Bentonite: Wine Clearning Clarifying

Under professional additives, we have tons of fining agents like Bentonite, Isinglass, Irish Moss, and Gelatin that you can use to make your home brew clear. For instructions and dosage refer to this link

Apple Cider can be turn out bitter because of a variety of reasons. Here are some to help you out:

1. Low Residual sugar. Sweetness is the best mask for bitterness (for example coffee and chocolate). Try using some wine stabilizer and back-sweeten your cider.
2. Excess Tannin: Adding too much oak chips, fruit skins, and other sources of natural tannin can introduce astringency, woody feel, or bitterness in your wine/cider. The best way to reduce is by using a fining agent. Isinglass, Bentonite, and Gelatin can help you control excess tannin.
3. Aging: Time mellows down all harsh flavors in cider/wine. Try aging your cider/white wine by 1-6 months and red wine by 1-3 years. With time the complex biochemical reactions will make your beverage more flavorful and amazing.
4. Problem with the fruit: Although you can make cider/wine from any fruit, some fruits are not that flavorful. When you take the sweetness out (by converting it to alcohol/vinegar), the residual flavors start emerging. Try to experiment with a different harvest or fruit type. Mixing two or three different fruit also helps.

For more details refer to our off-flavors guide.

Bentonite clay is composed of ashes taken from volcanoes. So it does taste like mud if you wine has not cleared up. Typically waiting for 3 days helps clear up the bentonite taste. Cold crashing will help remove this taste faster. That being said, in the finished wine, one should not get any residual flavor from bentonite.

Technically. it is an absorbent aluminum phyllosilicate clay. Bentonite clay, historically, has been used in healing methods for protecting the body from various serious diseases. It contains many important metals like magnesium, calcium, etc. that heal the heart, digestive system and nervous system. People have been using the clay for various skin, medicinal and industrial purposes but eating bentonite clay is slowly becoming a health trend. Talking about how it tastes like, well, it’s clay and has the same texture as any other form of fine grained clay. It is generally mixed with water and consumed.

Fuller’s Earth also known as Multani mitti is a clay like substance that is composed of aluminium magnesium silicate. While Bentonite clay, also known as Montmorillonite clay, is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate clay. Both of these are very similar in the sense that they contain many of the same components. Fuller’s earth also contains bentonites that is formed of ash taken from volcanoes. That being said Multani mitti leaves a strange off-flavor in the wine. Hence Multani Mitti is used in face pack, mud bath and other external purposes only. Please don’t add multani Mitti to wine.

Bentonite clay and fuller’s earth are both highly absorbent in nature and have similar skin benefits and cleansing properties. But bentonite clay is has more healing properties as compared to fuller’s earth. It is also consumed as an antidote for toxins in body. However fuller’s earth is not considered suitable for consumption.

Bentonite clay also known as montmorillonite clay are of two types: sodium bentonite and calcium bentonite. Basically the determination of sodium or calcium bentonite is done by whether the dominant element is sodium or calcium.

Sodium bentonite has a higher pH level. This provides it with natural swelling abilities and makes it a natural ‘hole plug’. While calcium bentonite has a lower pH and do not swell. The former has more industrial uses and the later is used mostly on body for healing purposes, both internally and externally. Both the bentonite clays contain various minerals and metals.

Dry bentonite clay does not go bad. Clay comes from earth and in general does not have an expiration date. However, they might catch pick up odors from the surrounding. So, it is recommended to store them properly. Also, if you add water to the clay it might not stay good for long as with time they get exposed to bacteria and start growing microbes. Hence, it’s important to check the microbial analysis of the clay before using it.

Government regulations require products to have an expiration date. Therefore, one might find an expiration date on the container of the bentonite clay. But, as mentioned above, dry natural clay lasts for years.