Clarification of wine at home from turbidity and sediment: physical and chemical methods
Clarification of wine is a popular process in winemaking, in which the color of the liquid becomes lighter. Before you start clarification of the drink, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of the procedure and the most common methods.
Pros and cons of wine clarification
Before you clarify a wine drink, you need to familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages of this procedure. Benefits include:
- Perfect appearance. The clarified drink looks much better than usual. It becomes less cloudy due to the fact that the sediment is completely removed from it.
- Storage duration. Experienced winemakers are engaged in clarification to increase the shelf life of brewed wine.
Among the shortcomings, one can single out that if the clarification is incorrect, the taste of the liquid may deteriorate.
A few nuances for proper lightening at home
Clarifying a wine drink at home is not easy, as it is a laborious and lengthy process. Some believe that such a procedure is carried out only if a person makes grape wine, but this is not the case. Plum and apple wine also needs pre-filtration and clarification.
Before proceeding with the procedure, it is necessary to check that the wine drink has matured. To do this, it is transferred to a warm room for 2-3 days. If bubbles appear in the liquid during this time, it means that it is not fully ripe.
Wine purification methods
There are several effective ways to thoroughly clean wine liquid.
Physical methods
Physical methods that are popular among winemakers will help clear cloudy wine from sediment.
Filtering
To remove sediment, a common filtration method is often used. This method of purification is used if it is necessary to purify wine made from white grapes. Experts recommend using a coarse layered filter, which consists of diatomaceous earth, cellulose or perlite. Thanks to such filters, it will be possible to clean the liquid from sediment and other large particles that it contains. If there is too much sediment in the mixture, special membrane filtration products can be used.
Cryostabilization
To make the wine transparent, it is recommended to use this method. This method is ideal if you need to refine a wine drink made from ripe cherries or grapes. When cleaning, the filled containers are transferred for two and a half weeks to a cold place, where the temperature should be 2-3 degrees below zero. Then the cold drink is poured into separate containers and transferred to the cellar for storage.
Pasteurization
Pasteurization will help to clear the liquid from sediment, during which the wine is processed by the thermal method. Such heat treatment helps to slow down the fermentation process, as well as destroy active microorganisms that settle on the bottom. Pasteurization is recommended for clarification of red wine drinks.
Chemical Methods
Sometimes physical methods do not help to get rid of turbidity in the liquid and you have to use chemical methods.
Egg white
Egg white contains the substance albumin, with the help of which the liquid is not only cleansed, but also becomes less rigid. Winemakers recommend using protein to brighten red wines.
To clean the wine, beat the egg white and mix it with s alt water. Then everything is stirred until foam is formed and added to a container filled with wine. The liquid is infused for about a month, after which it is removed from the sediment.
Gelatin
This remedy is considered universal, as it is suitable for any type of wine drinks.
To clarify ten liters of liquid, you need one and a half grams of the substance. Gelatin is mixed with cold water, after which it is left to infuse for 2-3 hours.Then the soaked gelatin is poured with hot, boiled liquid and mixed until it swells. The resulting mixture is poured into a container with lead and quickly mixed with a stick. The mixture is infused for fifteen days and bottled.
Fish glue (isinglas)
This remedy is sold in several forms. In stores, you can find fish glue in powder and liquid form. Fish glue is used to clean red or liqueur wine drinks. However, for too cloudy homemade wine, such a remedy will not work.
It is necessary to use such glue in the same way as gelatin.
The only difference is in the proportions, since a gram of the product is enough to clarify one hundred liters of liquid.
Milk (potassium caseinate)
The milk contains casein protein, which can reduce the amount of tannins in wine and get rid of the cloudy brown tint.
To clarify ten liters of liquid, you need 8-9 teaspoons of milk. Experts advise using skim milk, as it is the most effective. Milk is added to wine and left to infuse for a week at a temperature of twenty degrees. The mixture is then bottled.
Bentonite (white volcanic clay)
According to many winemakers, the best clarifier is volcanic clay, which is sold in many stores in powder form. The advantage of this clay is that it is used both before and after fermentation.
Thirty grams of the substance is enough to clarify 8-9 liters of drink. First, the clay is poured with water and infused for a day. Then it is added to the wine must and stirred. After two weeks, the refined wine is bottled.
Tannin
If you need to clarify pear or apple wine, it is better to use tannin.First you need to prepare a mixture that will lighten the drink. 5-7 grams of the substance is added to a liter of water, after which everything is infused and filtered through a filter. Then the tincture is added to the wine and left for a week and a half.
Activated carbon
Activated charcoal is used not only to get rid of sediment, but also to eliminate the unpleasant aroma coming from the wine. To begin with, charcoal tablets are crushed into powder, after which it is added to alcohol. At the same time, five grams of activated carbon is enough for ten liters of liquid. After adding the substance, the liquid is thoroughly shaken up and left to infuse for four days. The mixture is then filtered and bottled.
Chitosan
Chitosan, which is extracted from mushrooms, can be used to clean wine products. Adding this component to wine prevents the drink from oxidizing and further spoilage.It also helps to get rid of sediment and turbidity. It is poured into containers with liquid and drained after a week and a half.
Other wine fining agents
There are other substances that are used to clarify the wine liquid. These include:
- household filtration products used for water purification;
- cat litter.
Possible errors
There are several errors due to which the cooked wine is not clarified. These include the following:
- red or white wine will not be clarified if the procedure is carried out at a low temperature;
- wine from grapes is not fermented, because of which it will not clarify.
Conclusion
Cooked wine drink after fermentation may have a cloudy color due to the sediment it contains.To make the liquid cleaner, you need to use one of the considered methods of clarification and filtration of wine, as well as deal with possible errors during the procedure.
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