Wine Making Additives
As with any chemical you may use please read the instruction for usage of the additive being used. If you keep in mind one statement from this site while you are making your wine then I feel I have done the best I can for you. This statement is as follows. Remember you can always add more ingredients to your wine but you cannot remove them once you have added them so please be sure of your additions and if you are in doubt to the amount required add less than you think is needed. This goes for just about everything, less sugar as you can always add, less water as again you can always top up and so on. The only thing I would say this does not apply to would be yeast or yeast nutrients as for this if you added a bit more than required it would not hurt a thing other than clearing of the wine as it might just take a bit longer to clear, no big deal there.
I would highly suggest that you keep very good and clear notes through out the process so you can go back to them if you are un sure of what and/or when you added a chemical or content of some type. Besides knowing what and when a addition was made if the worst happens you can go back through your notes to try and figure where the process or you failed. This way you do not do it again. Nothing worse in wine making than losing a whole batch of wine due to a error in judgment.
| Chemical / Ingredient | Usage | Recommended concentration | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acid blend (tartaric, malic, citric) 3:2:1 | Increase total acidity | 1g/L | Increase TA by 1 g/L |
| Ascorbic acid | Anti-oxidant | 2-3 g/hL | Only to be used with sulphite |
| Bentonite | Fining white and red wines Fining sparkling wines | 25-100 g/hL 25-50 g/hL | Dissolve in water |
| Bio-Clean | Clean equipment | 15 mL (1 tbsp) per 4 L of warm water | |
| Bio-San | Sanitize equipment | 15 mL (1 tbsp) per 4 L of hot water | |
| Casein | Fining white wines and improve color in white wines | 50-100 g/hL | Dissolve in water |
| Chlorinated cleaner (pink powder) | Clean and sanitize equipment | 5 mL (1 tsp) per 4 L of water | Should not be used on plastic equipment or oak barrels |
| Citric acid | Increase effectiveness of sulphite solution for sanitizing equipment | 45 mL (3 tbsp) per 4 L of water | Dissolve in warm water |
| Copper sulphate | Reduce hydrogen sulphide | 4 drops/hL using a 1% solution | |
| Dextrose or sucrose | Increase potential alcohol level | 17 g/L | Increase potential alcohol level by 1.0% |
| Egg whites | Fining red wines | 5-10 g/hL | Combine with a salted water solution |
| Gelatin | Fining red wines | 1-5 g/hL (increase up to 25 g/hL for high-pectin wines) | Dissolve in water |
| Grape tannins | Increase tannin content | 10-30 g/hL (increase to 50 g/hL when fining high-pectin wines with gelatin) | Dissolve in warm water |
| Hydrogen peroxide | Reduce free SO2 content | 50 g/hL (using a 1% solution) | Reduce free SO2 content by 10 mg/L |
| Isinglass | Fining white wines | Liquid: 1 mL/L Powder: 1-3 g/hL | Liquid: dilute in wine Powder: dissolve in water |
| Kieselsol | Fining white and red wines | 25-50 mL/hL | |
| Meta tartaric acid | Prevent precipitation of tartrate crystals | Up to 10g/hL | Dissolve in water |
| Oak chips | Add oak aroma to wines | Whites: 1-2 g/L Reds: 2-4 g/L | |
| Oak extract (10% solution) | Add oak aroma to wines | Whites: 2 mL/LReds: 4 mL/L | |
| Pectic enzymes | Fining wines | Whites: 1-2 g/hL Reds: 2-4 g/hL | Dissolve in water |
| Phosphoric acid | Reduce pH in high-TA wines | 1 or 2 drops of 30% solution/L | |
| Potassium bicarbonate | Reduce total acidity | 1-2 g/L | Reduce TA by 1 g/L |
| Potassium Metabisulphite |
A. Crushing of grapes B. Must preparation (concentrated, sterilized, and fresh juices) C. Stabilization D. Bottling |
A. 100 mg/L B. 50 mg/L C. 50 mg/L D. 50 mg/L |
A. Decrease to 5-10 mg/L of must for MLF. Dissolve in warm water B, C, and D. Dissolve in warm water |
| Potassium Sorbate | Prevent re-fermentation of bottled wines | 10-20 g/hL | Do not use in ML-fermented wines |
| Sodium carbonate (soda ash) | Clean plastic equipment | 8-12 g/L of water | Dissolve in hot water |
| Sodium per carbonate | Treat oak barrel spoilage problems | 1-3 g/L of water | Dissolve in hot water |
| Sodium Metabisulphite | Sanitize equipment | 45 mL (3 tbsp) per 4 L of water | Dissolve in warm water |
| SparkolloidŽ | Fining white and red wines | 10-40 g/hL | Dissolve in water |
| Sweetener-conditioner | Sweeten a finished wine | 12-25 mL/L of wine | Prevent renewed fermentation |
| Tannisol | Preserve/stabilize wine | 1-3 tablets per hL | |
| Tartaric acid | Increase total acidity or reduce pH | 1-2 g/L | Increase TA by 1 g/L or reduce pH by 0.1 unit |
| Yeast (active dried) | Alcoholic fermentation | 5 g for 4.5 to 23 L of must | |
| Yeast nutrients (diammonium phosphate) | Enhance fermentation capability of yeast | 10-20 g/hL | Dissolve in warm water |
