cutting addtives in wineexpert/brewking kits (and what do they do?)

By adjusting your winemaking habits and expectations you can adjust many of the chemicals they include for better or worse.

Betonite is a clarifying agent. It is really an inert clay. It is found in many foods, especially chololotes. If you have no problem with Hershey's, this is not your problem. But it can usually be left out. your wine may take longer to clear and it may not clear. But it probably will. Just give it a few months. I rarely use it in my home made wines.

This is for stabalizing sweet wines. If your wine has residual sugar then all of it is needed. It keeps fermentation from restarting in bottle and making bottle bombs. This is especially important with kits where you bottle young. But, if you make your wine dry, it can be left out totally. Never add it unless you are makeing a sweeter wine.

The sulfites are often suspect in terms of headachs. Some argue they are a problem others that they are not. They can be left out but your wine may have a shorter shelf life.

Best of luck

Ray

The Bentonite addition at the beginning of the primary fermentation process at first glance is curious. Most people think of it a only a clarifying agent added long after the primary fermentation. Placing it in the beginning does create a tighter lees that is easier to rack off without stirring up. However, the real reason is that is will absorb some excess protein providing a more stable wine that will survive higher temperatures during storage. This is also accomplished at the same time as the clarification process when bentonite is used for fining. But Brewking kits use chitosan for the fining agent. Over use of bentonite may strip the wine of some flavor. You can cut the bentonite step at the primary fermentation but you cannot allow the finished wine to overheat or it will haze in the bottle.

The potassium sorbate is used to prevent the yeast that is left, but still alive, from budding. i.e. reproducing. It is only used for wine that is bottled with residual sugar. It will not kill bacteria and ML fermentation may still occur. To prevent the bacteria from fermenting in your bottled wine you should add potassium metabisulfite.

You can avoid a ton of additions by sterile filtering to 0.2 microns. But it is extremely expensive. You won't need the metabisulfite or the bentonite or the sorbate. The finished wine will be delicate and require care to prevent spoilage.