| Everyone who has ever purchased a wine kit and | | | | your wine. Degassing with a method that involves |
| read the instructions probably know that | | | | stirring or agitating the wine with the air lock |
| degassing wine is an important step before adding | | | | removed from the carboy will increase contact |
| clarification ingredients. At the same time, many | | | | with air. Too much contact with air can cause |
| have questions about this process. But first, what | | | | oxidation and allow for a greater possibility of |
| is this gas and where does it come from? | | | | bacteria spoilage. The addition of sulfite to the |
| All home winemakers likely know that in order to | | | | wine will provide it with protection against this. |
| make wine, the juice needs to be inoculated with | | | | Tip #2 - Warmth |
| yeast. The yeast produce alcohol while consuming | | | | At cooler temperatures, carbon dioxide is more |
| the sugar in the juice. Alcohol is not the only | | | | difficult to remove from any liquid. If you have |
| bi-product however. Carbon dioxide is also | | | | kept your wine in a cool cellar, it will have retained |
| produced by yeast. When the fermentation is | | | | much more gas than it would have if it had been |
| vigorous, considerable amounts of carbon dioxide | | | | in a warm location. The ideal temperature to |
| gas are released into the air through the airlock. | | | | degas wine is about 75 F (about 24 C). Try to |
| Due to a variety of circumstances, the wine can | | | | find a warm spot to store your carboy for a few |
| hold quite a bit of gas after the fermentation is | | | | days before you start the degassing process. |
| completed. In still wines, the presence of carbon | | | | Tip #3 - Racking |
| dioxide in anything but very small amounts is | | | | Racking the wine a couple of times in between |
| undesirable. | | | | vigorous stirring can help drive off carbon dioxide. |
| For those who don't have a vacuum pump, | | | | Splash the wine coming out of the end of the |
| removing the carbon dioxide (or degassing as the | | | | siphon tube against the sides of the carboy. As |
| method is referred to) can be a time consuming | | | | you do this, much of the gas will be driven out. |
| process. As well, the winemaker needs to be | | | | Degassing wine is one part of the winemaking |
| cautious about too much oxygen coming into | | | | process that can be frustrating to some. But it is |
| contact with the wine while trying to help along | | | | an important step especially for those who want |
| the process of degassing. So what should you do? | | | | their wines to clarify and then be bottled in 4 to 8 |
| Tip #1 - Sulfite | | | | weeks. |
| Before you begin degassing, always add sulfite to | | | | |