Making wine at home requires certain skills. Most often, the drink remains cloudy for a long time and you have to wait until it becomes clear. After all, it will take time for the cloudiness from agitated yeast, excess pectin and protein, and tartaric acid salts to settle to the bottom. You can speed up the process of clarification of wine by cold.
The principle of clarification of wine by cold
The basis for purifying or clarifying wine, both in industrial production and at home, is the principle of particles sticking together and precipitating.Large flakes fall to the bottom the fastest, while small flakes continue to float, making the drink cloudy.
By aging wine in cool cellars for a long period of time, the drink is clarified. But in the modern world there is not enough time to wait. Therefore, different methods are used, adding substances to a cloudy drink that can stick together with particles that form the cloudiness.
Wine ages well in the cold. A drink made from grapes and cherries cleanses especially quickly. A bottle placed in a cold cellar for 2 weeks will soon delight you with clear alcohol inside. Under the influence of low temperatures, the process of fining the wine occurs. Cold coagulates pectin and protein. Molecules of substances drag down other tiny particles.
At the same time, do not forget that clarification is carried out on matured alcohol. You can check the readiness of the wine by bringing the bottle into a warm room. Bubbles that appear inside indicate an unripened drink.
Advantages and disadvantages of the method
Cooling wine is chosen in order to speed up the precipitation of sediment in the drink. The advantages of the method include the following:
- taste improves;
- the aroma intensifies;
- the aging of the drink accelerates;
- prevent the development of alcohol diseases;
- wine is stored better.
Having received a clear, bright, aromatic drink after 2-3 weeks, you should be aware of the disadvantages of the method. There may be negative consequences of lightening with cold. Do not be surprised that the drink will have less strength than expected.
This method is best used to clarify white wines. Reds will deteriorate in color as a result of a decrease in extractives.
How to clarify wine at home
The cold cleansing procedure is carried out as follows:
- The bottle of wine is placed in the freezer or outside. Use a cold cellar for lightening. The cooling temperature should not exceed minus 3-4 degrees. You can put the bottles in a double-walled box lined with galvanized iron inside. The container is filled with snow and salt. To drain the melt water, install a tube inside.
- Keep for 2-3 weeks. In a box - up to 8-10 days.
- At the end of the procedure, pour the chilled drink carefully so that the sediment remains inside the container.
- You should filter the wine before it warms up. After filtering, the quality of the alcohol will be high and the taste properties will be restored.
After cleaning, pour the wine as quickly as possible to prevent air from getting inside. It is advisable to carry out filtration at the same temperature at which the bottles were kept. After the procedure, allow the drink to rest for 20-40 days. Then you can serve the wine to the table. Do not forget that clarification of alcohol, which contains a lot of tannins, takes place better and faster when it is of high strength.
Other methods of clarification include clarification by pasteurization. Bottles of alcohol are heated in a water bath, bringing the water temperature to 50 degrees. The procedure must be carried out 2-3 times until the cloudiness disappears.
Egg whites are ideal for clearing red dessert wines. Gently mix the whipped egg white with a teaspoon of cold boiled water. Then stir it in a glass of wine and pour it into the bottle. The sediment falls within 2-3 weeks. But still, one of the simple and accessible methods is the use of cold. Lightening takes place faster, without unnecessary devices and waste of time and effort.
How to avoid mistakes
One of the main mistakes in clarifying wines is that they are clarified when they have not fermented.This is especially true for the method when egg whites, gelatin, and milk are added to the drink. Even unfermented wine cannot be spoiled by cold.
Since a drink that contains a lot of tannins will clear faster, you can buy tannin at the pharmacy and add it to alcohol. To do this, the substance is dissolved in hot water with the addition of alcohol and poured into a bottle. This will not affect the quality of the wine. You should not freeze wine alcohol, as this will give it an unpleasant aftertaste. If you properly cool the wines and filter them after the procedure, they will remain transparent for a long time.
