Bentonite in winemaking disadvantages. Ways to Clarify Homemade Wine: Bentonite and Gelatin

Hi all! Today I will talk about how to lighten with bentonite. I'll tell you what it is, where to get it and how to use it correctly. Cleaning mash with bentonite is very simple, as you will see now.

Why lighten the wash

You probably know why you need to lighten the wash as well as I do, but just in case, I will briefly tell you. After fermentation, dead yeast remains in the mash, which burns during distillation. From this, the final product acquires an unpleasant odor. It also contains harmful compounds.

The easiest way to clarify is to put the fermentation tank in the cold and wait a couple of days. This is easy to do in winter, but what about when it's summer? In this case, bentonite will come to our aid. He will not only paste over the mash with room temperature, but it will also do it much faster than cold (there were cases when 15 minutes were enough).

What is bentonite

Bentonite is a kind of natural clay. It is used in construction, agriculture, mechanical engineering, etc. Even in the manufacture of tire rubber and as cat litter.

But the most interesting thing for us is that it is used for fining (clarification) of wines. And quite a long time ago - from the 30s of the last century in the USA and from the 60s in the USSR.

The thing is that this clay has excellent adsorbing properties. It binds dead yeast, microorganisms, proteins, etc. and precipitates with them. In other words, she collects all the dregs from the mash and lowers it to the bottom. The result is a purified and clarified mash. We can only decant it (drain from the sediment).

Where to get bentonite

The easiest way to buy it is in specialized stores for winemakers. I recommend doing just that. It is inexpensive, and you will definitely get exactly the right bentonite for winemaking, ready for use.

If there is no opportunity or desire to buy wine bentonite, then you can buy it at a regular Pet Store. The fact is that bentonite is used as a cat litter. Carefully read the composition, it should indicate that the filler is 100% clay and there are no flavorings.

But even such a filler does not always give the desired effect. Plus, it still needs to be prepared for use. I will talk about the preparation in the next section, but for now I will give examples of well-established manufacturers of toilet fillers: Pi-Pi-Bent, CatSan, WC Closet Cat, Kotyara.

I do not advise using any others, because. not all work well. If you have experience using a manufacturer that is not included in this list, then write about it in the comments.

How to use

I just want to warn you. It is necessary to lighten completely fermented mash and at room temperature. If the process is still going on, then nothing will work.

If you are sure that fermentation is over, then proceed to gluing. If in doubt, it is better to heat the mash to 50 degrees. At this temperature, all yeast will definitely die.

Attention! Do not dispose of used bentonite down the drain. He clogs the pipes so that they can only be cleaned mechanically!

• Application of wine bentonite

1. We measure right amount bentonite. The instructions say that a standard sachet of 20 grams is enough for 23 liters of liquid. I usually use 1.5 grams per liter for a 10 liter fermenter. With an increase in volume, the amount of clay in proportion is better to increase.

For reference: if there are no exact scales, then be guided as follows - half a teaspoon ≈ 2 grams, a tablespoon with a slide ≈ 20 grams.

But it is better to buy electronic scales of course. They come in handy in our business. You can order the Chinese. Rubles for 350.

1. Fill with cold water 1 to 10, mix and leave to swell for 2-3 hours.
2. When the clay swells, mix it again and slowly pour it into the fermentation tank, while actively stirring the mash.
3. Clarification can last from 15 minutes to a day. Usually a 10 liter bottle is pasted over for me in 20 minutes, a 20 liter bottle in 40-50.

• If you decide to use litter for toilets

1. We take the filler at the rate of 2-3 tablespoons per 20 liters of mash.
2. Grind to powder in a coffee grinder.
3. Pour the powder into a jar, pour warm water(250 ml) and mix until smooth.
4. Pour the resulting solution into the mash.

You can not dirty the grinder and not grind (although it is better to grind anyway). Just pour the filler into a jar of warm water, close the lid tightly and shake vigorously so that the bentonite does not clump. Shake the jar 4 times with an interval of 5 minutes.

Video

Below is a visual video of one of my colleagues from YouTube. Illuminates right before your eyes.

Now you know how to lighten mash with bentonite. Difficult? I also think not. Be sure to tell us in the comments how you did it? Also indicate what kind of bentonite was used. In conclusion, I will say that this is not the only way to paste over mash. In the near future I will tell you about others. And for today, I say goodbye to you.

