Co2 blanket for racking/headspace?

Snuffalupagus · 02-19-2009, 03:14 AM

Sooooooo...
If Co2 is more heavy than air - could you not add a C02 blanket to your Racking bucket, and rack off your carboy into it in a non oxygenated environment? (like using a shield gas for welding?)

also if you were to have a spare tank of Co2 hanging around (which i do... I play paintball) could you not add a Co2 blanket to the head space in your carboys when bulk aging? and the head space in bottled product?

thoughts?

EvilTOJ · 02-19-2009, 09:16 AM

In a word, yes. I have heard of several people that add CO2 to the headspace of their secondary carboys. It works just as you'd expect, pretty well.

gratus fermentatio · 02-19-2009, 12:47 PM

Yes you can. I've done it using dry ice, warm water, a plastic sports bottle & some plastic tubing. Regards, GF.

Snuffalupagus · 02-20-2009, 07:46 AM

thanks for the advice - when I rack my next potent potable - I'll be blasting some CO2 in there using my 20 ounce paintball tank and remote line - I'll let you guys know how it works - and give pricing on the equipment I use. (paintball tanks are pretty cheap)

Snuffalupagus · 02-22-2009, 07:34 PM

Well I put my Bluebery Apple Monster Into secondary -

using one of these: HOT DEAL! 20 oz Catalina CO2 Tank - gen-20oz-cat (which can be purchased and filled at any sporting goods store where paintball supplies are sold. a fill for a 20 oz tank is about 5 dollars)
and one of these: Extreme Rage HPA Coil Remote - Quick Disconnect - er-remote-qd

first I added an additional 4 pounds of berries, then I purged the carboy of air and left the internal space filled with a full Co2 Atmosphere -then carefully racked the liquid over from primary. when i was done - I topped up with 3 quarts of blueberry juice and again -purged the bit of headspace with Co2 from the paintball tank, re installed a bung and airlock -and will leave the secondary to it's own devices for a while.
for about 50 dollars - it seems that one can buy a mess and trouble free way to put a blanket of Co2 on a beverage to reduce oxidation. no need to mess with dry ice, warm water and plastic bottles. just screw the remote onto the tank, open the valve a little (too much and it'll blast frozen snow everywhere) purge your bottle and go for it. 20oz of liquid Co2 in the tank will go a LONG way - likely be able to fill a dozen 5-6 gallon bottles with pure Co2 before needing a refill. just a thought.

Turnerdude1 · 06-24-2010, 07:09 PM

I am going to do about 100 gal of blackberry wine. Last year it took forever to rack backsweeten etc. So I bought a wine pump. I plan to pump the wine into two 30 gal trash cans clean the carboys and then refill them right away. Do I have to worry about headspace or should I buy a bottle of CO2??

Thanks

Azurelimits · 08-13-2010, 03:20 PM

I dont know about headspace and wine but I do know that you wouldn't want to use CO2 either way. Since CO2 is soluble it can be absorbed into your wine and carbonate. I hear nitrogen is your best bet, thats what they use for wine savers.