De-Gassing

[lockwood1956]

FROM THEIR WEBSITE

http://www.better-bottle.com/products_master.html
select the "how to" button for tons of info

Mixing/Degassing

Agitating the unsettled contents of Better-Bottle carboys in order to mix ingredients, add oxygen, or remove CO2 is very simple and, in contrast to glass carboys, no special equipment is required. If the wine or beer has already been settled in preparation for racking, slapping the side of the Better-Bottle carboy will cause shock waves that will drive CO2 out of the liquid and hasten settling of low density suspended or clinging solids – without significantly disturbing the sediment on the bottom of the carboy. To prevent oxygen contamination during degassing, carboys should be closed or equipped with a DryTrap air lock. Use the DryTrap tab to the left of this page for detailed information.




A Better-Bottle carboy can be placed on a cloth or towel and rolled back and forth to slosh the contents vigorously with very little effort. Leave extra head space during initial mixing and aeration to maximize agitation.



Swirling or rocking a Better-Bottle carboy vigorously requires almost no effort, if a tennis ball is placed in the punt space under the carboy. Leave extra head space during initial mixing and aeration to maximize agitation. To avoid wearing the bottom of the carboy, perform this operation on a smooth or soft surface.

[Biggles]

How on heavens earth do you sanitise a tennis ball before using it, and would it be discarded afterwards or could it be cleaned and re used????

[Hippie]

Look at the pic again, biggles. The ball is underneath the bottle.

[Mamgiowl]

How on heavens earth do you sanitise a tennis ball before using it, and would it be discarded afterwards or could it be cleaned and re used????

Look at the picture - it's on the outside, underneath the bottle!

[goldseal]

What if you don't play Tennis?

Seriously though - a Whizz Stick will be more effective, won't it? I would have thought removing a few litres to a DJ to create a bit of headspace would be a good idea too.

[Duffbeer]

How on heavens earth do you sanitise a tennis ball before using it, and would it be discarded afterwards or could it be cleaned and re used????

Hehee glasses might be order of the day.

[Mamgiowl]

Perhaps that was the trouble - he'd had too many of the other sort of glasses.

[lockwood1956]

I think you may be right

[spritzer]

Looks like a fab idea though...
I dont actually have any of these types of carbouys... but my friend does...
I think she will appreciate this info

[Her Lushness]

How on heavens earth do you sanitise a tennis ball before using it, ??

Hmmmm..... Tennis Ball Wine... I wonder if it'd turn out green?
(Or pink if you used pink ballls)

[wurzel]

Glass carboys also have a punt, I will give the tennis ball method a go next time with my one

[Richard S]

Glass carboys also have a punt, I will give the tennis ball method a go next time with my one

Keep a camera handy, we like pics of disasters.

[wurzel]

Oh....thanks Rick, maybee I'll give it a miss

[goldseal]

I have a question about my degassing technique (again)

I have a DJ of Christmas Pud wine, successfully degassed (I think) using a Vacuvin. I also have a 1+ litre plastic drinks bottle, fitted with an airlock and filled with the surplus.

So, to degas I transferred around a win bottle-full into (would you believe it) a wine bottle using a funnel and Vacuvin'd it. Lots of gas to start with, then settled down. I still had some in the plastic bottle, so I shook it to death. First couple of shakings produced a big escape of CO2 (and a small escape of wine onto the garage floor and my shoes). Subsequent shakings produced a champagne-like fizz which cleared within seconds.

Still with me?

I then transferred the wine bottle back to the plastic bottle (using a funnel), then started the process all over again.

I did this a few times, but the initial fizz, both from the Vacuvin and the shaking, was equally vigorous. Each time the reaction calmed down I mixed the two batches and started againn.

Am I causing this by transferring the wine back and forth using a funnel (aerating the wine, which I'm then pulling back out)?

[Duffbeer]

The key to knowing your wine is de-gassed is by the quick settling of the foam, if the foam sits their like whipped cream then there's more de-gassing needed.... But try not to get too anal about it, and yes every time you transfer you will get a little foaming.