Sincerely, Dorofeev Pavel.

Good quality wine is judged by good taste and transparency with rich color. Slight turbidity is a sign of the unsuitability of the drink for consumption or unnatural composition. Wine is a living substance in which biochemical processes take place even during storage. Therefore, an alcoholic product is not capable of being crystal clear indefinitely. But it can be improved by periodically carrying out pasting at home, i.e. clarification of wine.

The concept of wine clarification

Clarification, also known as fining and gluing, is the stage of winemaking that cloudy wine must go through. When pasting into the drink, various products are introduced that can cause the settling of dense particles. Interacting with wine, protein and tannin compounds seem to stick together the dregs and form flakes from the particles. In a few days, they sink to the bottom of the dishes along with the smallest grains. As a result, alcohol is clarified.

Is it possible to arrange self-clarification for homemade wine? Yes, and for starters, the bottle is corked and taken out to a warm room. The appearance of bubbles indicates insufficient maturity of the product and the need for re-fermentation. To do this, it is kept in warm conditions, bottling and storing. The drink will become transparent during ripening.

If the matured wine remains cloudy, it means that not all suspended particles have precipitated. Pasting for this reason is carried out forcibly using gelatin, eggs, bentonite or casein. It is important not to overdo it here, because an excess of clarifier spoils the wine even more, and a small amount of an auxiliary substance does not give any effect.

Gluing wine in different ways

There are many methods of pasting in winemaking, and we will not describe each option in detail. Let's focus on the most simple ways clarification of wine available to perform at home. Red wines experts recommend to clean egg white, and white varieties - tannin or gelatin.

Recipe with bentonite

Bentonite is a white clay. In gluing wines, it is used due to the absorbent properties of the substance. It looks like a fine-grained powder. To purify wine, bentonite is used in a proportion of 3 g per 1 liter of alcohol.

How to glue wine with bentonite:

1. Bentonite is soaked in water for 10-12 hours. The ratio of components is 1 part clay to 10 parts cold water.
2. During the infusion, bentonite turns into lime. It is diluted with water to a liquid creamy consistency and injected into the wine in a thin stream.
3. The updated product is removed from the thick after 5 to 7 days.

Quick milk dab

If clarification grape wine bentonite seems to be a complicated matter, the procedure can be carried out using milk. The winemaker must take a fat-free cow product and add to a cloudy drink at the rate of 1 tsp. milk for 1 liter of wine. Hoppy can be drained from the sediment after 3 to 4 days.

Clarification of wine with tannin

It is good to tannin clean fruit wines, especially apple or pear wines. Tannin will add the missing astringency to the drinks and make them crystal clear. The substance is sold in a pharmacy.

To improve alcohol, tannin is diluted with water (5 g per 1 liter) and insisted. Then the solution is filtered and injected into cloudy wine, observing the proportion of 3 tbsp. l. infusion for every liter of intoxicating. Improved wine is removed from the sediment after a week.

Gelatin wine cleaning

It is customary to lighten plum and apple wines with gelatin. Previously, the product is soaked for a day in water (1.5 g per 10 l). The solution is poured into a bottle of wine and wait until the turbidity falls in flakes to the bottom. This happens in 2 weeks.

Like gelatin cleaning, the clarification of any wine is carried out using fish glue. Only the substance is taken in a different dosage - 0.2 - 0.5 g of fish glue is put on 10 liters of hoppy.

Egg variant

High-quality purification of red wines with a chicken egg occurs due to the interaction of protein with tannins, which abound in the composition of drinks. Consider how at home with the help of an egg you can clarify wine.

For 50 liters of hop products, you will need either 1 large or 2 medium-sized eggs. The protein is carefully separated from the yolk and whipped with a fork into foam, gradually adding boiled water (half a glass). The resulting mass is first combined with a small amount of wine. Then slowly pour the protein into the bottle. The contents of the jar are thoroughly mixed and allowed to stand for 2 weeks. A clear drink is drained from the sediment.

Outdoor wine clarification

You can clarify wine without the help of products and substances, since there are three more options for improving the drink:

1. Filtration through a thin cloth or special paper. The procedure is not ideal because it does not eliminate small particles. Cloth and paper retain only large particles.
2. Heat treatment cloudy wine inhibits fermentation processes, causing microorganisms to die and settle from the thick to the bottom. The intoxicating becomes light.
3. Cryostabilization. In order for the particles that create turbidity to sink to the bottom, the wine is cooled to -2 or -5 ° C (table or non-fortified varieties). The drink is drained from the sediment and filtered cold.

