Anyone out there with an Enolmatic bottle filler really should try it out
for degassing their wines. I used mine last night on one of the carboys of
Riesling I just racked off. Worked like a charm, got the wine substantially
degassed in about an hour. And part of that time was wasted because I was
trying to limit the foaming by lessening the vacuum.

Once I gave myself a good sized headspace (take out about a cup or so from
full) and used some of my brewing anti-foam agent, I was able to crank the
filler up to 11 (so to speak) and the gas just poured out in a rush. I
figure this process poses less risk of oxidation than getting in there with
a stir stick, or God forbid, shaking the bejeezus out of the carboy like
some people do.

I just jury rigged a simple connector with a length of 1/2" tubing and a
couple of airlocks. The tubing fits snugly over the center stem of a 3 piece
airlock which gets bunged into the carboy. The other end of the tubing goes
on the bung end of an S-type airlock. The black vacuum hose on the Enolmatic
jams nicely into the top of the S-type, creating a good seal for vacuuming.
I'm sure the more creative can come up with something better.

Brian

Brian,
I have used my Food Saver Vacuum pack for the same purpose, but dont
anymore for the following reason: It was pointed out that the process
possibly/likely? would remove Volatiles/ desireable aromas in the wine along
with the CO2. Cant say personally whether this is a fact or not as I haven't
done side by side trials, but the concern alone was enough for me to cease
this practice. The exception I occassionally make is with individual bottles
which for testing/early sampling I want a rapid and effective way to degass.
Just food for thought, and comments/ experiences are welcome.
John Dixon
"Brian Lundeen" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone out there with an Enolmatic bottle filler really should try it out
> for degassing their wines. I used mine last night on one of the carboys of
> Riesling I just racked off. Worked like a charm, got the wine
substantially
> degassed in about an hour. And part of that time was wasted because I was
> trying to limit the foaming by lessening the vacuum.
>
> Once I gave myself a good sized headspace (take out about a cup or so from
> full) and used some of my brewing anti-foam agent, I was able to crank the
> filler up to 11 (so to speak) and the gas just poured out in a rush. I
> figure this process poses less risk of oxidation than getting in there
with
> a stir stick, or God forbid, shaking the bejeezus out of the carboy like
> some people do.
>
> I just jury rigged a simple connector with a length of 1/2" tubing and a
> couple of airlocks. The tubing fits snugly over the center stem of a 3
piece
> airlock which gets bunged into the carboy. The other end of the tubing
goes
> on the bung end of an S-type airlock. The black vacuum hose on the
Enolmatic
> jams nicely into the top of the S-type, creating a good seal for
vacuuming.
> I'm sure the more creative can come up with something better.
>
> Brian
>
>

I'd want to see more than anecdotal evidence on the aroma loss. However, I
don't think the Food Savers are meant to be run for long periods of
continuous operation. I would be concerned about premature wear. Heck, you
can always hook up the Hoover. ;-)

Brian

"J Dixon" > wrote in message
t...
> Brian,
> I have used my Food Saver Vacuum pack for the same purpose, but dont
> anymore for the following reason: It was pointed out that the process
> possibly/likely? would remove Volatiles/ desireable aromas in the wine
along
> with the CO2. Cant say personally whether this is a fact or not as I
haven't
> done side by side trials, but the concern alone was enough for me to cease
> this practice. The exception I occassionally make is with individual
bottles
> which for testing/early sampling I want a rapid and effective way to
degass.
> Just food for thought, and comments/ experiences are welcome.
> John Dixon

"Brian Lundeen" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone out there with an Enolmatic bottle filler really should try it out
> for degassing their wines. I used mine last night on one of the carboys of
> Riesling I just racked off.

The only thing that would worry me about doing this in a carboy is the
possibility of an implosion. Carboys aren't built for vacuum.

Tom S

tom,
this seems to be a very valid point. this said, with all of the people
who have done vacuum degassing, does anyone know of this happening? thanks
to all, jim book

"Tom S" > wrote in message
. com...
>
> "Brian Lundeen" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Anyone out there with an Enolmatic bottle filler really should try it
out
> > for degassing their wines. I used mine last night on one of the carboys
of
> > Riesling I just racked off.
>
> The only thing that would worry me about doing this in a carboy is the
> possibility of an implosion. Carboys aren't built for vacuum.
>
> Tom S
>
>

"Tom S" > wrote in message
. com...
>
> The only thing that would worry me about doing this in a carboy is the
> possibility of an implosion. Carboys aren't built for vacuum.
>
> Tom S
>

In another forum, someone commented that carboys can tolerate vacuum better
than pressure inside. He used words like compression and tension in the
glass, in differentiating between pressure from without and within. IOW, it
is harder to make a carboy implode than explode.

The Enolmatic actually comes with a carboy adapter, so that it can be used
to transfer wine between carboys. I would assume it works by creating a
vacuum within the empty carboy, the same way it fills by creating a vacuum
within a bottle.

It really doesn't sound to me like there is much danger of implosion with a
sound carboy. If the carboy has defects, well, it is probably going to
experience structural failure at some point anyway. I would rather it
happens while sitting on a bench having the air sucked out of it, than when
I'm carrying it around in my arms.

It would be an interesting experiment to hook up a powerful vacuum to an
empty carboy and see if atmospheric pressure really is enough to make it
implode. However, I won't be the one to do it. I like my carboys. ;-)

Brian

I hear Tom's point - I would not want use any positive or negative pressure
devices with carboys and demijohns, BUT... like concrete, glass is stronger
in compression than tension.

In a negative pressure scenario, the carboy at least distributes the stress
of the atmospheric pressure to the remainder of the glass in the hoop (in
compression). With positive pressure, the stress distribution is less
"efficient" because the material is now in tension.

Additionally (I don't know the effect of this), the 5 gallon carboys I have
are with smooth inner walls but the exterior is latticed (inherent in the
glass mold, I assume). The lattice provides additional strength to the
carboy on the external wall. Since positive pressure would put the lattice
in tension, I postulate that the carboy would explode before imploding
(lattice in compression when negative pressure is applied).


Patrick

"Brian Lundeen" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Tom S" > wrote in message
> . com...
> >
> > The only thing that would worry me about doing this in a carboy is the
> > possibility of an implosion. Carboys aren't built for vacuum.
> >
> > Tom S
> >
>
> In another forum, someone commented that carboys can tolerate vacuum
better
> than pressure inside. He used words like compression and tension in the
> glass, in differentiating between pressure from without and within. IOW,
it
> is harder to make a carboy implode than explode.
>
> The Enolmatic actually comes with a carboy adapter, so that it can be used
> to transfer wine between carboys. I would assume it works by creating a
> vacuum within the empty carboy, the same way it fills by creating a vacuum
> within a bottle.
>
> It really doesn't sound to me like there is much danger of implosion with
a
> sound carboy. If the carboy has defects, well, it is probably going to
> experience structural failure at some point anyway. I would rather it
> happens while sitting on a bench having the air sucked out of it, than
when
> I'm carrying it around in my arms.
>
> It would be an interesting experiment to hook up a powerful vacuum to an
> empty carboy and see if atmospheric pressure really is enough to make it
> implode. However, I won't be the one to do it. I like my carboys. ;-)
>
> Brian
>
>