Clearing wine

[beano]

It is truly not my intent to offend or discourage. @Robert301972. It was meant as good natured ribbing, and I thank you for posting you results and experiences. Making wine has been an on going learning process for me. So many different wine's you can make. And each one with it's particular nuionce
Hope to see future posts from you.
My way is still the quickest way to clear the wine.

 

[my wine]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[winemanden]

Beano, you're not alone. I filter my wine regularly that way. The water company doesn't complain about its quality.

 

[Ajmassa]

well guys I am sorry if I offended anybody. That was not my intention. The reason this is my first post. Is because of your reactions. This is a forum. Not a hate page. sour_grapes Is the only one that did not have a negative comment. And I am not new to wine making. I have been making wine for almost 6 years. I just thought I would share something that i discovered. And yes it is a young wine. But I didn't say go ahead and drink it afterwards. You still have to let it age. I have wine that has been sitting in my wine closet for all most 2 years. So I know all about young wine. And the reason why i rack so much. Did you know that if you let the lee sit in your wine for a long time it makes your wine bitter. (It is true look it up)

I thought it was a human bot after the initial post lol. Where a kid in Asia gets paid to generate engagement to whatever platform is paying them.
Typically you don’t see a teaser post as a thread starter which u gotta admit sounded very ‘infomercial-ish’-—> “I discovered the secret to instantly clear any wine!”. I was fully expecting some website shill eventually! Lol

Glad to see you are not a bot! And most here would agree with you regarding heavy lees. Dustings of fine lees are harmless. But actually I just read a post recently that even though we default to removing heavy lees there are situations where it can be beneficial to keep it. Was a super informative post. Will try to find and link it up.
There’s endless valuable info shared in here. I made wine as a helper as i grew up, then as a little hobby as an adult. But It wasn’t until I started utilizing this forum when actually learned and understood things to improve my process and wines.

so welcome to WMT. You certainly came in like a bat out of hell! Hope to see you stick around.

 

[beano]

Really.... All of you guys and gals are great people. It brings home the fact that you/we, as a group are upstanding people. Trying to share. Passing on our information, experiences and methods as we see them. Hopefully helping a individual new and struggling to learn.
Happy holidays to all of you.

Beano

 

[hounddawg]

I will admit that (at least) one time, I was extremely rude to a new member who posted something that I, in my stupidity, deemed to be dumb. The truth is that I was way drunk when I did it. I used private messaging as well as public posts, to apologize, and we got past it. I still regret that.

replied drunk. why didn't i think of that,,, lol
Dawg

 

[Robert301972]

Well if anyone of you have any technique's let me know.

 

[user 38734]

Glad to see you are not a bot! And most here would agree with you regarding heavy lees. Dustings of fine lees are harmless. But actually I just read a post recently that even though we default to removing heavy lees there are situations where it can be beneficial to keep it. Was a super informative post. Will try to find and link it up.

Ok I'll go ahead and stick my head above the parapet.....again.

Not sure what post you're referring to WRT heavy or gross lees, but I'd love to read it.

One of my cousins makes reds that sit on the gross lees from beginning 'till bottling. They also never get SO2 or any other additive (that's gonna stop most people from reading any further) or intervention.

The key is: the fruit is meticulously sorted, the ferment must be problem-free and the juice clean and healthy. Theses are always small batches (250 lbs. or less, usually half that). Bulk age for 12 to 18 months, bottle, and drink at 3 years. It's wonderful wine.

Oh and Robert301972 - Welcome! I'm new too!

 

[Ajmassa]

Ok I'll go ahead and stick my head above the parapet.....again.

Not sure what post you're referring to WRT heavy or gross lees, but I'd love to read it.

One of my cousins makes reds that sit on the gross lees from beginning 'till bottling. They also never get SO2 or any other additive (that's gonna stop most people from reading any further) or intervention.

The key is: the fruit is meticulously sorted, the ferment must be problem-free and the juice clean and healthy. Theses are always small batches (250 lbs. or less, usually half that). Bulk age for 12 to 18 months, bottle, and drink at 3 years. It's wonderful wine.

Oh and Robert301972 - Welcome! I'm new too!

This post.

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/experience-with-the-sur-lie-additive.72912/post-780093

 

[user 38734]

Thank you! Yes I had read that.

I like this part from jetcontrails:

"My protocol does not mandate anything, so in the case of my ‘19 Cab, I have it still resting on the original lees and it has never been racked. Tastes, great, excellent mid-palate volume, low VA, and only barrel ox. The point being, when it comes to these lees products, many are designed to mimic or replace what you may already have access to."

 

[hounddawg]

Ok I'll go ahead and stick my head above the parapet.....again.

Not sure what post you're referring to WRT heavy or gross lees, but I'd love to read it.

One of my cousins makes reds that sit on the gross lees from beginning 'till bottling. They also never get SO2 or any other additive (that's gonna stop most people from reading any further) or intervention.

The key is: the fruit is meticulously sorted, the ferment must be problem-free and the juice clean and healthy. Theses are always small batches (250 lbs. or less, usually half that). Bulk age for 12 to 18 months, bottle, and drink at 3 years. It's wonderful wine.

Oh and Robert301972 - Welcome! I'm new too!

i have bulk aged blackberry, strawberry, apple/pear/crabapple for 2 years on gross lees, and had zero problems and ended up with very nice country wines. just got outta the grove after going to vacuum pumping and filtering my wines. don't know why i changed, for every wine there are many, many ways to go about things,,,
Dawg

 

[winemaker81]

@Robert301972, welcome to the forum!

Instead of chitosan and bentonite, try kieselsol and chitosan. The wine clears in days.

