Finings

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Cussword

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What wine finings does everybody use? I use the Youngs two pack sachets.
Is there a better & cheaper alternative that works as well as the above? :)
 
I suppose those Young's sachets are ok if you're doing a 5 gallon batch.

I like Ritchie's Kwik Clear when I can get it, the dosage is very small and a pack goes a long way, but you will need something like a medicine syringe to measure it out.

Mostly, I use Harris's Vinclear, which is a one-shot isinglass finings, I pay £2.45 for a 250ml bottle which is good for about 20 gallons. As my LHBS is actually the Harris shop, that's the only one they stock.
 
I use gelatine leaf on both wine and beer. Just boil up some water let it cool to about 80c the melt in the gelatine leaf (or a piece of it) and bung in the wine or beer. Works a treat. :thumb:
 
Moley said:
I suppose those Young's sachets are ok if you're doing a 5 gallon batch..


That was my point, when I made 5 gallons at a time the sachets were OK, but when I'm make 5 one gallon batches it soon mounts up.
I was looking for alternatives, thanks all :thumb:
 
Cussword said:
I was looking for alternatives, thanks all :thumb:
I know where you can get hold of some Murphy's RFU isinglass :whistle: :whistle: :whistle:
 
Does anyone know the recommended dosage of isinglass for wine?

In the beer forum, Aleman kindly set out the dosage for ales, but i wondered if it would be different for wine? I just have a carton of the paste from Hop and Grape, and it doesn't give the doesages required.

I calculated that i would need 30mls per gallon, but i don't know if this is correct? I worked this out as I saw that the Harris Vinclear is sold in 250 ml bottles, and is good for 8 gallons of wine. This works out at approximately 30ml per gallon.

I have 2.2 gallons of strawberry wine that i need to clear quickly so I can bottle (I don't have many demi johns so need to free them up ASAP), so i mixed some wine with jsut over 60ml of isinglass paste and shared it accordingly between my 2 DJs and 1ltr PET.

This morning however, I have something that can only be described as looking like a big lump of lard in suspension near the top of each demi john. Is this normal, or have I put too much in?

I don't know if this thread is the best place to put this question, so if I don't get a reply i may start a new topic specific to isinglass finings in wine.

Cheers :cheers:
 
The very best finings I have used is the 3 sachet stuff that comes with Young's 30 bottle wine kits. The 2 sachet stuff they supply as a seperate product is nowhere near as good. Strange. Some kits include Bentonite, introduced before the yeast. I'll try this next brew.
 
I use Kwik clear too, with a syringe. It says 'use within 3 months of opening', but I've used it well beyond this to good effect. but more often than not, I've had to use a filter to get best results after fining white wine.
 
I've been using bentonite to clear my wines, but have been thinking to try a different one. It seems to leave a 'jellyfish' effect in the bottom of the DJ which doesn't settle to my liking, and I'm finding that even after a long time clearing, there is still some fine sediment appearing in the bottles after I've reracked and bottled!
 
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