermenting completely (it might be 15-20 days or it might be a couple of months!), then leave it for a week or so after that. Rack it into a second demijohn, add stabiliser, give it a couple of good shakes each day for 2-3 days (or use a gadget to degas the wine) this will also help mix in the stabiliser/finings, then leave it to clear - then you can bottle it and leave it to mature...

...this winemaking game needs a LOT of patience!

Of course the end result will be worth it! :drunk:

 

[Egon]

Cheers chaps, greatly reassured its just patience thats required!
Fermentation is finished when theres little or no air lock movement?
20'c is a pain to maintain, isn't it? I was going to try the airing cupboard but thats got to be high 20's I'd have thought.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

aha! cheers guys. i did think that the time involved was a bit quick!
instructions that bad eh? oh dear....looks like i have some serious reading to do!

love the plastic coat hanger method :)
i'm an engineer, so mad inventions are quite normal....:)

?

Here is a better video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUY4LzRQ3_Y