Isinglass equivalent solid to liquid form?

I've never seen liquid isinglass. The stuff is a PIA to mix up from solid, and Peynaud's book gives the following recommended proportions:

1 kilogram isinglass 100 liters water 100 grams tartaric acid 20 grams sulfur dioxide

It needs to be stirred thoroughly while the isinglass hydrates and forms a "jelly". After a few days, the clots are crushed with a brush and forced through a fine sieve. Then it's ready to go.

Peynaud mentions that isinglass should never be heated, like you would with gelatin. Also, it's recommended that it be stored refrigerated until use to prevent spoilage. I've heard mention of using a blender on it to homogenize the suspension after hydration, which makes sense to me.

To the first time user, isinglass is truly scary to use - not just because of the PIA preparation, but because it *stinks* so bad! (It's even worse than gelatin, which is also pretty foul smelling.) I suppose that's the free amines from the fish that stink, but apparently that all gets converted to odorless amides by the action of the acid in the wine. At least that's _my_ theory. :^)

All in all, I find it's worth the trouble to prepare because it can have such a remarkable effect on the flavor of a wine, and in rather small doses.

5 oz/1000 gal is considered a heavy dose, but good results can be obtained with much lower doses.

Tom S

Thanks Tom, but that doesn't really answer my question. Anyone else know what concentration solutions are often made up to?

I'm using the dried form but I've seen it sold as a liquid (without any quotation of the solution concentration). I've also seen people quote liquid dosages w/o soln. conc. again.

I've read Peynaud's info before too and have found it quite helpful. I also agree isinglass is a PIA to prepare. But then, I usually prepare my bentonite the same way (aside from the "jellification" and subsequent crushing of clots of course), so it isn't so bad. Ben

Liquid Isinglass exists, although it's not as common as the dry form. I've been quite curious which form works best... if, in fact one does. The liquid form looks easier to work with as it doesn't require much preperation to use.

I have my wine split between two vessels. I've been tempted to try the dry on one and liquid on the other.

Here's a link to a vendor selling liquid Isinglass:

If anyone has any experience with it, please share!

-Paul

I can't answer the question you asked (concentration of liquid Isinglass), but Lum's excellent manual suggests that .05 to .3 grams per gallon of wine is the range for dried Isinglass with .1 grams per gallon typical for white wine. He also suggests that it be dissolved in low pH wine at 1 gram to 100 ml of wine.

HTH,

Andy