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The joy of Bentonite

In a recent post in the "pH meter" thread, I said that I don't use Bentonite. That was not entirely true.

I've used Bentonite twice in the past, once with a stubbornly cloudy apple wine, and once with a cloudy orange wine. In both cases the results were very disappointing, and I resorted to other methods to clear the haze. As a result, I scratched Bentonite off my list of "useful things".

However, I have another apple wine that refused to clear for the past

6 months. I tried all the other methods I use, and it still wouldn't clear. So I decided that I may as well try the Bentonite again. Last night, I added a slurry (containing 21 grams of bentonite) to one of the 5-gallon carboys, and stirred to keep the slurry in suspension for about an hour.

That was about midnight. When I got up at 3 a.m., IT WAS COMPLETELY CLEAR! I don't mean it was starting to clear. I don't mean it was reasonably clear. I mean the wine is now no-need-to-filter sparkling clear, with about 3" of loose sediment!

WOW!

Reply to
Negodki
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Negodki, How do you make your white grape wines "hot stabilized" without the addition of Bentonite? Have you not incurred any protein hazes later on? Thanks, John Dixon

Reply to
J Dixon

I don't make any white wines, except for the apple.

In the past, I made a few high-alcohol white wines from Thompson grapes. They cleared with no additives.

I've also made a few "white wines" from citrus fruit. The ones made from concentrate had clearing problems. Bentonite didn't help, but tannin and/or egg-whites and/or super-chilling did.

Reply to
Negodki

All fining agents seem a little unpredictable, bentonite included. I usually use it on all my whites, but quantities can vary. I ran into the situation you mentioned on your fruit wines with my meads. Once I increased the quantity it went from 'close to useless' to 'look at how that cleared!'. That's why bench trials with bentonite make sense.

I make a 5% slurry and let it sit at least a day before use, it looks like gray pudding... Regards, Joe

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

Wineries seldom use Bentonite for clarification fining, but it is universally used to remove excess protein to render white and blush wines "hot" stable. lum

Reply to
Lum

ITEM DESCRIPTION WHAT IT DOES AMOUNT TO USE BENTONITE MONTMORILLONITE CLAY A FINING AGENT, REMOVES PECTIN HAZE 4 TEASPOONS IN 1/2 CUP WARM WATER

THE USE OFF

Reply to
Ant

And if they do, tell them shame shame on them for mistreating your wine so badly. Send the Wine Welfare Police after them.

Ray

Reply to
Ray

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