How to Make Wine - Pectic Enzyme - What is It?

If you want to learn how to make wine, one ofIf you want to make your own wine out of
the first things you should do is learn about all ofgrapes, peaches, strawberries or any other kind
the different additives and chemicals that areof fruit - you have to have a way of dealing with
used to make homemade wine. Pectic Enzyme isthe naturally occuring pectin. The reason is that
one of the most misunderstood additives.pectin can cause solids in your wine to clump
This article will explain What is pecitic enzyme,together in a colliodal suspension and you'll end up
why do I need it and how it works.with cloudy wine that won't clear no matter how
Let's back up a little and talk about grape jelly.long you leave it sitting in the secondary.
MMMM! Everyone loves grape jelly and jam on aHow to deal with it? Use something that EATS
hot buttered biscuit. It always has a gooey,pectin! Pectic Enzyme loves to eat pectin.
almost jello like consistency.The way to use pectic enzyme when making
Did you ever wonder where that jello consistencyyour own wine at home is to add about a 1/2
comes from? Well, in jello, it comes from gelatin.teaspoon per gallon of fruit juice before you start
But it fruit jams and jellies, a lot of thefermenting the juice.
consistency comes from something called pectin.While the fermentation is going on, the pectic
Pectin is produced commercially as a white to lightenzyme will also be eating and dissolving the
brown powder, extracted from citrus fruits, andpectin. This will make your wine clear a lot faster
is used in food as a gelling agent particularly inand keep it from having suspended solids.
jams and jellies.