# How do you use bentonite?



## deboard (Aug 8, 2011)

I've been making this wine stuff for almost 2 years now, but I had never used bentonite. After reading more than one post talking about it, I decided to get some. The instructions say to put two teaspoons in warm water and then add that to the must/wine. 

Is this what everyone does? I ended up with some gray mud that preferred to coat the container it was in rather than go in the wine. I should have expected this since it's just clay. 

Seems like it should be ok to just put 2 tsp directly into the must and stir in with the rest of the ingredients. Am I missing something here?

For the people that use bentonite, do you use it only during fermentation or have you used it afterward with success?


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## ibglowin (Aug 8, 2011)

It is used up front before fermentation. It must be used with hot/boiling water, you can't just dump it into the must as it wouldn't dissolve. It should end up being a nice thick slurry. I usually heat about 6oz water in the microwave till boiling then pour it in and stir like crazy with a glass stirring rod for a few minutes, then just let it sit for another 10 min more and stir again just prior to pouring it into the primary. It will fully dissolve/integrate into the must if you follow this procedure.


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## Midwest Vintner (Aug 8, 2011)

It works either way you use it. You need to work it into the warm water so that it's a thick milk like substance. There's always going to be a little that's somewhat solid, but I pour all the milky stuff off the top and try to leave the solids in the bottom. Mixing slow helps keep it from clumping. It can do a good job on some wines, depending on the problem, but others may not gain much. I don't use any clearing agent, until it's obvious it isn't clearing very well. Just how I do it.


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## deboard (Aug 8, 2011)

I don't use a lot of fining agents, but I just started my kitchen sink #3 wine, which is a way for me to use all the unused fruit in the house. I put it in the freezer, and then when I get enough accumulated, I make a 3 gallon batch using a can of some Alexander's white. #3 used a sauvignon blanc for example. 

But the kitchen sink wine is what it is, and it contains a variety of fruit that is always different from batch to batch. #3 contains a lot of pineapple and mango, which is always hard to clear. So I thought I'd do some prevention and use bentonite in the must. 

Thanks for the feedback, the packaging says warm water, but next time maybe I'll make it hotter.


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## Flem (Aug 8, 2011)

+1 to what Mike (Ibglowin) said.


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## BobF (Aug 8, 2011)

I use during ferment some times - small amount disolved in HOT water.

I have a jar of bentonite slurry on stand-by on the shelf all ready to use for post-ferment additions.

It rarely gets used.


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## Charlietuna (Aug 8, 2011)

I'm using it on my newest batch if skeeter pee. I followed the directions & it took about 15 minutes of stirring to get it dissolved in the cup of warm water. I dumped it right into the mix, day 1 before fermentation started. I've had trouble with pee clearing so I thought I'd give it a try. The pee clears, I'm just not patient enough. 

Brian


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## reefman (Aug 30, 2011)

Wish I had read this thread before I added my bentonite last night.
I have a batch of Walker's Niagara juice, that's done fermentation (started in March). I racked and was letting it set to clear, but it wasn't clearing after almost 5 months. 
Directions say to add bentonite or Sparkloid to help clear any haze at this point. I tried to mix 2 tsps in 1/2 cup of warm water (per the directions)and ended up the same situation as deboard...a clumpy mess. I stirred like crazy, and then added it to the carboy, and stirred like crazy again....I did discover that I didn't do a good job degassing, as the wine started to release a lot more CO2.
Hopefully I got enough bentonite dispersed in the wine to clear it.
If not, I'll try Sparkloid.
Any thing I should know about Sparkloid before I give it a try??
thanks for the help.


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## Midwest Vintner (Aug 31, 2011)

You can always try shaking/stirring very vigorously and then let it sit longer. The bentonite should still work. It works slower. IMO, I like the bentonite, but I try to wait on clearing as long as possible and let it do it's thing. Just don't have that option here lately.


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## Runningwolf (Aug 31, 2011)

reefman said:


> Wish I had read this thread before I added my bentonite last night.
> I have a batch of Walker's Niagara juice, that's done fermentation (started in March). I racked and was letting it set to clear, but it wasn't clearing after almost 5 months.
> Directions say to add bentonite or Sparkloid to help clear any haze at this point. I tried to mix 2 tsps in 1/2 cup of warm water (per the directions)and ended up the same situation as deboard...a clumpy mess. I stirred like crazy, and then added it to the carboy, and stirred like crazy again....I did discover that I didn't do a good job degassing, as the wine started to release a lot more CO2.
> Hopefully I got enough bentonite dispersed in the wine to clear it.
> ...



Reefman, the last Niagara I got from Walkers on 12/03/10 took forever to clear. I never had a wine like that before. Even the Niagara's I bought from them a few month's earlier cleared quickly. I used bentonite, sparkloid and super kleer. It just didn't want to go. Finally I just bottled it a few weeks ago. So be patient, it will clear but for some reason it took forever. I usually bottled Niagara within four months.


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## Rocky (Aug 31, 2011)

I used to get the glob of clay until I saw a tip from someone on the internet. They advised very hot or boiling water but the real key is to add VERY SLOWLY the bentonite while stirring constantly. Since I have been doing this, the glob is gone.


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## reefman (Aug 31, 2011)

I am going to shake/stir it up again, it's been sitting since Monday evening, and doesn't look any clearer that it did before I added the Bentonite.

Thanks Dan, I remember you making a comment about the Niagara a few months ago. I guess my juice is from the same batch as yours.

I'm going to pick up some sparkloid and super kleer tonight on my way home from work. The local home brew shop just got power back yesterday afternoon. Lots of areas around us have been without power since Saturday night, when the Hurricane hit. We were one of the lucky areas, and only lost power for about 30 minutes.


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## reefman (Aug 31, 2011)

thanks Rocky, I'll remember that the next time I use Bentonite.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Aug 31, 2011)

buy a cheap blender, they are like $20 at wally world, add your hot water and drop in your bentonite and blend away, no more lumpy bentonite, was out the blender with some must to get rest of the bentonite out, justnkeep it for bentonite and you wont have to worry about contaminating it. We add it to the primary after the pectinase has worked. good luckk Crackedcork



Rocky said:


> I used to get the glob of clay until I saw a tip from someone on the internet. They advised very hot or boiling water but the real key is to add VERY SLOWLY the bentonite while stirring constantly. Since I have been doing this, the glob is gone.


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## reefman (Sep 23, 2011)

Runningwolf said:


> Reefman, the last Niagara I got from Walkers on 12/03/10 took forever to clear. I never had a wine like that before. Even the Niagara's I bought from them a few month's earlier cleared quickly. I used bentonite, sparkloid and super kleer. It just didn't want to go. Finally I just bottled it a few weeks ago. So be patient, it will clear but for some reason it took forever. I usually bottled Niagara within four months.



Dan,
At what point in the process do you cold stabilize...once it's cleared, or at some other point?


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## Runningwolf (Sep 23, 2011)

I cs as the very last step before bottling. Wine is clear when I cs. I rack ASAP after cs and bottle any time after wine reaches room temp.


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## CB750 (Sep 23, 2011)

All of the wine kits I have made (Wine Expert and RJ Spangnols) have the first step of slowly adding a pack of Bentonite (15 grams) to two liters of warm water in the primary fermenter and stir or shake until dissolved. This is done before the juice and additional water is added.


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