Finings and Reds

[ukric]

How do you know whether to use finings on reds?

I have a very dark Blackberry, how do I know if I should bother with finings or not?

[hedgerow]

i use a torch and glass meathod my self or the other way i was taught is to pour some wine onto a white piece of paper back into the demi john, you can see the bits on its way past

[ms67]

i use a torch too, dont bother with the glass tho, i just shine it through the DJ and look at the light coming through the other side. Suspended particles will scatter the light, whereas clear wine will just let it beam right through. It works on dark glass DJ's too.

If you start off at the top and move the torch down you will see the difference in teh quality of light as you get further down, if the wine is still clearing. That will give you an idea of what to look out for. Alternatively if you have some wine that you know isn't clear (doesnt matter what colour) and also some clear then comparing the two with a torch will also show you the difference.

Of course this isnt highly accurate and you get no numbers associated with it to tell you about anything inbetween. But your eyes are excellent devices and you can trust them. Also if the wine appears clear in the DJ then it'll definately look clear in the bottle and even more so in the glass.

Its also a good way to check out the sediment layer of dark wines (especially in dark djs).