Wine Ingredients: What they are and how to use them. #1

In a few series I will be going over the different types of ingredients you can, and may want to, use while making your wine. For each ingredient, I will go over what it is, when you would want to use it, and how to use it. Although this may not be everything, I will try to get as many as I can. If you have any suggestions on other ingredients to add to the list that would be great.

Water:

With water you can either use your local tap water, or you can use bottled water from the grocery store. Depending on the quality of the local water you may be able to use it without any other work needed. Many cities have lower water quality, and so, to insure that your wine does not have any off flavors from the wine, the best thing to do is to boil the water. I do this anyways as to boil of any chlorine and possibly kill any small bacteria that might be floating around in the water. But if you want to skip the whole step of cleaning the water, you can always just head to the store and get the bottled spring water. Just remember that any off taste you would get from your water will most likely transfer as an off flavor in your wine as well.

Bentonite:

Bentonite is a special type of clay that is formed from volcanic ash. It is used as a fining agent for your wine. As a fining agent, bentonite is a negatively charged particle that is heavy enough that it slowly sinks to the bottom of the wine. Usually in the form of a powder, granular form, or beads. It can also be put in a gel as well. The negative aspect of bentonite attracts the positive particles, such as proteins, that you may find in your wine that cause a haze or cloudy appearance. Removing the positive particles will clear the wine into a presentable state. There are times tho that you may find that your wine is clear on its own. If you rack your wine enough that may take care of the problem itself. You can also try cooling down the wine no more than 10 degrees, and that can sometimes start the wine clarifying on its own. Bentonite can also be used on any type of wine such as red, white, fruit, and so on.

To use bentonite you can either add it before adding the yeast or after fermentation is complete. There are people on both sides of that fence that will tell you one is better than the other, but I think it will work differently for each person. So use what works best for you. Now when adding bentonite to your wine, you will not want to just add it straight in. Before adding it to the wine you should hydrate it first. Hydrating is letting the bentonite sit in water for 24 hours before adding it to the wine.  When doing this the best that I have seen so far is by using about a half cup of hot water, to hot to stick you finger in and leave it, and slowly add the bentonite while stirring constantly and somewhat vigorously. If you stir to slow or the water is not hot enough, you may end up with a blob of mud instead.

How much to use depends on how your wine looks. If it is mostly clear you will need less than if it is cloudy. In general for a 5 gallon carboy I use about 15 grams if it is cloudy or not so much. That should work fine for most wines. Some wine makers think that adding to much can give off an earthy flavor to your wine. At the same some would recommend more. If you add the bentonite after fermentation then you will want to wait a day or two and then rack the wine off of the new sediment before bottling your wine. It is always best to leave some of the wine at the bottom with the sediment than risk having some of it end up in your bottles.

Pectic Enzyme:

Pectin itself is used as a gelling agent for jams and jellies usually.  It is a commercially produced additive that is gathered from citrus fruits.  Now in your wine, the pectin will do the same thing and can cause floating solid particles or cause a cloudy appearance to form. I use the pectic enzyme for any type of fruit that I add, even if it is not a citrus fruit, as pectin can come from all sorts of fruits.   I would rather make sure my wine is clear than take the chance of having a cloudy bottled wine.

So this is where the Pectic Enzyme comes in.  It is then used to remove the pectin from your wine.  This way the solids are unable to form and it will help keep your wine more clear. I use the pectic enzyme for any type of fruit that I add, even if it is not a citrus fruit, as pectin can come from all sorts of fruits.   I would rather make sure my wine is clear than take the chance of having a cloudy bottled wine.

The best way to use the pectic enzyme, so far as I have seen, is to add it before starting fermentation. Generally use about 1/2 a teaspoon for each 1 gallon of wine you are making.  I tend to wait about 12 hours after adding the pectic enzyme before adding the yeast, which I like to give it a chance to do its work on its own.  As your wine ferments the pectic enzyme will continue to eat the pectin. For me, I think that the fermentation will help the pectic enzyme with moving about the wine and help get more of the pectin out before bottling.  

Yeast:

The yeast is what is used to turn your sugary fruit water into wine.  There are tiny organisms, that are really alive, that will eat the sugars and in return give off alcohol and carbon dioxide.  There are two main groups of yeast you would really want to use for your wine.  One is a wine yeast and the second is a champagne yeast.  Although there are a lot of types of yeast,  like the kind you would find at a grocery store, I would not use anything other than wine or champagne yeast.  With both types of yeast, they are able to survive in the higher alcohol levels of wine and champagne.  Otherwise when using beer yeast or bread yeast, the organisms cant survive in the higher levels of alcohol, like you want your wine to be at, and they die before you would achieve your wine goal. As well as the bread yeasts from the grocery stores give "off" flavors that will affect your end wine.

Being that there are a ton of different strains of both wine and champagne yeast, the best thing to do is try different ones.  Some are better for different types of wines than others.  A good idea is to ask your local wine supply shop and see what they would recommend.  Or you can just try out different ones as you go and see if they make a difference.  Find one you like and you can stick with it, or continue the cycle of trying new ones.  Here is a huge list of different strains of yeast. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp  It is a little overwhelming at times, but there is a lot of information about a lot of different types. 

With the yeast, it should be added shortly after adding your pectic enzyme.  At this point your wine should have cooled down and should be between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. One packet of yeast is good for up to 5 gallons but I tend to use the whole packet even if only doing one gallon. If the yeast runs out of sugar to eat they will die and rest on the bottom.  This is where racking comes in handy to remove the sitting yeast particles so that it does not end up in your bottles.  

Yeast Nutrients:

The yeast nutrients for your wine is basically food for the yeast. Nutrients give the yeast vitamins, food, and even extra air to breathe. Adding the nutrients to the wine will also add nitrogen and oxygen for the initial fermentation. Which both gases help the yeast grow and multiply and continue doing their job, making alcohol. There are also other vitamins that are added to help support the yeast such as amino acids. All of these nutrients will help keep your yeast happy and healthy as well as helping making sure your wine will turn out its best. Without the nutrients added you can wind up with a still, or stuck, fermentation. Which is where the yeast stops growing and is unable to continue eating sugar and producing alcohol. Sometimes you can restart the fermentation while other times it may be unable to restart. So keeping your yeast in good shape is a great way to make your wine's better.

There are multiple different types of yeast nutrients. For the most part they will all do the same, but sometimes there is one type that is better for certain types of wine. You can always try different types as well here, and see which one you like best. Otherwise you can always ask someone at the wine supply shop and see if they have any recommendations. I just stick with a basic yeast nutrient. I haven't run into anything that was so different that it required a different nutrient than any of the other wines I have made.

So, on average, 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrients is good enough to supply a 1 gallon batch of wine. Depending on the type of wine you want you can increase this amount or decrease it. If you are looking for a heavier bodied wine then you would decrease that amount, and for a lighter body you can try increasing the amount. The max you should put in though is about 1 1/2 teaspoons of nutrients. Going over a little may not hurt the wine but, at a certain point depending on the wine itself, too much nutrients can ruin the wine.  You wont really know how big a difference the amount will make until you start playing around with the amount. If you don't feel like, or don't want to spend all the time trying different measurements, you can always stick with the 1 teaspoon per gallon of wine and you will be OK. When adding the nutrients add it to your must and mix it in before adding the yeast itself. Some people think that it makes a difference to split up the amount into different times. Such as half a teaspoon before adding the yeast and the other half a teaspoon half way through fermentation. I add it all at the beginning, but I haven't noticed a difference doing it either way.