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Letting The Gas Out

April 21st, 2009 by robin in wine making

Today we are going to discuss one of the most important tools in winemaking and it is probably the most overlooked. Anyone who has made wine before knows that the process of fermentation produces two major things – alcohol and carbon dioxide.

You probably know that much of the carbon dioxide fills the open space in the fermentation container or carboy and the excess escapes through the airlock, creating that wonderful bubbling we all love so much. However, did you know that often some carbon dioxide remains in the wine bound to the molecules? It is true, especially if you are fermenting at the lower end of the temperature range.

So how do you know when you have trapped carbon dioxide and what do you do to fix it? Let’s take that question one piece at a time. Sometimes the first answer is easy. You may take a sample of your wine with your wine thief and see bubbles rising quickly inside the thief as if it were a sparkling wine. Another method is to take a small taste of your wine and see if you feel slight tingling on your tongue. Unfortunately, neither of these methods are flawless nor very scientific, so the best rule of thumb is to assume there is trapped carbon dioxide and take steps to get it out.

To remove the trapped carbon dioxide, we need cavitation. Dictionary.com defines cavitation as “The rapid formation and collapse of vapor pockets in a flowing liquid in regions of very low pressure.” Translation, we need to get the wine moving and change the direction of the flow quickly to release the carbon dioxide. To do this, you can put your wine back into a sanitized primary fermentation vessel and use a large stainless steel spoon if you’d like, but take my word for it – that method is exhausting. Instead, I recommend purchasing a whip degasser and allow a drill to do the hard work for you.

Now there are are variety of whip degassers on the market and they range in price from under $10 to over $50. My experience tells me with this, you get what you pay for and the higher priced whips will work faster and more effectively than their counterparts.

So how do they work? Put the whip inside the carboy and attach a drill. Start the whip moving in one direction. As soon as you begin to see the wine move in that direction, quickly switch the direction on the drill and spin the whip in the other direction. Continue this process for several minutes. As you do this it is important that you not move the whip vertically in the carboy or break the surface of the wine as this will insert oxygen into the wine. I would be remiss if I did not warn you at this point. Often, if you have a substantial amount of trapped carbon dioxide and you are performing this whipping technique it is as if you “hit a wall” and the carbon dioxide will release all at once. If this is going to happen it is generally in the first minute so be on alert. If your wine begins to foam suddenly, simply stop the whip and let the wine rest for a bit. The carbon dioxide will escape and the foam will dissipate. You can then whip it a bit more just to make sure you got it all, but in the end you will have removed that unwanted carbon dioxide and you can move on to stabilize and clear your wine.

What Went Wrong – Top 10 Wine Making Mistakes #9

March 27th, 2009 by robin in wine making, wine making tips

We have discussed inadequate equipment, cleaning & sanitizing, failure to follow instructions, bad water, poor yeast handling, poor temperature control, adding sulfite or sorbate at the wrong time, and leaving out the Sulfite. The next topic that requires our attention is Not Stirring your wine.

On day one, the kit needs to be stirred very vigorously. This is because the juice and concentrate are very viscous, and don’t mix easily with water. Even if it seems that dumping the contents of the bag into the primary with the water has done the job, it hasn’t. The wine lies on the bottom of the pail, with a layer of water on top, throwing off any gravity readings, and making the yeast work extra hard.

When it comes time to stabilize and fine the wine, it has to be stirred vigorously enough to drive off all of the CO₂ it accumulated during fermentation. This is because the dissolved gas will attach to the fining agents, preventing them from settling out. You need to stir hard enough to make the wine foam, and keep stirring until it will no longer foam. Only then will the gas be driven off so the fining agents can work. The most effective way to stir your wine sufficiently to degas it is by using a 3-prong wand and electric drill.

Tomorrow will be our last entry on the topic of top wine making mistakes – not waiting long enough.