Before/After

[hvac36]

Just to see how well the VinBrite Filtered I did a little test.
Wine is a StarBurst Candy. As you can see it does an amazing job..

 

[Runningwolf]

Nice, so how long did it take you to filter that carboy with that filter? It certainly was worth it.

 

[ttimmer]

Gorgeous! That settles it, been thinking about filtering my wine. Looks like that is the equipment I am buying next.

 

[hvac36]

Dan was about 25 mins for 3 gallons. For a cheap filter it does a real nice job.
They have only have 1 filter for it but they do have a polishing filter that you can buy as well looks like a coffee filter that goes on the bottom of the main filter. System does work and is worth the 40$.
Tammy well worth it.

 

[SBWs]

That's what I've been using, finally figured out how to hook it up to my vacuum pump, doesn't seem to make things go any (maybe even slower) faster.

 

[ibglowin]

I can't believe you got that through a gravity filter. When I was using a Vinbrite it would plug if you looked at the dam thing wrong!

 

[hvac36]

I can't believe you got that through a gravity filter. When I was using a Vinbrite it would plug if you looked at the dam thing wrong!

Was not an issue, about a 3 foot drop and to carboy.
Here is the filter..

 

[oldwhiskers]

Definitely prettied it up, looks good.

 

[ibglowin]

Yep, sounds pretty familiar, even the 3 foot drop. I had a perfectly clear wine with a little dust on the bottom that I accidentally stirred up and it plugged the Vinbrite in NOTHING flat! Went to whole house filtering after that. Glad its working under those conditions for you as we generally tell folks that the wine MUST BE CLEAR before you filter as this is a "polishing filter". Your wine was no way at the "polishing" stage!

 

[hvac36]

Mike you are right but was playing and wanted to see what it could do as I have the whole house filter as well. Little thing amazed me lol. Sorry you had issues with it.

 

[Luc]

Time would have cleared it.
I never use a filter and all my wines look like that.

Luc

 

[jimmyjames23]

Here's my before and after with mead.

Used egg whites for fining and 24 hrs later...

 

[rezod11]

jimmyjames, thanks for posting your egg white clearing agent! I plan on using this in the future for all of my wines...only thing that I'm curious about is are there any special cautions about using egg whites for clearing?

 

[jimmyjames23]

Yes.

You must use half an egg white. No more than that.
You must GENTLY whisk the egg white with three times its volume of water. I use half an egg shell of egg white followed by 3 egg shells of water.
You must whisk with a pinch of salt.

The whisking, water and salt combined with the egg white will "denature" the egg white and free up the globulin proteins that are responsible for the fast findings.

Stir into your mix slowly and when completely added stir vigorously. I often degas at the same time with vacuum and a whine whip.

Additionally, if you find your wine is too acidic you can also add the egg shells.
Just remove the interior membrane of the shell and place the shells in an oven for one hour at 300°. Then crush them to a fine powder or put them in a mini blender and simply add them before adding the egg white. You only need to let EHL sit in there three days before they lower the acidity by up to 30%.
Egg shells are made from calcium carbonate… Same stuff you buy at the homebrew shops to lower acidity.

 

[jimmyjames23]

Oh... Most importantly.

Skim the foam off the top of the Eberwhite after whisking. This is the same foam equired for meringue. You don't want it in your wine it will constantly float to the top.

 

[jimmyjames23]

P.S. that mead is 3 weeks old and will be ready to bottle in 4 days.

 

[jswordy]

On the subject of filtering, it's interesting what is happening in the commercial wine marketing world. Some vintners are forgoing the filter and marketing a degree of lees in their bottled wines as proof it is a "living wine." I was intrigued by that.

 

[SBWs]

If you don't want to use raw eggs you can buy powdered egg whites that's what I use from time to time. Works well on blackberry.

Even after fining or aging, filtering seems to give my wines an added sparkle that's just not there otherwise.

 

[tonyandkory]

I use the Vinbrite filter all the time but I don't hardly wait long enough and usually get clogged up and have to change the filter a couple times mid filter.

 

[jimmyjames23]

I use the Vinbrite filter all the time but I don't hardly wait long enough and usually get clogged up and have to change the filter a couple times mid filter.

I like the Buon Vino mini jet for situations like that. You can rack with the coarse filter after a month which speeds up the natural fining process a lot.