How to Clarify Mead with Bentonite
by John Gorman (john@rsi.com)

1) What is Bentonite?

Bentonite is pure powdered clay and is used in wine and mead making.  It 
is inert and tasteless. You can get it at your local homebrew shop or by 
mail order quite inexpensively.

Bentonite is used during racking to flocculate out the leftover yeast so 
that it settles to the bottom, leaving crystal clear mead behind.  The 
clay particles are tiny flat sheets of mineral with minute electric 
charges sticking out at the edges.  These charges attract the yeast 
cells, which then stick together in visible clumps that settle out 
rapidly.

The time to bentonite is any time after active bubbling ceases.  If you 
bentonite while there is still fermentation activity, the yeast that 
settles to the bottom will keep bubbling and re-cloud the mead. If you 
use a yeast nutrient, fermentation will proceed rapidly and cease in a 
month or so.  By using bentonite, your mead will be clear and ready to 
bottle in a few days, freeing your carboy for more mead!

2) Bentonite Preparation

Use 1/2 tsp bentonite per gallon of mead to be clarified.  To prepare 
the bentonite for 5 gallons, boil 1 cup of water in a small saucepan.  
Pre-measure 2 1/2 tsp of bentonite granules into a small bowl.  As the 
water boils, SLOWLY sprinkle in the bentonite, stirring occasionally 
with a fork.

If you sprinkle it in too fast, the granules will stick together as they 
absorb water, making large thick clots, which is not what you want.  If 
that happens, just throw it out and try again.

If you sprinkle just right into the boiling water, it will stay soupy.  
Take it off of the heat and store covered for 24 hours while the clay 
goes completely into suspension.

3) Racking Procedure

Fill a clean pot with water, and bring it to a rolling boil for 10 
minutes to drive off all of the oxygen.  This water will be used after 
racking to fill up the head space.  If you leave a head space after 
racking, the oxygen in the head space air will get into the mead and 
produce flat off flavors.

Stir the bentonite mixture with a fork to get it all into suspension.  
Pour the bentonite mixture into the second (empty) carboy.  Then rack 
from the first carboy into the second.  Avoid splashing, which will 
oxygenate the mead.  Top off the head space with the boiled water.  Stir 
the mixture thoroughly without splashing by rotating your J-tube in the 
carboy.

The bentonite will bind with the yeast into visible particles and 
flocculate out fairly quickly.  After two days or so, it will all be 
resting in the bottom 1/2 inch of the carboy.

Sometimes there is so much yeast in a mead that the first bentonite 
cannot flocculate out all of the yeast.  In that case, do it again.  The 
result will be crystal clear. 


How to Clarify Mead with Gelatin

by Joyce Miller (jmiller@genome.wi.mit.edu)


Clarifying mead with gelatin is similar to using bentonite.  Powdered 
unflavored gelatin is available in most grocery stores (the Knox brand 
is probably the most widely known).  I generally dissolve a packet of 
the powder into 1 cup of cold water in a pot.  Heat this on the stove, 
swirling gently, until it's all dissolved.  Cover it and let it sit 20 
minutes to pasteurize it.  Warning: do *NOT* let this stuff boil over!  
It's very difficult to clean up!

Put the pot somewhere where you can grab it easily, and start siphoning 
your mead into an empty carboy.  When there's a gallon or so in the new 
carboy, take the gelatin solution, and slowly drizzle it in (if you dump 
it directly into the empty carboy, it will just coagulate on the bottom 
in a useless lump).  Finish siphoning, and stir if necessary to 
distribute the gelatin evenly throughout the carboy.