Teddysad wrote:Short answer Yes I have used it and have a supply on hand.
The key is to rehydrate it over 12 to 24 hours before use.
Bundaboy wrote:Teddysad wrote:Short answer Yes I have used it and have a supply on hand.
The key is to rehydrate it over 12 to 24 hours before use.
Thanks Teddy, just to be clear, is that the HBS/Chemist/Food safe version or the Civil Engineering Grade?
There are two different forms of bentonites commercially available: sodium-rich ones and calcium-rich ones. Suppliers of sodium bentonites argue that this form has a protein fining capacity twice as high as its calcium cousin. Suppliers of calcium bentonites argue that their form swells less in water, and it creates fewer lees and a smaller loss of wine when racking.
Should I rehydrate my bentonite in water or in wine?
Water. Bentonite, independent of type, should be rehydrated with clean, chlorine-free hot (140°F, 60°C) water. It must be added under immediate, vigorous mixing to the water (not the other way around) and allowed to swell for at least four hours. The lump-free slurry shouldn’t sit longer than overnight, as this may encourage microbial growth. A maximum of 16.7 L of water may be used to dissolve each kilogram of bentonite (2 gallons of water per pound). Note that the total amount of water introduced from all processing sources during the winemaking should not exceed 1 percent of the wine. For bench trials in the winery lab, a mixing ratio of water to bentonite of 16 to 1 (60 g per 1 L) results in an easily pipettable 6 percent w/v slurry.
Bundaboy wrote:Ted, do you degas the wash? I only degas via the racking, which I may do twice if it looks gassy, there is another level of degassing when I move the wash from the fermenter to the still - it seems fine.
Teddysad wrote:Bundaboy wrote:Ted, do you degas the wash? I only degas via the racking, which I may do twice if it looks gassy, there is another level of degassing when I move the wash from the fermenter to the still - it seems fine.
I siphon the completed wash into 15l water bottles to do the racking. I leave it in those for 24 to 48 hours and find the final degassing comes when pouring into the still.
Those 15l bottles are easier to carry to the boiler and it also frees up the fermenters straight away as well as taking the wash off the lees.
As a matter of interest what yeast are you using?
Bundaboy wrote:
I am intrigued that you have access to 15L bottles.
Teddysad wrote:Bundaboy wrote:
I am intrigued that you have access to 15L bottles.
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