Regardless of the clarification option chosen, the wine is additionally infused for 20-40 days. Long exposure is needed so that all microscopic particles that are invisible to the naked eye lie on the bottom.

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Cooking homemade moonshine always starts with mash. The taste of the future product largely depends on the quality of this drink. Therefore, you need to pay due attention to its preparation. One of important points This process recognizes the clarification of mash. This is a mandatory step that helps prevent the yeast from burning. As a result, moonshine turns out to be tastier, and there are no unpleasant odors and tastes.

There are many methods for cleaning mash. Someone resorts to the help of cold, others use gelatin. In today's article, we will talk about how to use bentonite to lighten mash.

general information

Bentonite is a finely porous clay that has long been used in winemaking. This natural substance contributes to the clarification of homemade alcohol, significantly improving its taste. Bentonite is also an adsorbent and absorbs metal ions. They are always present in moonshine. The mash distillation apparatus cannot be imagined without steel parts.

In nature, white clay occurs in shallow layers of soil. It contains a large number of trace elements and mineral salts. This material is even used to treat bone pathologies. With its help, they carry out wellness procedures for the skin, eliminate pain during inflammatory processes. Powdered bentonite is one of the varieties of white clay. It is he who, as a rule, is used for the production of long-aged wines. We will talk about how to use bentonite to lighten the mash below.

Where to buy it?

You can buy ready-made and pre-cleaned powder in shops for winemakers. The cost of 100 g varies between 250-300 rubles. If there are no such points of sale in your city, you need to look on the Internet.

However, it is much easier to buy a regular one. Do not be afraid, because it is based on It perfectly absorbs not only moisture, but also smell. It is recommended to choose such packages where there is no inscription about aromatic additives. Otherwise, the taste of moonshine will be unpleasant. The cat litter we are interested in is produced only in Russia. Imported suppliers use silica gel and other additives in the production of this product.

If the above options are not suitable for any reason, you should go the third way. You can buy bentonite for clarification of home brew at a pharmacy. In its pure form, it does not go on sale. You need to stop your choice on cosmetic clay. It also contains the necessary powder. However, you should study the composition of the product in advance and make sure that there are no additional flavors.

How much bentonite is needed to lighten the mash? If there is no cat at home, you can buy the smallest pack of litter for the toilet. For 1 liter of mash, only 2-3 g of bentonite is required. It's about half a teaspoon. For 10 liters of drink, about 20 g of powder will be required. This corresponds to the volume of a full tablespoon. When lightening a large number mash, starting from 10 liters, a portion of the substance should be increased to 5 g per liter.

Preparation of bentonite

The bentonite preparation process consists of several stages.

1. First, the material must be broken into small pieces, and then crushed into crumbs. The resulting raw material is sent to the oven for 45 minutes. At the same time, it is necessary to strictly observe temperature regime. Otherwise, the result will not live up to expectations. To dry bentonite, you need to set the temperature to 120 degrees.
2. After that, the pieces of clay should be crushed again to a powder state. To do this, you can use a regular kitchen blender or a drill with a special nozzle.
3. Bentonite for almost ready. Now you need to prepare a solution from it. To do this, a liter of water is heated in a saucepan and the powder is poured into it. The mixture should be stirred occasionally to prevent lumps from forming. The entire process usually takes no more than five minutes.
4. At the final stage, the solution must be infused. After that, it is thoroughly mixed again. The consistency of the resulting product should resemble fatty kefir.

In fact, the whole process takes little time.

If the powder sticks together...

To on preparatory stage lumps did not form in the solution, experienced winemakers advise to cook it like semolina. In heated water, the powder must be introduced gradually, preferably in a thin stream. In this case, it is recommended to constantly stir the solution with a stick. You can also artificially create a semblance of a whirlpool in the container. To do this, the pan must be untwisted.

If, after these tips, lumps still form, you should not despair. However, such bentonite is not suitable for lightening mash. It must be passed through a blender again or use a drill with a special nozzle.

