"Adam Johnson" > wrote in message
...
> Hey,
>
> First timer making a kit wine (Merlot) and struggling to comprehend the
> minimalist instructions.
>
> Currently at the degassing stage (Day 21, SG 0.996). From doing a
> little research I have read that this is really only applicable for kit
> wines to make them ready faster, and that the wine would degas on its
> own given the time. Being newbies, we don't have the patience to wait a
> couple of months and so we are proceeding to degas.
>
> My questions a
> * what amount of degassing is appropriate?
> * what are the signs that enough CO2 has been removed?
>
> We don't have any fancy stirring doowhackeys (vacuum pumps and the like)
> and are just stirring it using a long spoon. The plan was to stir the
> wine about 5 times over 2 days for about 2-3 minutes at a time.

You need to stir it more vigorously than that to have much impact on the
dissolved CO2. Go buy a long bottle brush (~18"x3" diameter), cut off the
loop handle and chuck it in a drill. Stick the brush into the carboy and
spin the drill. That'll be much more effective than stirring with a spoon.

If you're serious about winemaking, you need to invest in some equipment.
It doesn't need to be fancy or expensive, but there are a few things you
simply need to have.

Tom S