Darin, Pp and others; I don't think Darin's 0.5gm-liter (about the same as 2 grams-gallon) is over use of bentonite. In the past I've used 2 grams-gallon bentonite on my white wines. This was on the advise of my mentor ten years ago. The last couple of years I reduced the dose to 0.5 grams-gallon on the advise of a yeast company person. My wines had a chill haze and I thought it was due to the reserve juice I added to sweeten the wines (Vidal, Vignoles). Same thing this year on a dry Vidal. So, I returned the wine to a carboy, added 2 grams-gallon bentonite (hydrated), waited a couple of weeks to clear and bottled again. Now, the Vidal does not develop a haze when chilled. Also, I don't notice an earthy smell or taste. In fact the wine now tastes better (very subjective) than before.
If you have enough wine to do tests of different amounts of fining agents that's the way to go. But for my normal 5 to 10 gallons of wine there just is not enough to allow these experiments. Go with what works.
Pink VolcanoTried my first batch of wine yesterday. It is a red beet wine. I decided to make it when I was preparing red beets from my garden for freezing and after...
Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA
