Clearing a Reisling

It would help to know the brand of the kit, as different kit companies offten differ in fining procedures. In general terms, kieselsol by itself should not be enough at this stage. I would expect kieselsol fining to be followed by isinglass or gelatin or another positively charged fining agent - isn't there any other fining package in the kit?

Filtration is not recommended on visibly cloudy wines, so I'd wait with that and try fining first. I'd also contact the kit producer for advice

- they should know their product and tell you the best approach to take at this point.

Pp

All good advice; I use straight bentonite as a 5% solution and never have issues. I mix a pint at one time because I rarely need that much to do 5 gallons. I do trials on 375 ml at 1/4, 1/2 and that dosage. Within 2 days you will know how much you need. 1/4 dose is usually enough if you are willing to wait a few weeks.

You should follow up with a hot stability test but I never do. I figure if I give someone a white and they leave it in the trunk of their car on a hot day they really don't know much about wines to begin with; cloudy wine is probably the least of the problems...

Joe Joe

The kit was kind of a no name package hence the lousy instructions. The only additives were those that I mentioned. As well there was no mention of another fining agent, the kieselsol being the last additive before bottling.

Would you recommend isinglass as my next step?

Thanks, Andrew

pp wrote:

I'd try pectic enzyme (my first line of attack as my posts indicate) then bentonite, as Joe recommended.

I filtered my wines many moons ago but stopped the practice. Fining agents and time generally do just fine -- I've had reds that lasted 5+ years with no sediment. [I also made a mead that sat for a year, no sediment the last 9 months, bottled it and it dropped a fine amount of sediment within 2 weeks ...]

Bryan

Thanks again for the advice. I'll give the pectic enzyme a try.

I also have some mead on the go. It looks and smells delicious.

Andrew

Jake Speed wrote:

Joe, are you saying you can reliably and quickly clear your whites with just bentonite? I'm not doing the trials and do my bentonite additions pretty low, and I usually have to use another fining agent after - Sparkalloid or gelatin (in the past). My understanding was that using two agents is the normal case because of the polarity - bentonite takes out proteins, and the other agant takes out negatively charged elements. If bentonite were enough on its own, I'd prefer that because it'd speed up the clearing considerably.

Also, I'm not clear on the amount you're using - are the 1/4, 1/2, and

1 referring to the pint of the solution with respect to 5 gals? So something like 20-25g of bentonite at the full strength?

Thx,

Pp

Pp,

Although your question is to Joe, I'll pass along what has worked well for me with Riesling using pressed settle juice:

1.) 2g/gal Bentonite (net negative charge at wine pH). Excellent for protein stability in wine since many protein are net + at wine pH. Must be swelled properly. 2.) Isinglass (I buy the premixed stuff 'cause it's a PITA to mix yourself) at 5mL/gal (net positive charge at wine pH).

RD

I don't know what happened to the reply to this, I posted it a week ago. apologies. :

Yes, I just wait a few weeks and rack. I take the dregs and let them settle in another bottle too. That way I don't waste too much wine left in the lees.

I do 375 ml bottles, one with 10 ml of the bentonite slurry, one with 5 ml, one with 2.5 ml added.

Make sense?

Joe