Braga preparation

Before cleaning, make sure that the drink has completely fermented. Depending on the quality of the components and environmental conditions, this process can take up to two weeks. The readiness of the mash for further processing is determined by its appearance, the characteristic smell of alcohol, sour taste. In addition, there should be no bubbles of carbon dioxide on the surface of the liquid.

Experienced winemakers recommend using a sugar meter to be 100% sure that the product is ready for clarification. For this purpose, approximately 1.5 liters of the drink are taken, and then filtered through gauze. Braga is poured into a transparent container with a wide neck. For this, the usual three-liter jar which is in every home. Then the saccharometer is released into the solution and its readings are recorded. It is necessary to wait until the device is installed in one position.

If the sugar content does not exceed 2%, you can start clarification of the mash with bentonite. The instructions below describe this process in detail. Before adding the powder solution, it is recommended to drain the fermented wort through a thin hose and warm it up slightly.

Beverage purification technology

Bentonite for clarification of the mash must be thoroughly shaken to raise the settled clay particles. The same procedure should be repeated with a vessel for a homemade drink so that a semblance of a funnel forms on its surface. This can be done with a long spoon or spatula. After that, a solution of bentonite is quickly poured into the center of the funnel. High-speed manipulations help to instantly distribute the clay powder throughout the entire volume of the drink. Sometimes the mash is cooked in a container with a narrow neck. In this case, it is recommended to simply pour in the bentonite solution. Then close the neck with a cork and shake the drink.

The rate of precipitation can vary from 15 minutes to several days. It all depends on external factors and the quality of the raw material itself. The precipitate forms most quickly in a completely fermented mash. At the next stage, it is necessary to carefully collect the clarified drink and pour it into another container. During this procedure, it is important not to disturb the precipitate that has formed. To collect and overflow alcohol, it is recommended to use a regular hose or a siphon specially designed for this purpose.

It is worth noting that the remaining sediment from yeast and bentonite cannot be poured into the sewer. Clay can tightly clog pipes, and it is very difficult to clear the resulting blockage. What to do in this case? Leftover food can be placed in a tight bag or plastic container, and then thrown into the trash.

Bentonite for clarification of mash: advantages and disadvantages

Bentonite is a clay material with a spongy structure. It is absolutely harmless to the body, non-toxic and neutral with respect to alcohol compounds. These properties make it an ideal tool for cleaning mash.

Among other advantages of this substance, winemakers note the absence of foreign odors in finished product. In addition, when using bentonite, the time for preparing the wort for distillation is significantly reduced.

There are practically no drawbacks to this method of lightening the mash. Its only disadvantage is a decrease in the volume of the drink due to the precipitation of a dense sediment by about 10%.

In order for the resulting product to please with its taste, pay attention to the following tips:

1. Bentonite must be perfectly clean and odorless. Flavored additives often spoil the taste of a home-made drink.
2. According to the instructions, it is necessary to clarify the mash with bentonite. The proportions recommended in our article will help you achieve the desired effect from the drink.
3. You can not overexpose the product, otherwise it will acquire a sourish tint.
4. Before starting the clarification procedure, you need to make sure that the drink has passed the fermentation stage to the end. If the distillation process is started earlier, there will be less liquid at the outlet, and the sugar will partially disappear.

Home winemaking - complex technological process, which has a lot of nuances. The clarification of some fruits and berries deserves special attention. It clarifies itself and does not require your intervention. These drinks include raspberries, cranberries, chokeberry. However, most of the wines need human help for complete purification.

It is at the stage of filtration and clarification that the future drink gets rid of unnecessary substances that make it cloudy. By removing the sediment, the wine turns into pure noble drink and acquires a commercial form. How to clarify house wine? First you need to filter it and choose the most suitable clarifier.

How to properly remove wine from yeast?

Removal and clarification of young homemade wine should be carried out no later than two weeks after its fermentation with yeast. Otherwise, the drink may spoil.

Before proceeding with the clarification process, it is necessary to get rid of the bulk of the sediment at the bottom. You need to do this as follows:

1. Put the bottle with the future wine on a raised platform (table or stool).
2. Nearby, at a lower level (for example, on the floor), place a basin. First, it must be carefully cleaned with soda so that no foreign substances from its walls get into the wine.
3. Insert a thin rubber hose into the bottle. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the end of the tube does not touch the thick at the bottom. Lower the other end into a bowl.
4. Tilt the bottle slightly so that the liquid flows through the hose into the basin.

