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Is it possible to degas too much?

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Valcarion

Valcarion

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 17, 2018
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I tend to degas whenever I notice the airlock is popping out a bubble every 5 seconds or less. Is the goal to just make sure there is as little CO2 as possible? Or am I doing it too much to the detriment of the batch?

Thanks!


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You're fine. Gi by a hydrometer. Bubbles don't mean crap! Degass as the ferment would tell you. As it slows down it won't take as much effort to get the CO2 out of suspension. But still important none the less.
 
Squatchy said:
You're fine. Gi by a hydrometer. Bubbles don't mean crap! Degass as the ferment would tell you. As it slows down it won't take as much effort to get the CO2 out of suspension. But still important none the less.
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On this note - up to what point should you degas, and how much? My fermentation is nearing the end of it's life, with the hydrometer reading slowly dropping a few points every day, and there's noticeably less CO2 being produced every time I get to the fermenter. There's less foam when I degas and the airlock is slowing down as well. I'm worried that if I degas too much, specially near the end of the fermentation when there's less CO2 coming off, I run the risk of stirring too much oxygen into the must (since there's nowhere near as much CO2 to drive off the oxygen coming into the fermenter anymore). Right now I'm resorting to picking up the entire fermenter and swirling it around for a while to drive off CO2 without opening the lid, and it works but it's nowhere near as effective as stirring. Is it something I should be worried about or am I overthinking this?
 
You almost can’t degas too much. I continue stirring for 1-2 months after fermentation:
1st month: yeast help clean up making fining easier
2nd through 4th month: adds sur lie ageing which increases the complexity of the mead by adding bread-like notes.
For the 1st 2 months after fermentation you don’t have to stir as often as for degassing: every other day
Gentle stirring of course.
Keep in mind that mead is somewhat more resistant to oxidation than wine. But of course if you leave it with dryed out airlock for months then oxidation will still occur.

Bottom line: stirring longer than necessary won’t hurt (within reason.)
 
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