How long does bentonite take to clear a 5gallon mead?

[Amphand]

I have bentonite that suggests 1 teaspoon per gallon added to my 5gallon mead batch and was wondering if anyone has experience on how long it takes to clear up. Mine has been going for 4 days straight and is beginning to clear but is by no means see thru. Can anyone weight in on this?

Thanks.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Not sure with Bentonite. I have used Sparkalloid with good success. Usually within 6-7 days the Mead or Wine is clear enough to rack off the lees and bottle.

 

[Chef-Ryan]

Well i suggest giving at least 2 weeks.. but can take longer depending on how dense the wine is (denser wine the particles settle slower).. but if you are in no rush then don't stress it let it do it's thing. The thing many people forget about making wines.. Do not rush it.. it will do its own thing in its own time.

 

[Amphand]

I have been doing some research and found I can rack off the bentonite after 7 days and add new bentonite. Has anyone used this method?

 

[Chef-Ryan]

You can do that if you like but my suggestion is give it some time... adding too much bentonite can strip a wine of all its good stuff as well as the stuff you don't want

 

[Yooper]

Remember, too, that finings have a charge as do many of the particles that are causing the haze.

All tend to change the flavor of the wine, although some only slightly, so you shouldn't use them unless you've already given the mead time and cold stabilization first to clear it without finings.

If after 4-5 months, and if the temperature has been dropped at least 10 degrees (that often precipitates the clearing), and the mead is ready to bottle except for clarity, you could try finings.

For a haze caused by yeast, which is negatively charged, a positively charged fining like sparkelloid would work great. For a haze caused by proteins, you'd need a negatively charged fining agent. For a haze caused by fruit pectins, pectic enzyme would be the best thing to use. Bentonite works great on proteins, but not on negatively charged particles, so it may not work well if the cause isn't suspended proteins.

So, for the haze you have, what do you suspect could be the culprit? Knowing that, or at least guessing at it, may give you the best shot of clearing it.

 

[Amphand]

My batch is a traditional honey/water meadusing the BOMM recipe.