Beaverdale Wine Kit

[GAZ9053]

does it not add a lot of air into it if its dripping from such a height?

[sparky Paul]

does it not add a lot of air into it if its dripping from such a height?

I worried about that at the beginning, but it's not a problem with wine.

[sbond10]

How do you degas 23 litres without a degasser shake like the 1 gallon version?

[sparky Paul]

How do you degas 23 litres without a degasser shake like the 1 gallon version?

You would have to be like Charles Atlas to shake 23 litres about!

What I do is pour from one 5G fermenter to another a few times. That should pretty much do the job, but to make sure, I then put it back under airlock and forget about it for a week or two... let it finish degassing naturally.

[Jim]

..........If you're desperate, I might have an old box of Boots filter papers somewhere. ........

I might take you up on that!

Actually, I think I also have an old pack lying about - I was worried they might have stuff growing on them by now though! I can't remember if they're sealed up or not. Must have a look in the garage!

[sparky Paul]

Actually, I think I also have an old pack lying about - I was worried they might have stuff growing on them by now though! I can't remember if they're sealed up or not. Must have a look in the garage!

IIRC new packs were originally cellophane wrapped. I had a rummage and found a pack of 100, but it's been opened and there's a few missing. They look clean, but they are very old and are not in a bag or anything, just loose in a cardboard outer - I haven't looked at them too closely as I didn't want to maul them.

Other alterative, as I say, if to make something else fit.

[Horden Hillbilly]

Re corking, I notice you use a two handled corker - is that the same as the Wilkos £15 one? I currently have a 'hand corker' from years ago but it's about as much use as a chocolate fireguard - every cork I ever put in with it got distorted out of shape and wouldn't go right into the bottle.

Where do you get the siliconed corks from by the way?

I got then both from Hop & Grape Jim. I've had the twin lever corker for about 20 years now, I had one of those hand corkers before that & it wasn't much kop. The silicone corks are well worth the bit extra money imo, they're a doddle to use compared to the standard corks. No need for soaking in hot water to soften them.

[Horden Hillbilly]

does it not add a lot of air into it if its dripping from such a height?

I push a length of plastic tubing on the bottom outlet of mine to prevent that as seen on the fourth photo here.

[GAZ9053]

That would make me less worried Horden.

[Horden Hillbilly]

How do you degas 23 litres without a degasser shake like the 1 gallon version?

I use a whizz stick attached to a drill, as seen here. It's a good investment if you intend to make 5 gallon wine kits on a regular basis.

[Jim]

Well, this stopped bubbling about a week ago, and I've just checked the sg - 0.992 (instructions say reds should be 0.990 to 0.994, so all appears to be well). Tastes pretty good too!

I'll give it a few more days settling time, recheck the gravity then rack it and stick the stabilizer in.

Is there any point in chilling it at this point or anything, or should I stabilize and fine it first?

[GAZ9053]

I don't chill mine Jim, i don't think you would need to drop out the tartaric as you don't end up storing the wine long enough for it to form naturally.

[Jim]

Thanks Gaz - I won't bother with any chilling then.

[Capped]

Degassing... in keeping with my unconventional approach to most things, after stabilisation/fining etc, I replace the airlock in the FV's lid with a foot-long piece of very flexible tubing then suck on it until the walls of the FV collapse then fold the tube in half and clamp it, thus maintaining the very low pressure within. Yeah I know, but it seems to work very well indeed. I used to do the 'transferring from a great height from one FV to another, causing lots of splashing and foam' as advised in the Magnum instructions, but I was never comfortable with that due to the exposure to air, though it did work. My method eliminates air contact and is far less messy and strenuous!

[GAZ9053]

Doesn't sound a bad way at all Capped.