Degassing

amazinglarry · 12-21-2011, 10:12 PM

For how many days do you degas a mead for?

**Huskysibe** · 12-22-2011, 07:58 PM

I am curious as well.

Atek · 12-22-2011, 08:43 PM

I usually do it the first 7 days staggering nutrients as well.

**fatbloke** · 12-22-2011, 08:46 PM

Not a case of how many days........

It depends on how you want to de-gas.

You can stopper a carboy and roll it for a couple of minutes, then open it to release the pressure, or you can shake a stoppered carboy and the release the pressure, but that depends on the size as it's bloody hard work with a 5 gallon one.

You can use a folding stirrer and spin it with a drill, keeping the "blades" down low.
Personally I use a vacuum pump. Running it until no more bubbles come out.

**huesmann** · 12-23-2011, 01:05 PM

Or you could just use a household vacuum with a hose. Get a short tube from the hardware store (I bought a plastic tube in the plumbing dept, something for faucet extensions or something). You might want to wrap it with tape to tighten up the clearances, but you can stick one end in your carboy rubber stopper, and get another rubber stopper that you can stick in the end of your vacuum hose.

**fatbloke** · 12-23-2011, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atek

I usually do it the first 7 days staggering nutrients as well.

This reply has caused me to think what the OP was actually asking.

If the question was about "stirring" to add some air/O2 into a ferment, then it's generally termed as "aeration".

Whereas, the term "de-gassing" would normally be applied to removing CO2 from a finished ferment.

Obviously the term "de-gassing" isn't exclusive to the later, but it does more accurately explain what's going on in the process i.e. the former is to get more air/O2 into the brew to aid yeast development - some people will just aerate to the 1/3rd sugar break so it ties in nicely with a 2 stage SNA technique, others will aerate to 1/2 sugar break, and some will even aerate until they want to move the brew into secondary - I usually go with the first method i.e. the 1/3rd sugar break one.

Not trying to "nit pick", just to clear up what might cause confusion.....

GinKings · 12-23-2011, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatbloke

This reply has caused me to think what the OP was actually asking.

If the question was about "stirring" to add some air/O2 into a ferment, then it's generally termed as "aeration".

Whereas, the term "de-gassing" would normally be applied to removing CO2 from a finished ferment.

Obviously the term "de-gassing" isn't exclusive to the later, but it does more accurately explain what's going on in the process i.e. the former is to get more air/O2 into the brew to aid yeast development - some people will just aerate to the 1/3rd sugar break so it ties in nicely with a 2 stage SNA technique, others will aerate to 1/2 sugar break, and some will even aerate until they want to move the brew into secondary - I usually go with the first method i.e. the 1/3rd sugar break one.

Not trying to "nit pick", just to clear up what might cause confusion.....

I don't want to "nit pick" either, but I gotta disagree. "Stirring" after fermentation has begun is as much about degassing as it is about aeration. Maybe more.

**huesmann** · 12-23-2011, 09:11 PM

I don't know about all that. You can still have a successful ferment if you do neither (as long as you aerate before pitching).

As far as degassing (if one bothers), when is it best to do so? Primary? Secondary?

GinKings · 12-23-2011, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huesmann

I don't know about all that. You can still have a successful ferment if you do neither (as long as you aerate before pitching).

As far as degassing (if one bothers), when is it best to do so? Primary? Secondary?

You're right. Degassing is optional.

I hear a lot of people talk about degassing meads for the first third of fermentation. I usually degas mine for the first 4-5 days of fermentation. This is done to keep the yeast happy.

I believe some people degas after fermentation is complete to remove CO2 from solution. I age my meads for a long time and the CO2 comes out on it's own, so I've never felt the need to do this.

One word of warning, degassing an active fermentation can cause excessive foaming. Do it gently and a bit at a time. Shake a carboy vigorously or run a wine whip on high speed and you may find yourself cleaning honey off the kitchen ceiling.

Atek · 12-24-2011, 03:20 AM

Fatbloke is right. When the stirring is done during the first few days of fermenting it is actually done more to introduce oxygen into the must and encourage yeast reproduction. The act of degassing for the sake of removing dissolved co2 I believe is done after fermentation is complete and is rarely done by stirring. Most of the time simply appropriate rackings will facilitate adequate degassing. Most people here I've noticed refer to daily aeration as degassing so I assumed that's what the OP meant. Aeration during fermentation is definitely not absolutely required to make a good Mead but it has been proven to, in conjunction with SNA, significantly decrease the primary fermentation time. It had also seemed to make my Meads more consistently tasty. :-)