What has worked best for degassing in your experience? (2025)

So far I've used zipties on a dowel attached to a drill, a whisk on a drill, and a handful of paint mixers printed from the thingiverse(.com 3d printer model library). They all work but had drawbacks (in my opinion) and I'd like to improve my results.

anyone care to share what they've had the best results with? Thanks in advance.

Vacuum racking and time. Although there have been a few runs that just plain didn’t follow my regimen of degassing and were on their own schedule… LOL

I’ve also come to appreciate the protective nature of CO2 in a wine over time, gradually degassing during aging.

15-20 years ago I purchased a stirring rod, a stainless steel shaft with 2 free-swinging plastic pieces. It was a good purchase.

More important than the tool is what you expect from it.

Degassing is an imprecise process. It varies depending on the wine and its environment.

There is no such thing as "fully degassing a wine". If that was possible, it's a mistake. CO2 is part of the wine and contributes to the flavor. The best goal is to let CO2 reduce to a level where its in equilibrium in the wine, meaning no more comes out of suspension.

Post-fermentation I use my rod in a drill to build a small vortex for 30 seconds, then reverse the drill. I create another small vortex for 30 seconds, then I'm done.

The process expels a lot of CO2, and degassing continues over following weeks. Patience is key -- give the wine a minimum of 3 months of bulk aging to reach equilibrium.

David Violante said:

come to appreciate the protective nature of CO2 in a wine over time, gradually degassing during aging.

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winemaker81 said:

is no such thing as "fully degassing a wine". If that was possible, it's a mistake. CO2 is part of the wine and contributes to the flavor. The best goal is to let CO2 reduce to a level where its in equilibrium in the wine, meaning no more comes out of suspension.

Click to expand...

winemaker81 said:

More important than the tool is what you expect from it.

Click to expand...

I like this. You sometimes sound like Confucius.

In primary fermentation, I stir the must twice a day. That releases some CO2 and adds some O2, which the yeast need at that point. After that, I don't concern myself with degassing because:

1) I bulk age my wines for at least 4-5 months before bottling. By that time, they have degassed on their own.
2) I use an AIO pump for racking, which naturally degasses each time I rack
3) I usually backsweeten country wines, so right before bottling I stabilize them and add sugar. When I stir that in, it will help to degass the wine in the unlikely event that it is still necessary.

Why make it more complicated than it needs to be?

I like this stainless degassing tool. Would never use it in a glass carboy however. Always a plastic bucket.

https://www.smartwinemaking.com/product-page/premium-mixing-degassing-tool-100-stainless-steel