Post back sweetening, rapid clearing. Help.

[jmac]

Originally posted in the Mead, but moved here.. Got a quick question. I have a couple of year-old Meads that I am taking to a distant gathering for Thanksgiving. I just backsweetening both. They were perfectly clear before backsweetening and now I have that post-back sweeten murky haze. I would just love to let it sit on the shelf and come back to a delicious Perfection, but I need some bottles for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I have some Bentonite that I've had for a while, but if there are others that act more quickly and thoroughly in this backsweetening scenario, I would greatly greatly appreciate it!

 

[Donatelo]

First, let me say that I am a newbie at wine making. BSG makes a GELATIN for clearing wine. Most uses are for hard to clear fruit wines, but you might check into that . Perhaps add .2 grams per gallon of mead.
Don't use the gelatin from the grocery store. Someone told me that gives a taste problem. I don't know., but this BSG brand is made for clearing quickly. Check with someone with more experience than me.

 

[PandemoniumWines]

I don't know about bentonite (only used it a couple times, and put it in primary), or mead, but when I had a wine turn cloudy at sweetening and I needed it in a jiffy, I used sparkolloid. Falls clear in a few days, you're supposed to leave it alone at least a week. Rack and bottle. Bada boom. Bentonite sediment is just way too fluffy.

It's also why I started sweetening long before bottling, so it could clear naturally. My wines almost ALWAYS get cloudy when I backsweeten. Which, I know, doesn't help you at all now...

 

[jmac]

I

I don't know about bentonite (only used it a couple times, and put it in primary), or mead, but when I had a wine turn cloudy at sweetening and I needed it in a jiffy, I used sparkolloid. Falls clear in a few days, you're supposed to leave it alone at least a week. Rack and bottle. Bada boom. Bentonite sediment is just way too fluffy.

It's also why I started sweetening long before bottling, so it could clear naturally. My wines almost ALWAYS get cloudy when I backsweeten. Which, I know, doesn't help you at all now...

I have bentonite in an apple wine a couple days ago that really pulled a lot of out. I am going to bottle tonight.

As to putting bentonite in the primary, I don't quite get it. I know it's age old practice and works like crazy, but logically, wouldn't binding particles together to drop to the bottom of the primary container detract from the raw materials put in for both flavor and color?

 

[Johnd]

As to putting bentonite in the primary, I don't quite get it. I know it's age old practice and works like crazy, but logically, wouldn't binding particles together to drop to the bottom of the primary container detract from the raw materials put in for both flavor and color?

Used in proper proportions, bentonite is purported to affect taste and aroma very little, if any. The reason it's used in fermentation, is that the action of the CO2 attaching to the bentonite causes it to rise and fall in the wine column during fermentation, exposing it over and over to the wine, increasing it's effectiveness at binding.