Clearig Agents- Chotosan vs Sparkloid

[Neviawen]

Hi again,
I have a question about clearing agents. Does it matter which clearing agent I use? I have a kit that I am in the step where I am supposed to use Chitosan, which is derived from shell fish. I am making a Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel kit.
I've read that usually people with shell fish allergies are ok with this because most times they are allergic to the protein that is in the "meat" of the shellfish and not exactly the shell of the crustacean itself.
I have a sister in law who is deathly allergic to shell fish. At my wedding we had crab stuffed flounder and although she did not have any of it on her plate, something from the kitchen must have touched something that went on her plate and needless to say we were saying toasts and she dropped to the floor and could not breath. I do not want to take the chance with this additive with my wine because more than likely she will be one of the people drinking it.
So, that being said, is there any reason why I should not replace the Chitosan clearing agent with something else? Do different clearing agents remove specific elements of wine than others? Thanks for any information you guys can provide.
~Kate

 

[Boatboy24]

Are you planning on bulk aging? I'm still pretty new to this hobby, but I bottled my first kit about three weeks ago. It was bulk aged for ~3 months and cleared on its own. I never added the fining agents.

I think you could skip the keiselsol/chitosan and use another clearing agent without issue, or just let nature take its course.

 

[seth8530]

I would either skip the clearing agents or chose a non shellfish derived agent. You will never be sorry for playing it safe.

 

[rjb222]

Hi again,
I have a question about clearing agents. Does it matter which clearing agent I use? I have a kit that I am in the step where I am supposed to use Chitosan, which is derived from shell fish. I am making a Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel kit.
I've read that usually people with shell fish allergies are ok with this because most times they are allergic to the protein that is in the "meat" of the shellfish and not exactly the shell of the crustacean itself.
I have a sister in law who is deathly allergic to shell fish. At my wedding we had crab stuffed flounder and although she did not have any of it on her plate, something from the kitchen must have touched something that went on her plate and needless to say we were saying toasts and she dropped to the floor and could not breath. I do not want to take the chance with this additive with my wine because more than likely she will be one of the people drinking it.
So, that being said, is there any reason why I should not replace the Chitosan clearing agent with something else? Do different clearing agents remove specific elements of wine than others? Thanks for any information you guys can provide.
~Kate

Sparkaloid or Gelatin are your options to replace the clearing agents in a kit with non shellfish derivatives. You are correct that there are two clearing agents because of the electronic charges one being positive the other negative but I have found that either of the other clearing agents work just fine with out the shellfish fear.

 

[edv]

You can also use Bentonite clay as a clearing agent. Just pick up an extra packet at your kit vendor.

 

[Gr8zins]

I had 19 carboys last fall so I bought 19 two part finings, and the wines cleared so well that I'm not going to use them at all. After many years of this, I have recently discovered that degassing the wine by vacuum pump and patience are the keys to clearing. I'd prefer to leave the wine " un-messed around with", and at this point I'm afraid that the finings may actually cloud the wine if i add them now since there's so little matter for them to adhere to. Unfortunately I'm out the $$ for the finings.