Clearing wine without chemicals?

[Bmd2k1]

Curious if anyone has "perfected" a protocol for clearing their wines without the use of chemicals? (my interest at this point is more in kit vinos.....though if it works for home pressed grapes it will certainly apply to kits too...)

Cheers!

 

[Johnd]

Curious if anyone has "perfected" a protocol for clearing their wines without the use of chemicals? (my interest at this point is more in kit vinos.....though if it works for home pressed grapes it will certainly apply to kits too...)

Cheers!

Absolutely!! Put your wine in a proper storage vessel and let it sit, it will degas and clear on its own. Oldest method known to man. I no longer use any clearing methods, other than time, on all of my wines.

 

[Bmd2k1]

Absolutely!! Put your wine in a proper storage vessel and let it sit, it will degas and clear on its own. Oldest method known to man. I no longer use any clearing methods, other than time, on all of my wines.

How long are you bulk aging your Reds (typically) and how many rackings?

Cheers!

 

[NorCal]

The cheapest and best, Father Time. I let my reds sit for a year before bottling, whites 5 months. My red racking regime:: rack after press settling, rack after mlf, rack 3 months later (optional), rack right before bottling.

 

[Rembee]

I have never used clearing chemicals. In fact I don't even own any. I allow it to bulk age until it is degassed & cleared, how ever long it takes it to do so. Everyone of my wines are different in how long they take. There is no prescribed amount of time.
As the saying goes, "No wine before it's time"

 

[winemaker81]

How long are you bulk aging your Reds (typically) and how many rackings?

Kit reds and whites 4 to 8 months. Fresh grapes 8 to 12. If in a barrel, it stays there until the following year's wine is read to go in. I've bulk aged kits shorter periods in the past (2 to 3 months) but am leaving them longer now.

Rackings? As few as possible. For the 2020 reds, 4 maybe 5 rackings, and during bulk aging I add K-meta every 3 to 4 months.

For kits I'm using the bentonite and kieselsol/chitosan included in the kits. This year's reds have no fining agents. Fruits (when I make some) will probably get kieselsol/chitosan.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I seem to have two types of wine, low pectin (most fruits & grape) which looks good in six months, however I let carboys sit about a year to starve the yeast, and then back sweeten.
High pectin (as apple family and peach family), usually looks OK in a year when I have pectase in the must.
Racking, I try for three with four as a max. It will get meta every time I rack and the quick and dirty for fruit and white grape is to assume free SO2 is at zero.

 

[pproctorga]

Cold crashing is a common method for brewing beer. Chill it to 40 F or below for a day or two. Wine should take longer, so I let wine sit at least a week.

 

[winemaker81]

Cold crashing is a common method for brewing beer. Chill it to 40 F or below for a day or two. Wine should take longer, so I let wine sit at least a week.

This is done primarily in high acid whites. Chilling the wine will cause tartrate acid to drop out of suspension, and can make a low acid wine taste flat.

 

[Johnd]

How long are you bulk aging your Reds (typically) and how many rackings?

Cheers!

I pretty much just do wine from grapes now. After pressing, the carboys are racked off of gross lees 3 days later and allowed to sit until completion of MLF, which is usually 6-8 weeks. At that time, the wine is again racked and loaded into a barrel and sulfited for the first time, the wine sits in a 60 gallon barrel for 1.5 - 2 years before being removed and bottled.

 

[mainshipfred]

Mine usually sit over a year before bottling but I do nonetheless filter everything. If you are in a little more of a hurry I might recommend trying to degas the wine early on. While the wine is degassing it make it a little harder for the sediment to settle.

 

[Bmd2k1]

Curious if anyone has "perfected" a protocol for clearing their wines without the use of chemicals? (my interest at this point is more in kit vinos.....though if it works for home pressed grapes it will certainly apply to kits too...)

Cheers!

Anyone tried using Egg Shells?

Cheers!

 

[DizzyIzzy]

Yes, I have used crushed eggshells to clear rhubarb wine, and it worked very well.........DizzyIzzy

 

[Raptor99]

Interesting. What sort of haze is cleared by crushed eggshells? Pectic haze or protein haze or??

When you add crushed eggshells, how do you do it? How much to you add, and do you sanitize them before adding?

 

[DizzyIzzy]

Interesting. What sort of haze is cleared by crushed eggshells? Pectic haze or protein haze or??

When you add crushed eggshells, how do you do it? How much to you add, and do you sanitize them before adding?

I wash fresh shells in antibacterial soap and water (Dawn), then rinse them thoroughly. Place in a 200 degree oven for half hour to sanitize. When cool, crush into tiny pieces. When I used it in my rhubarb to clear I added a couple of tablespoons. It didn't clear initially, so I added another couple of tablespoons. Over time that did the trick, so when it came time to bottle I did a final racking (which removed fine lees and spent eggshells. Hope this helps.....................DizzyIzzy

 

[Raptor99]

@DizzyIzzy That is helpful, thanks. A few more questions:
1. Is "a couple of tablespoons" for 5 gallons?
2. How long did it take to clear?

 

[Rice_Guy]

FYI, part of the effect is that the of adding egg shell is that they are calcium carbonate (limestone) and can alter the pH.

I wash fresh shells in antibacterial soap and water (Dawn), then rinse them thoroughly. Place in a 200 degree oven for half hour to sanitize. When cool, crush into tiny pieces. When I used it in my rhubarb to clear I added a couple of tablespoons. It didn't clear initially, so I added another couple of tablespoons. Over time that did the trick, so when it came time to bottle I did a final racking (which removed fine lees and spent eggshells. Hope this helps.....................DizzyIzzy

 

[DizzyIzzy]

@DizzyIzzy That is helpful, thanks. A few more questions:
1. Is "a couple of tablespoons" for 5 gallons?
2. How long did it take to clear?

Yes, it was for a 5 gallon batch and took 4 months to completely clear. Currently I am awaiting an Amish neighbor to return from vacation so I can start another batch as the bulk aging required is long. If you use this eggshell tip, let us know how it's coming along........................................................DizzyIzzy