Cold Filtering and a Brita Filter – an experiment in wine filtering.

OK, I’ll be the first to admit this next experiment in winemaking is about as controlled as a Donkey on speed. After reading a little bit on using a Brita type filter to remove corking flavour from wine, a little light bulb (OK compact fluorescent) came on above my head. Hence the reason for today’s trial.

A few weeks ago, I tried running my accidental batch of “Blackberry Mead” through a Brita Filter with no luck. Problem being, the wine had more of a syrup consistency, pretty much due to the fact it had not been racked and I really didn’t know anything about what I was doing. A few weeks later, not knowing all too much more other than the wine now looked and felt a little more like wine. The original overly sweet cough syrup flavour had been replaced with a fairly dry red. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of dry wines, I tend to prefer a little sweetness - not as much as Little Red Riding hood but I’m sure you get my point.

OK, my first experiment was with a batch of Plum Mead I had put in the fridge last week in order to see if it would clarify any better than the one in the basement. Not overly surprising, the cooled batch did have a lot more sediment on the bottom. My assumption now being… “Cold filter Wine Good Uggg.”

Not to cast any doubt on my Cro-Magnon alter ego, I decided to take this one step further and run it through a Brita Filter. The result was quite interesting, seeing as the Mead was already fairly sweet and the bite was actually enjoyable, as it was not dry. The end result was quite abit milder of a wine than I had anticipated, in fact, it ended up tasting more like a plum juice… The good news being, the alcohol content did not seem to be effected, I’m thinking I will add this experiment back into the un-brita’d batch; after all I am making wine here and not Juice.

Now onto the very dry Blackberry Mead. This is actually a mixture between my very small original accident batch and my second attempt which actually involved adding yeast. Like I said, after about a month, it was definitely not Vinegar, but it did have a bite strong enough to make the back hairs on a fish stand on end… This batch had also been stopped by pasteurization and adding Brandy. See what I mean by uncontrolled experiment.

Well as far as the result goes, the end drink was actually palatable. Since the Blackberry Mead was so much stronger than the Plum on the onset, it maintained the taste of alcohol. The bitterness and after shiver was drastically reduced. It didn’t taste any sweeter, as there was no sweetness which was being masked by the alcohol. The additional factor of lack of prior cold filtering may also have played a roll. In addition, the batch of Blackberry Mead was aged quite abit more and really did not need much filtering for clarity.

When compared to my later use of a pump filter, the Brita filtration paled in comparison. Yes it is great if you just want to finish it off nicely, or remove a little flavour of corking, but I would not recommend the brita filter as a replacement for one of those little pump filters.