This combination is used by the kit manufacturers I'm familiar with. Start with a degassed wine, add the kieselsol and wait a period, instructions have said anything from 5 minutes to 24 hours. I usually wait an hour, then add the chitosan.

I've had sediment dropping within 10 minutes, and a thick layer in a day. I typically wait a week before racking to let the agents do their thing and for the sediment to compact.

Bentonite has drawbacks when used with red wine, so a lot of folks use it only for whites and fruit wines.

 

[DizzyIzzy]

well you start the wine like normal. When you rack it for the first time. Let it sit for about a week. then rack it again. This time and a pouch of Chitosan to the batch only(nothing else).let it sit for about a week. rack it this time add bentonite clay. And watch what happens. You can see the clay attach itself to the remaining particle's in the wine and fall to the bottom. All most instantly. But you have to do it in that order. If you do not it will not work. After that is done then you can add your stabilizer sorbate. So you can have clear wine in about 2 to 3 weeks. (Not months)

I think I will try your method with my next rhubarb which was very difficult to clear. Question: How much Chitosan is in a "pouch"? Also, how much bentonite? Thanks.........................DizzyIzzy

 

[DizzyIzzy]

@Robert301972, welcome to the forum!

Instead of chitosan and bentonite, try kieselsol and chitosan. The wine clears in days.

This combination is used by the kit manufacturers I'm familiar with. Start with a degassed wine, add the kieselsol and wait a period, instructions have said anything from 5 minutes to 24 hours. I usually wait an hour, then add the chitosan.

I've had sediment dropping within 10 minutes, and a thick layer in a day. I typically wait a week before racking to let the agents do their thing and for the sediment to compact.

Bentonite has drawbacks when used with red wine, so a lot of folks use it only for whites and fruit wines.

How much of each?..................................................Thanks........................................DizzyIzzy

 

[DizzyIzzy]

well guys I am sorry if I offended anybody. That was not my intention. The reason this is my first post. Is because of your reactions. This is a forum. Not a hate page. sour_grapes Is the only one that did not have a negative comment. And I am not new to wine making. I have been making wine for almost 6 years. I just thought I would share something that i discovered. And yes it is a young wine. But I didn't say go ahead and drink it afterwards. You still have to let it age. I have wine that has been sitting in my wine closet for all most 2 years. So I know all about young wine. And the reason why i rack so much. Did you know that if you let the lee sit in your wine for a long time it makes your wine bitter. (It is true look it up)

I, for one, am not offended, I am intrigued. Thanks for contributing......................................................DizzyIzzy

 

[winemaker81]

How much of each?

A kit I made a year ago had 12.5 ml kieselsol and 25 ml chitosan. IIRC, other kits were 1:2 or 1:3 ratios.

For my recent encounter with H2S, my local shop was out of SuperKleer (brand name kieselsol/chitosan) so the owner looked it up when I asked for enough for 10 gallons. He had bulk containers of both and measured out doses. His mixture was 35 ml kieselsol and 30 ml chitosan. He got this from the site of his supplier, although I don't know which one.

My batch is 54 liters / 14.25 gallons and I intentionally went light on the fining agent, e.g., bought for 10 gallons.

If you buy a commercial kieselsol/chitosan product, you get what you get. My local shop did a different ratio than the kits. I searched and the recommended ratio on one site was 1 part kieselsol to 3 parts chitosan. I don't know which is correct, or if there are simply various opinions.

 

[Robert301972]

@Robert301972, welcome to the forum!

Instead of chitosan and bentonite, try kieselsol and chitosan. The wine clears in days.

This combination is used by the kit manufacturers I'm familiar with. Start with a degassed wine, add the kieselsol and wait a period, instructions have said anything from 5 minutes to 24 hours. I usually wait an hour, then add the chitosan.

I've had sediment dropping within 10 minutes, and a thick layer in a day. I typically wait a week before racking to let the agents do their thing and for the sediment to compact.

Bentonite has drawbacks when used with red wine, so a lot of folks use it only for whites and fruit wines.

I have never had a problem when i use it in red wines.

 

[Robert301972]

I think I will try your method with my next rhubarb which was very difficult to clear. Question: How much Chitosan is in a "pouch"? Also, how much bentonite? Thanks.........................DizzyIzzy

I usealy use one pouch for 6 gallons. And the bentonite clay go by the directions on the package. 4 tsp mixed with 1 1/3 cup of warm water. For every 5 gallons.

 

[winemaker81]

I have never had a problem when i use it in red wines.

Bentonite can strip color in reds, not hugely (15% IIRC) but a lot of folks won't use it in red for this reason. OTOH, it's a great clearing agent.

 

[DizzyIzzy]

A kit I made a year ago had 12.5 ml kieselsol and 25 ml chitosan. IIRC, other kits were 1:2 or 1:3 ratios.

For my recent encounter with H2S, my local shop was out of SuperKleer (brand name kieselsol/chitosan) so the owner looked it up when I asked for enough for 10 gallons. He had bulk containers of both and measured out doses. His mixture was 35 ml kieselsol and 30 ml chitosan. He got this from the site of his supplier, although I don't know which one.

My batch is 54 liters / 14.25 gallons and I intentionally went light on the fining agent, e.g., bought for 10 gallons.

If you buy a commercial kieselsol/chitosan product, you get what you get. My local shop did a different ratio than the kits. I searched and the recommended ration on one site was 1 part kieselsol to 3 parts chitosan. I don't know which is correct, or if there are simply various opinions.

Thankyou very much for a speedy response (particularly this time of year). Definitely "fuzzy math" from the various sources.........so'o' confusing. Merry Christmas, and stay safe. Thankyou again........................................DizzyIzzy