How to Clarify a Home Wine Brew

The Internet is a source of knowledge available readily and easily, and today, you can find wonderful recipes for a home wine brew online. There are websites dedicated to making wine at home, and with the help of tips and wine making kits available in the market, you can make your own delicious wine at home. Homemade wine is not only a great addition to any meal, but it also makes economic, unique and special gifts. Brewing your wine takes patience, and a good wine is clear and delicious. After the initial process of fermentation, you have to clarify the wine. Make sure you follow the instructions of the wine brew kit properly and patiently. The fermentation process takes a few weeks, and once your wine is ready to be clarified of any cloudiness, this is what you need to do:

Step 1 - Degassing your Home Brewed Wine

The primary fermentation will take a few weeks, and after this, you should transfer the wine into a sanitized carboy. Sanitization is extremely important, as you don’t want mold or unsavoury sediments in your wine. During the process of fermentation, carbon dioxide is formed. To achieve a good still wine, you need to degass your wine. To do this, you can add a little stirilant and repeatedly shake or stir the wine. This will help create a still wine. Place a fermentation lock on the carboy.

Step 2 – Stabilizing the Wine

Stabilizing the wine means stopping the fermentation process with a few additives. You can add sucrose syrup or glucose to sweeten the wine as well as potassium sorbate. Next, you need to add additives to help settle the sediments. You can use bentonite clay to help the sediments settle and clear the wine. Let the wine sit for a few weeks until it clears.

Step 3 – Clarifying the Wine

Usually the wine should be clear after the addition of bentonite clay. Take a glass and pour some wine into it. Hold it against a white background and check the color and clarity in the light. If the wine is still cloudy, then decant the wine and transfer it into another sanitized carboy and make sure that none of the deposited sediments make their way into the new carboy. You can stir the bentonite clay around and leave it to sit for another few weeks. By the end, you should have clear and cloudless wine. Do a taste and light check once again.

Step 4 – Bottling the Wine

Your wine should be ready to bottle in a few months. Get your bottles, cork and corker ready and sanitized. Decant the wine into bottles, leaving the sediments, including bentonite, behind. You can store the wine for as long as you like. The entire home wine brewing process can be made with kits with complete instructions, and the result will be good if you are patient. The process may take some time, but the end result is worth the effort you put in.