Co2 at bottling

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jscerri

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Should be bottling the niagra mist kit bit has so much co2 in it! I've attempted to de gas over tue last 3 days but am worried I am going to lose the batch! I've filtered it because it was really cloudy but still loads of co2! Any suggestions!
 
Should be bottling the niagra mist kit bit has so much co2 in it! I've attempted to de gas over tue last 3 days but am worried I am going to lose the batch! I've filtered it because it was really cloudy but still loads of co2! Any suggestions!

Keep degassing, or let it sit and degas naturally but don't bottle a gassy wine!
 
Yooper said:
Keep degassing, or let it sit and degas naturally but don't bottle a gassy wine!

Yooper - you ever tried a hand vacuum pump, clean shop vac, or something similar to degas the wine? I was thinking it could help here. They look interesting but suspicious (if something looks too good to be true ...), so I haven't tried anything but "stirring vigorously."
 
Yooper - you ever tried a hand vacuum pump, clean shop vac, or something similar to degas the wine? I was thinking it could help here. They look interesting but suspicious (if something looks too good to be true ...), so I haven't tried anything but "stirring vigorously."

I have a wine whip that I use with my drill. I've heard about people using the mity-vac successfully (the brake bleeder device) but I don't have one.

One thing that helps alot- getting the wine warmer. A colder wine really holds onto co2. But if you can get the wine to 75 degrees or so or more, it'll degas easier.
 
Yooper - you ever tried a hand vacuum pump, clean shop vac, or something similar to degas the wine? I was thinking it could help here. They look interesting but suspicious (if something looks too good to be true ...), so I haven't tried anything but "stirring vigorously."

Hand pump works fine but it takes a lot of pumping, if you can sit in front of the tv and give it a few pumps every few minutes it works great...but if you have something better to do an electric is a better choice.
 
Any suggestions on size/power for the pump? I have these visions stuck in my head of a carboy imploding. I also have my old food saver - I could hook that up to a carboy cap and see how it works.

Yooper - good call on heating it up - I should pick up a wine whip next time I'm at the LHBS (local home brew store for those readers unfamiliar with beer terminology).
 
Any suggestions on size/power for the pump? I have these visions stuck in my head of a carboy imploding. I also have my old food saver - I could hook that up to a carboy cap and see how it works.

Yooper - good call on heating it up - I should pick up a wine whip next time I'm at the LHBS (local home brew store for those readers unfamiliar with beer terminology).

A wine whip is better for mixing than degassing, hook your foodsaver to it and let it suck away. I throttle mine by eye and let it hum away. I actually don't have a vac gauge so I don't know how many inches of mercury I'm actually pulling. Never blew one up yet....I think the stopper would get sucked in first.

a 3/8" barb fitting fits a drilled bung nice and tight, get a slightly larger bung, a 3/8" barb to NPT, then NPT reducer and barb to whatever size your foodsaver hose is. Polyethylene tubing is cheap and works perfect.
 
Thanks guys! I have been whipping it but seem to be getting no where! I fear that I may be introducing oxygen while whopping it though!
 
I've used a hand vac with pretty good success. I normally pump it until bubbles start forming and then let it sit and pump it another few times every time I pass by it. Typically it will be completely degassed after about two days but I normally keep it up for about a week just to make sure.
 
I've refrigerated my hole Carboy to stop fermentation as ag was dropping due to active fermentation! This was causing continued co2 growth!
 
That may be your problem. I have limited experience with wine (2 kits), but your FG seems high. According to these instructions, it should be <1.000 before you go to the degassing stage (after which it can be back sweetened to the 1.010 target).

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Niagara Mist instructions.pdf

My theory is that your yeast is still chugging along, and it needs a little more time to finish out before it will degas properly. Also note as Yooper stated that it'll be harder to get CO2 out of solution when the wine is cold. You'll have to let it come to room temp so you can degas before stabilizing.
 
Actuall finish gravity was 1.016. Should have been around 1.02 as when you add the fruit pack it raises the sugar content much like back sweeting! And as far as the instructions for these kits! Throw them in the garbage, they are useless and written my monkeys!
 
And brewgyver youshould have read the whole post! My problem was I had already finished the wine but when at bottling stage discover co2
 
jscerri said:
And brewgyver youshould have read the whole post! My problem was I had already finished the wine but when at bottling stage discover co2

I was the 2nd reply - woulda been hard not to read it. Glad it worked out for you!

And for the record, if it wasn't degased, it wasn't technically finished ;).
 
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