For something that should be so simple, I often have problems de-gassing my
wine in the carboys. I currently have 2 whites that were fermented to dryness
at 55 degrees, and for some reason they seem to have a lot of retained CO2. At
a recent racking, however, a couple of weeks after fining with isinglass, and
not seeing any bubbles for 2 weeks, I decided to de-gas using a long agitator
on a drill.

The problem is that the more I agitate, the more of a head that I get...like
beer. The head dissipates over about 5-10 minutes, but if I re-agitate, I get
the head again. Is this retained CO2 or is it just wine that foams?

Lee

Racking, which is necessary after fining, will make al lot of CO2 go away;
you need to rack a couple of times within the coming 6 months, and CO2 will
disappear easily. What you have done, is pulling lots of air, and so OXYGEN
into your wine. Not such a good idea. Remember that we need oxygen to mature
wine, but not too much and not too fast. Add sulfite when racking, and rack
as soon as possible.

Ed


"LG1111" > schreef in bericht
...
> For something that should be so simple, I often have problems de-gassing
my
> wine in the carboys. I currently have 2 whites that were fermented to
dryness
> at 55 degrees, and for some reason they seem to have a lot of retained
CO2. At
> a recent racking, however, a couple of weeks after fining with isinglass,
and
> not seeing any bubbles for 2 weeks, I decided to de-gas using a long
agitator
> on a drill.
>
> The problem is that the more I agitate, the more of a head that I
get...like
> beer. The head dissipates over about 5-10 minutes, but if I re-agitate, I
get
> the head again. Is this retained CO2 or is it just wine that foams?
>
> Lee
>
>

Lee,

If it's still at 55 degrees, I don't know if the CO2 will come off because
it stays saturated in the wine. I had the same problem and put the wine in
an area at room temp and it took about 2 months for all the CO2 to come
out - it just kept coming! I occassionally gave the carboy a shake (without
opening) to get the CO2 to release out.

Ed



"LG1111" > wrote in message
...
> For something that should be so simple, I often have problems de-gassing
my
> wine in the carboys. I currently have 2 whites that were fermented to
dryness
> at 55 degrees, and for some reason they seem to have a lot of retained
CO2. At
> a recent racking, however, a couple of weeks after fining with isinglass,
and
> not seeing any bubbles for 2 weeks, I decided to de-gas using a long
agitator
> on a drill.
>
> The problem is that the more I agitate, the more of a head that I
get...like
> beer. The head dissipates over about 5-10 minutes, but if I re-agitate, I
get
> the head again. Is this retained CO2 or is it just wine that foams?
>
> Lee
>
>