Pour wine from a bottle into a basin with extreme care so that unnecessary sediment does not spill out along with the liquid.

Multiple filtering methods

Even if the wine visually appears transparent after removal from the yeast, it still needs to be further filtered. To do this, there are several proven ways:

1. With porous cardboard.
2. Through a cone-shaped bag made of flannel, calico, bumazee or canvas.
3. With asbestos.

Each of these options is effective in its own way. They are similar to each other in terms of the principle of operation and technology, but have their own characteristics.

To clear the wine of foreign particles, it must be passed through several times. If you choose cloth or cardboard, the liquid must be poured several times to wash out as much of the “garbage” as possible.

How to filter?

The above methods do not give a 100% guarantee of complete purification of the drink. If you see that this treatment has not completely eliminated the turbidity, use asbestos:

1. Pour the wine into an enamel bowl and add a handful of asbestos to it.
2. Mix thoroughly and strain through a cloth bag.
3. Repeat the procedure several times, adding a pinch of asbestos at each run.

When you see that the wine has become crystal clear, and a decent layer of asbestos has formed at the bottom of the bag, you can stop filtering and proceed to the next stage of processing - clarification.

Lightening folk remedies

Clarification of wine at home is, in fact, an even deeper filtration that removes all the smallest particles from it, turning the liquid from cloudy to transparent. It is also called bonding.

The fact is that no matter which clarifier you choose, particles of microscopic "garbage" in wine under its influence cling to each other and form flakes. They will eventually settle to the bottom of the bottle, and then it will be possible to pour the finally cleared liquid through the rubber tube in the manner already described above.

Every wine has its own clarifier

There are many ways to lighten wine at home. Many of them are suitable for a specific:

1. For wines from pears or apples - gelatin.
2. For intolerant and not very sour - tannin.
3. For reds - egg white, etc.

Before clarifying homemade wine, you need to choose the right concentration of the product with which you will do it. The technology for using all the substances listed above is the same, and it is called the “scientific poke method”.

That is, you need to pour 150 grams of wine into at least three containers with volume divisions (for example, or measuring cups) and add a different amount of clarifier to each of them.

The vessel in which the effect will be most noticeable (the maximum amount of flakes is formed) will become a guideline for determining how much "gluer" you need.

Also, clarification of wine at home is carried out with milk, coal, heat, cold, etc. But all these methods cannot eliminate all the sediment at a time and require new repetitions of the procedure.

In order not to waste your time and energy on this endless process, you can use more effective tool- bentonite.

Universal remedy for any wines

Bentonite is a powder made on the basis of its principle of action is based on the attraction of microscopic particles with opposite charges to each other. That is, grains with a positive charge attract proteins and other substances with a negative charge. At the same time, they stick together and settle to the bottom.

Clarification of wine with bentonite not only helps to eliminate the haze of the drink. This powder also cleanses it and creates a kind of immunity from harmful bacteria and yeast, preventing it from spoiling for a long time. It doesn't change the smell in any way. natural color guilt. Although it removes a small amount of tannins from the liquid, which give the drink a characteristic astringent aftertaste.

These changes are so subtle that they can not be felt, if not overdo it: do not filter too much and just do the clarification of the wine correctly. It is very important not to spoil the wine with your own hands, so as not to lose its taste.

Clarifying wine with bentonite

This process is very simple. To achieve maximum results, you need to make a minimum of effort. To carry out the clarification of wine with bentonite at home, you must:

1. Pour a little boiling water into a bowl or glass and pour the powder into it.
2. Carefully beat the contents until it becomes similar in structure to a cream. Be sure to make sure that there are no lumps left in this mass.
3. Then it should cool under the lid for about half an hour.
4. After that, beat everything well again and pour into the future drink.

The optimal ratio of powder and water is one part to four. Clarifying wine with bentonite is a very economical way, because just one pack of the substance (mostly it is packaged in 15 grams) is enough for 20-25 liters of wine.

What should be done after wine processing?

To create the perfect, clean drink, you need to master home winemaking well.

Wine processing requires special attention, care and control during each stage.

After removing the yeast, filtering and clarification, all you have to do is leave the resulting liquid alone for a week and a half to two.

Then you drain the drink through the siphon, without affecting the sediment that has formed, and that's all, you can safely wait until it finally reaches the condition and is ready for use.