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Only experienced winemakers can make the perfect wine. Very often, even if you follow all the rules, you can encounter some difficulties. Most often, home-made wines are cleaned themselves. Drinks prepared from all kinds of berries are usually infused for 3 or 6 months after the end of the fermentation process. During this time, sediment forms at the bottom, and the wine becomes clean and transparent. In some cases, the wine remains cloudy. What can you do to make the drink clear? In this article we will learn how to clarify wine at home.
Cause of cloudiness in wine
The main cause of cloudiness is the presence of must, particles of wine yeast and tartar in the wine. These substances form sediment at the bottom of the container. Usually you get rid of it by pouring the drink into another container. This is done using a regular tube. This procedure is often enough to completely clarify the wine. But sometimes the drink remains cloudy. In such cases, additional clarification is carried out.
To filter wine, you need to use special substances. They are able to absorb remaining wort particles. As a result, everything unnecessary will precipitate. Professional winemakers call this process “fining.”
If time permits, you can leave the wine for a longer time. During the aging process, the wine will clear itself. True, this can take many months, and sometimes years. Expensive wines are most often purified this way.
For those who are not going to wait that long, the best option would be to clarify the wine yourself. It is noteworthy that this procedure does not in any way affect the taste and aroma. Of course, this is not at all necessary. For many people, a little sediment doesn’t bother them at all. But if you like clear wines with a beautiful color, then you can’t do without clarification.
All about wine clarification
There is a whole science that studies wines, it is called oenology. She studies the phenomenon of cloudiness in wine and how it can be dealt with. It is best to prevent possible color changes in advance by eliminating all factors that influence this. True, this is done only in large industries. At home, everything happens differently and it is almost impossible to completely eliminate all problems. Therefore, we have to resort to different methods of cleansing.
The cause of cloudiness in wine is cream of tartar. This is the potassium salt of tartaric acid. During the production process of the drink, it can form on the walls of the bottle. This substance consists of tartrate and potassium hydrogen tartrate. It is used to produce tartaric acid, and in cooking it serves as a leavening agent.
This phenomenon has a bad effect on the drink itself.When small particles precipitate, they take coloring matter, yeast and other necessary elements with them. To remove such sediment, you can use adhesives. The main thing is to choose a substance suitable for a particular wine:
- tart red wines are clarified with chicken protein;
- sweet drinks contain a small amount of tannins, so they are cleaned with tannin and fish glue;
- White wine can be clarified using gelatin.
Much also depends on the amount of the substance chosen. A small amount will not give the desired reaction. If you add too much of the appropriate substance, the drink will become even more cloudy. To avoid mistakes, you can test on a small amount of wine. This is the only way to determine the correct proportions and not spoil the wine in the future.
How to clarify homemade wine
In order for the whole process to proceed correctly, some points should be taken into account:
- Homemade wines are filtered only with natural substances.
- The first step is to clarify a small amount of the drink. Experienced winemakers take 200 ml of wine and check the reaction, and then purify the rest.
- Often the procedure must be repeated several times to achieve the desired result.
- If the wine continues to ferment during clarification, then the air temperature must be lowered by 10 degrees.
Wine filtration methods
It is worth considering all the popular lightening methods to choose the most suitable one:
- Bentonite. This substance is a natural material obtained from white clay. Most winemakers prefer it. Bentonite is capable of gluing together the smallest particles that cause clouding. Then the resulting substances precipitate.It is noteworthy that bentonite not only cleans the drink, but also makes it more resistant to various bacteria and yeast. For 1 liter of wine you will need only 3 grams of the substance. It must be filled with water, which is taken 10 times more than bentonite itself. Then the mixture is left for 12 hours. During this time, the clay should harden. Then it is diluted with water and poured into cloudy wine. After 7 days, it is necessary to drain the wine from the sediment.
- Gelatin. This method is suitable for clarification of both fruit and berry wines. The method is simple and has good results. For 10 liters of wine you will need one and a half grams of the substance. Gelatin needs to be soaked in water for 1 day and added to the bottle with the drink. After half a month, the wine will be completely clear.
- Milk. This method is perfect for beginners in the art of winemaking. In 10 liters of drink you need to pour 5 tablespoons of milk (low-fat). After 4 days, the wine is drained from the sediment.
- Cold. In this case, the wine is moved outside or into the refrigerator. The temperature of the drink should not fall below -5 °C. During cooling, the particles will sink to the bottom of the container. After this, the bottle is brought into a warm room and drained from the sediment.
- Egg white. Used to clarify red wines. One protein is enough for 35 liters of drink. Beat the egg white thoroughly until foam forms, and add a little water. The resulting mass is poured into alcohol and left for 2–3 weeks.
- Tannin. It is used to purify wines made from apples and pears. Typically, such drinks are quite sweet, and tannin can give them some astringency. The powder is sold in every pharmacy. The substances are diluted with water (1 gram of tannin/200 ml of water). The solution is infused and filtered through gauze. The resulting mixture is poured into wine and waited for a week.After this time, a precipitate should form. For 10 liters of alcohol you will need 60 spoons of solution.
Conclusion
This is how you can easily and quickly clarify wine at home. After the procedure, you should leave the drink for another 30 or 40 days. During this time, additional clarification will take place, and the wine will become transparent and clean.
