Ok...can't afford hair loss...lol
so, it will be what it will be!!
I'm learning patients goes hand in hand with brewing
This new hobby has made my garden grow faster!!!
Now...when adding benonite...how much and when?
I just had my first experience with bentonite very recently.
The bag of a mixture of fine and course gray clay powder had no instructions or directions with it, so I found bits and pieces here, and came up with the following directions for myself:
- bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a 3 quart pan
- slowly dissolve approximately 2 tablespoons (i used about 2.5) while stirring vigorously with fork
- Stir constantly while allowing mixture to boil for several minutes
- allow mixture to cool enough to pour into a glass bottle
- after reaching room temperature, allow to sit in refrigerator for 24 hours before using
- swirl mead gently, adding anywhere between 2 and 5 TBS of the bentonite per gallon of mead.
- let sit for up to 2 weeks to clear
If you don't see definite signs of clearing after several days, you can add up to the maximum of 5 TBS as needed. This may take a little longer because of stirring up the mead again, but it will help ensure you don't overdose on bentonite and leave off flavors or remove flavors you WANT in the mead.
The balance of my 2 cup bentonite mixture is sitting in a ziploc bag in the freezer. I poured it off into an ice cube tray, figuring about 2 tablespoons of the mixture in each cube. Once frozen, out they came and put into a ziploc bag and stored in the freezer so i don't have to worry about bad stuff growing in it. The cubes can be thawed easily enough and its a lot quicker than waiting another 24 hours for the bentonite to come to its max water absorption.
Using bentonite, as I understand it, it best/most efficient after fermentation has completely stopped and the mead has been degassed. And if the mead clears on its own, you don't even necessarily need bentonite.
It would be interesting to test a batch of mead that has 'cleared' on its own, dividing it in half and dosing one with bentonite to see if there is a difference after it settles. The difference might also present itself in taste. I'll have to give that a test sometime.
As I said, I'm new to using bentonite, so I may have screwed myself here and not even realize it, and I would advise to wait for other, more knowledgeable folk to weigh in, but this is what I did, and my 6 gallon batch of traditional mead is now clear, on its way to being "incredibly clear".
As always, your mileage may vary.
Maze on,
Joe
