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Use of Clearing Agent in wash


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  • 1 month later...
On 9/21/2019 at 12:04 AM, Monopol Spirits Distillery said:

Does anyone uses clearing agent (2 stage) in their vodka wash? If so is there any source of getting it in the bulk? It's seems like it helps to make the spirit cleaner

For neutral spirit, I always recommend you clarify the wash before distillation. Means you not boiling/cooking kilo's of yeast hulls in the still.

Bentonite (either sodium or potassium) is fool proof, cheap and highly effective.  Dose at about 1.8g/l  hydrate well in water before addition.

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  • 2 weeks later...
18 hours ago, Monopol Spirits Distillery said:

Thank you for your response.

It seems like Bentonite is some sort of clay, how do I use it? Do I just sprinkle the wash?

Bentonite clay is weathered volcanic ash. The most common use of bentonite clay is in drilling mud used by oil and nat. gas drillers for lubricating the drill bit.    It is also used in health food.  It is used for molecular bonding and molecular sieving to remove unwanted components during processes to produce CBD and THC concentrates.  

It is also used during white wine and other fermentations to clarify.  It removes protein haze which helps to remove negative aromas as well.  It is generally added before fermentation starts.  It bonds to the proteins and some other particles.  Once bonding occurs the bentonite and particles that are bonded to it will precipitate to the bottom of the fermenter so that the wash is clarified.

 

I found the below on the internet.  Hopefully it will help.

"You must utilize the bentonite properly or it will not clarify your wine at all. Here is what you do:

  1. You want to rehydrate the bentonite powder by mixing vigorously every 2 teaspoons per ½ cup of water around 140°F(6°C). If the water is not warm enough, it will clump and fall to the bottom of the container. Mix it well for a long time until you can dip your hand in it and it just appears and feels smooth with everything dissolved. For small batches, you can just use a common kitchen whisk. For larger operations, they actually use a long wand attached to a drill bit with a propeller and place it in the container with the drill running to mix it well. Some people will tell you to let it sit for 24 hours before use so that it is fully hydrated, but that is not necessary.
  2. Add your slurry to the wine at a ratio of one to two tablespoons per gallon. One being for mild haze and two for thicker.
  3. Stir the mixture slowly into the wine, but try not to do so by mixing in too much oxygen. A line with a gas line while you do this can help.
  4. From here, you can let your juice or wine rest for about 4 days more or less until the wine/juice is clear. From this point on, you can rack your juice/wine from the solids and go on with the next step in your process."
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