12/25/2015

HowtoUseBentonitetoClarifyWineWinemaker'sAcademy|Winemaker'sAcademy

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Bentoniteisacommonadditiveusedtoclarifyandfinewines.Itsgreatforremovingproteinhazeand
canbeusedtoremoveoffaromas.Butwhatisit?Howdoesitwork?
Letsfindout.

WhatisBentonite?

Bentoniteisanimpureclayformedbytheweatheringof
volcanicash.Itisanabsorbentmaterialthatisabletobondwiththefloatingparticlesthatcause
cloudinessinwine.
Themaintypesusedtofinewinearesodiumandcalciumbentonite.Whileeachwillcontainsmall
amountsofothermineralstheyaredescribedbythemineralthatisingreatestconcentration.

CalciumVsSodiumBentonite
Eitherformmaybeusedtoclarifyawine,however,thedifferencebetweenthetwoarethemineralsthat
getleftbehind.
Sodiumbentonite,asthenameimplies,hassodium(salt)init.Afteraddingittoawineitwillclearwhat
itcanclearandsettleout.Whatsleftovermayberemovedthroughracking,however,thesodiumdoes
getleftbehind.
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Forcommercialwineriestheadditionofsodiummetabisulfiteandsodiumbicarbonateislegally
prohibitedbytheUSTaxandTradeBureau.Sowhilesodiumbentoniteisalloweditdoesseemthat
avoidinganythingthataddssodiumtowineisagoodpractice.
Calciumbentonitewillleavebehind,youguessedit,calcium.Fromawinemakingperspectivethisis
muchpreferredoversalt.However,youcangotoofarwiththisandwindupwithtartrateinstabilitiesif
youaddtoomuch.
Tartrateinstabilitiescanleadtotheformationoftartratecrystals.Imsureyouveseentheseina
commercialwinebefore.Theyresmallcrystalsthatlooklikeaverycoarsetablesalt.Whiletheyare
harmlessmostconsumersdontlikefindingthingsintheirwinebottleorglass.
FormoreinformationoncalciumvssodiumbentonitepleaserefertoFiningwithBentonitebyChristian
ButzkeofPurdueUniversity(scrolldowntopage3).

HowtoUseBentonite
Bentoniteisafairlydensematerialandifitisnotpreparedcorrectlyitwilljustcollectatthebottomof
yourcarboyanddonothingtoclarifyyourwine.Hereistheproperproceedureforhydratingandadding
bentonitetoyourwine.
1. Rehydratethebentonitepowderbyvigorouslymixing2teaspoonswith1/2cupwaterat140
degreesF/60degreesC.Thepowderwillhaveatendencytoclumptogetherasitabsorbsthe
warmwater.Breakupasmanyclumpsasyoucan.Thismixtureisnowreferredtoasaslurry.
2. Storethebentoniteslurryinasanitizedandairtightcontainerforatleastfourhours.This
allowsthebentonitetobecomefullyhydrated.Themaximumamountoftimeyouletbentonite
hydrateisdebated.Somesourcessayhydrateforatleast24hourssomesay48hours.Other
resourcessaydontletitsitformorethan24hours.Ifound24hoursworkedjustfine.
3. Addtheslurrytoyourwineatarateof12tablespoonspergallonofwine.Useonetablespoon
pergallonformildcloudinessandtwopergallonforwineswithathickerhaze.
4. Stirthebentoniteslurryinyourwinevigorouslythoughnotsovigorousthatyouintroduce
oxygenintoyourwine.Degassingtoolsareperfectforthisjob.
5. Reattachyourairlockandletstandforfourtosevendaysoruntilclear.Mostwinestakeabouta
week,however,heavyhazingcantakelongertoclear.Thecooleryourwineiskeptthequickerit
willclear.MyW15rieslingtooknearlytwoweekstoclearusingthismethod.

UseAsLittleAsYouCan
Besidesthetartrateinstabilitythatcancomefromusingtoomuchbentonitethereisanotherreasonyoull
wanttousethisstuffsparingly.Bentoniteisafiningagentwhichmeansthatitremovesvarious
compoundsfromyourwine.Itcanreduceorremovearomas,flavors,aswellascolor.
Sometimesitisnecessarytoremoveoffflavorsandaromas,however,youdontwanttosacrificevarietal
character.Whileyourwinewillbeclear,itwillbemissingwhatmadeitspecialtobeginwith.

