Wine clarifying?

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satboy

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When we use a juice to ferment to wine whuch is not clear, what woukd you suggest to make clear, and does not effect the taste?
 
I've used "SuperCLeen", works great!

How much time has passed since fermentation ended?
 
It really depends on what's causing the haze.

There are basically two types of finings- positively charged and negatively charged. Opposites attract, so a haze caused by positively charged particles (like protein) need a negatively charged fining like bentonite.

For negatively charged hazes like those caused by tannins, phenolics, and yeast, positively charged finings like gelatin, Isinglass, Chitosan, and Sparkolloid work great.

There is one brand of finings called "superKleer" that has both chitosan (for negatively charged hazes) and kieselsol (for positively charged particles) so it works for both types of hazes. It's added in two different steps.

Some hazes are caused by pectins in the fruit, so in that case a pectic enzyme would work.

The issue I have with finings is that I want my wine to be vegetarian friendly, so I rarely use them as most come from animal or fish products.

In generally, the best clarifier is time anyway. So allowing the wine to sit until clear usually does a great job anyway. If the wine doesn't clear that way, cold stabilization will usually cause the yeast/protein/pectin to drop out and that will clear it quite well. So finings are rarely actually needed.
 
Thanks for all your replies. Very informative. When the juice is not clear, eg like peach, orange and pineapple, wine wont be clear . Whats best to use to clear it?
 
Thanks for all your replies. Very informative. When the juice is not clear, eg like peach, orange and pineapple, wine wont be clear . Whats best to use to clear it?

The juice doesn't have to be clear for the wine to be clear. It'll drop clear with some time.

But when you mix up the wine using juice that isn't clear, one teaspoon of pectic enzyme 12 hours before adding the yeast will really help and give you a clear wine.

You can add it after fermentation also, but it may not be as effective.

Take out a little of the wine, stir in 1 teaspoon of pectic enzyme per gallon and add back to the wine, stirring gently. Top up and let it sit and it should clear if the cause is a pectic haze. If it doesn't clear in a month, try placing it someplace cold for a week or two, and it should drop clear.
 
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