Home Clarification

Submitted by Clark Smith on

 

Hi I'm not sure this is the right place to ask this question but ive spent weeks researching with little results; I make wine, for myself not as a business, and now i know that filtration can be looked down upon, and I personally dont require it for my wine, however the woman I intend to marry has an slight intollerance to yeast and can only drink wines filtered to a kosher degree (i 
know its .4 something microns right?) and she Loves wine, especially my wine, so i would like to filter half of all my batches(or all if im as pleased after filtration as i was before) for her to be able to enjoy it; would you happen to know of a relatively cheap($100-150 initial investment) filtration method for home use that would produce kosher (yeast free) wine? I'd heard that forcing it through some under the sink water filters that go to the right micron size can work-having the right micron size filter-? Thanks in advance for your time, if you cant answer my entire question maybe you can tell me what exact size/micron filter im looking for to remove yeast?

Enraged Poet

Dear EP:

Either a 0.45 micron or 0.65 micron will give you a sterile fermentation against whole cells. There may be some autolyzed yeast fragments still in the wine, but this should take out most of them as well.

You will be hard pressed to buy a small pump, housing and filter of any sort for under $100. Try St. Pat’s in Texas, the number one provider of equipment to home winemakers. There is also Napa Fermentations in Napa, CA or The Beverage People in Santa Rosa, CA. There is a good chance you could rent the pump and housing from your local home winemaking shop.

Since sterile filters are expensive, it might work better to use a depth filter which is cheaper, has more holding capacity and a longer life. With small amounts and proper storage (drug store ethanol), a good 10” depth cartridge such as a Pall Profile cartridge could last several years for you.

I just use diatomaceous earth filtration, similar to a swimming pool filter, for clarification, which does not harm the structure of the wine. This would not absolutely remove every yeast, but it will take out over 99.9%, which might be fine.

Homewinemakers often fine rather than filter to achieve clarification, because it's very cheap. It’s a black art. I’d start with Sparkaloid, which is pretty neutral.

Another trick that works pretty well is to chill the wine and let the tartrates form on your yeast and drop it to the bottom. The wine needs to be left still for a few weeks to get good clarity. Sitting peacefully in a cold basement or old fridge works best. Then carefully rack off the sediment.

Good luck!

 

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