HowDoesBentoniteWork
Thiswillgetalittlenerdybutitsworthunderstanding.Whenhydratedinwaterthemineralsinbentonite
becomenegativelycharged(i.e.ions).
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Thenegativeionsintheclaybondwithpositivelychargedparticlesfloatingaroundinyourwinecausing
haziness.Generallywinesarecloudybecausethefloatingparticlesareallsimilarlycharged(allpositive
orallnegative).
Similarlychargedparticlesdontsettleoutbecausetheyresisteachotherlikemagnetsofthesame
polarity.Theyneedsomethingwithanoppositechargetobondwiththemsotheyllbeneutral.
Becausebentoniteisnegativelychargedanddensewhenitdoesbondwithapositivelychargedparticle
theybothsinktothebottomofyourcarboy.Onceonthebottomyoucanrackyourclearwineoffofthe
sediment.
Somekitmanufacturers(suchasWinexpert)haveyouaddbentoniteintheverybeginningofthewine
makingprocess,rightbeforetheyeast.Thatissothebentonitewillstartclarifyingthewineasits
fermented.Thisisoneoftheonlyclarifiersthatcanbeaddedprefermentation.
Itsitsonthebottomofthefermenterandascarbondioxidebubblesformduringfermentationthe
bentoniteiscarrieduptothefreesurface.Alongthewayitcollectspositivelychargedparticles.When
thebubblereachesthesurfaceandpopsthebentonitefallsbackdowntothebottomcollectingmore
particlesalongtheway.
Thusyourwineisclarifyingduringtheentirefermentationprocess.Thismakesyourwinewillclearthat
muchmorequicklywhenyouaddthefinalclarifierjustbeforebottling.

InConclusion
Bentoniteisaneffectiveclarifierwidelyusedamongwinemakers.Asaclayitisnotveryreactivewhen
itisdryorwhenhydratedsoyoudonthavetoworryaboutskincontact.
Rememberthatitspossibletousetoomuchofitandstripyourwineofitsvarietalcharacteristics.Also,
storeyourbentoniteinairtightdrycontainersbetweenusestopreventmicroorganismsfromtakingup
residence.
Heresalinktothebentonite(affiliatelink)IusedtoclarifymyRieslings.Itworkedquitewellonthe
verycloudyRHSTRiesling.
Photoofbentoniteslurryby:RobertPitkin

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TammyBennett 6monthsago

ThisisthefirsttimeIusedbentonitetoclearmywine.Ijustuseditthismorning,sowillsee
howitworks.Ialwaysusedtheclarifier,butmycarboyofwinewouldn'tclear.

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link07 7monthsago

Inormallyjustletthewinesitforacoupleofweeksanditsok.Butiusedbentoniteafter
primaryanditsinsane!Afterjust4hourstheclarityisamazing.Almoststorebought
amazing.

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MattWilliams

Mod >link07

7monthsago

Bentoniteisindeedagreatclarifier,oneI'vehadgoodresultsfromaswell.

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StephenB ayearago

AllofthewinekitsIhaveusedhavemeaddthebentonitebeforeprimaryfermentation
ratherthanaddingitpostfermentationasitseemsyouareinstructing.Assumingbothofthe
practiceswork,whywouldyouchoosetoaddbentoniteonewayovertheother?

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MattWilliams

Mod >StephenB

ayearago

Bentoniteisauniqueclarifierinthatitistheonlyonethatmaybeusedduring
fermentationaswellasafterward.Whenyouaddbentoniteatthebeginningof
fermentationyou'rerelyingonthecarbondioxidebubblesthatformtocarrythe
bentoniteupthroughthewineand,whenthebubblepops,letitfallbackdowntothe
bottom.Theserepeatedtripstoupanddownthroughthewineallowthebentoniteto
clearthewineasit'sbeingmade.
Inkitwinesthisisusefultoshortenthelengthoftimeittakestoclearthewinefor
bottling.Thiswayyou'renothavingtorelysolelyontheclarifieryouaddattheendof
thewinemakingprocess.
Ihopethishelps!Matt

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huh ayearago

Youcontradictyourselfyouclaimthatbentoniteworksbybecomingpositivelycharged
whenhydrated(toattachtothenegativeparticles),butfurtherintotheparagraphyoustate
thatbentoniteisnegativelycharged.
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thatbentoniteisnegativelycharged.

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MattWilliams

Mod >huh

ayearago

Thankyouverymuchforpointingoutmymistake!Istrivetobeasaccurateas
possibleandIappreciateyoutakingthetimetoletmeknow.
Iwentbackandrevisedthearticlesothatitcorrectlystatesthatbentoniteis
negativelychargeduponhydratingit.
Cheers!Matt

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