Fining / Clearing

[Scott S]

After considerable research on fining agents for red and white wines I am confused on the best fining agent to add to this years wine.<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />
6 galCabernet Franc
6 galCabernet Sauvignon
6 galRiesling
6 galTraminette

Only my second year making wine from grapes and I am not sure if "super clear" is the best (most gentle) method for clearing and protein stabilizing my wine.

I realize some of the more gentle fining agents contribute to loss of wine due to sediment compactness, but I am interested in fining without significantly affecting the quality of my wine. Looking for personal experience and advice,thank you in advance.


Cheers

 

[admiral]

Welcome aboard, Scott. I have only made wine from kits or a few meads. I have not made wine from grapes so I cannot help but I am sure there are several folks who will try to help.

 

[Bert]

I haven't made any wines from grapes, but my fruit wines, I just use time and some rackings and most clear on there own....If help is needed I use Super Kleer, has been working great for me....Good Luck

 

[Wade E]

The best fining agent is none at all! After that in order from what Ive read over the years from the easiest on wine supposedly is Bentonite, Isinglass, Chitosan, and then Kiesol. Supposedly the differences are very minute though and not worth even talking about the pros and cons of them. I use time to do my job with the exception of the stubborn 1's that just will not clear and then hit them with SuperKleer which is a mixture of Kiesol &amp; Chitosan. Ive used Isinglass in the past and a few times it has failed me and then I had to add another fining agent anyway so it costed me twice as much as it would have to just use the SuperKleer and Im sure fining the wine twice did more damage then it would have once.

 

[AlFulchino]

Scott....i make everything from grapes, and my comments are only mine alone....i use no fining agents.....except for time in a vessel....w steady temps and extremely few rackings..as few as one.....i can think of seeing zero sediment coming out of any bottles over the last three years..i should add that i have been making ONLY reds...just getting into whites from my own grapes....

i have during my life used bentonite...kieselsol and chitosin ( which is illegal for us commerical wineries to use.....i have come to a point that unless i am rushing a wine....which is rare, then i just do not need these items

but this is just me...i believe the future of all wine makers that pursue this as a serious enterprise will eventually gravitate their direction towards aging only to take care of this issue

 

[Wade E]

I agree with Al, fruit wines though can be a little more troublesome like Apple and Peach sometimes. My dandelion also put up a struggle and needed SuperKleer.

 

[grapeman]

I will use bentonite in my grape wines, but it isn't necessarily for clearing. I use it in the whites to help remove any proteins from the wine that may develop as in protein haze. Then it's all time in a bottle (well actually a carboy, barrel, etc.)

 

[Hillbilly Bill1]

After considerable research on fining agents for red and white wines I am confused on the best fining agent to add to this years wine.

Scott... I am a total newbie. The only experience I have is from the single batch of apple wine that I am in the process of bottling. Like you, I have done a lot of reading up on the fining process and the different agents used.
One interesting point I found is that each fining agent is only good for removing particles that possess a certain charge (+ or -). I have read that if I use Bentonite and want maximum effectiveness in my fining, I should use a second fining agent that has the opposite charge, such as gelatin.
What I have read is that using too much gelatin will remove some color, some flavoring, and will adversly affect the body of the wine. This is enough to scare a lot of folks off, but I am thinking I may give it a try in small amounts in my next batch.
Here is an interesting link"


http://www.brewerylane.com/finings.html


Remember... I am a newbie... virtually no practical experience except for using Bentonite only once on some apple juice wine that probably didn't need to be fined anyway.
HB

 

[Wade E]

SuperKleer is a fining agent that uses both -&amp;+ charges. Ive used fining agents quite a few times and actually split a batch in half and compared side by side and could not taste or see the difference. Ive aso dine this with filtering with no noticeable difference. Yes, the filter came out colored but I nor 2 other friends cut tell any difference at all.

 

[Scott S]

Thank you for the wonderful experience based responses. Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season and I look forward to staying connected through the forum. Thanks again, you guys are great!