murky cider

warboss100 · 05-28-2008, 03:02 PM

i have been producing cider for about a year now, and was always using dextrose in the initial fermentation, i have made a batch only 8 litres using dark brown sugar instead of dextrose at the beggining.
it has been a while and still isn't clearing up, i have used finings to try and clear it but it isn't working.

any suggestions?

**Yooper** · 05-28-2008, 03:03 PM

Did you use any pectic enzyme? I'm wondering if it's a pectin haze. What kind of finings did you try, and what temperature is the cider been fermenting at?

warboss100 · 05-28-2008, 10:00 PM

i did not use any pectic enzyme,
i used Youngz wine finings,
it was fermenting at roughly 50-55c roughly.

im guessing its to do with the dark brown sugar, but i didnt think at the time whether it would haze my brew

warboss100 · 05-28-2008, 10:13 PM

sorry to change my current train of thought but my current 8L of cider is 13% ABV could i mix in another 4-8L of apple juice to my cider to increase my yield, and obviously lower the alcohol level or would it go weird?

as im not sure if it would work or not. "im not trying to lower my 13% ABV but i feel it would be better for me to get more cider at a lower %"

**Yooper** · 05-28-2008, 10:18 PM

Well, the additional apple juice would ferment, so that would add some alcohol to it, but certainly not 13%, maybe 5% or so. So, you could add some juice, and consider it sort of diluting it.

I never heard of brown sugar causing haze- I still think you may have a pectin haze and some pectic enzyme should fix that. I never heard of Young's wine finings, but have used sparkelloid and isinglass to fine wines and ciders with good effect.

Did you actually mean it fermented at 50C? I think you mean 50F, but just checking. Sometimes sticking a hazy cider or wine into the fridge will have it drop clear- but only do that when it's done fermenting.

warboss100 · 05-28-2008, 10:26 PM

oh okay well i shall add a couple of litres of apple juice then

i have a shop just round the corner so i shall pick up some pectin enzyme, how much would i need to add to each of my demijohns as they each contain 4L of cider.

yes, silly me i did mean to put 50F not C woops

was just trying to help as most people here are american but obviously didnt do anything lol

thanks alot mate, i shall add pectin enzyme tomorrow once i find out how much and if nothings good ill put it in the fridge

Ooompa Loompa · 05-28-2008, 11:10 PM

hehehehe, he called Yooper "mate"

**Blackhawkbrew** · 05-31-2008, 12:19 AM

To get back to your original question, I've have had my cider in secondary for two months with no sign of clearing. I went to my LHBS to get some pectin enzyme and the guy told me that it probably wouldn't work since the cider had already fermented. I should have stood my ground and said "well Yooper said that it would work!" but I caved. He sold me something called Super Kleer and was talking about positive and negative ions

I also got some capden tablets and potassium sorbate to kill of the yeast and stabalize the cider. I have a little less than 3 gallons and had only had a 6 gallon carboy to secondary - this left a lot of head space and the guy at the LHBS was saying something about too much CO2. I did get a 3 gallon carboy for re-racking. He also suggested a wine conditioner for back sweetening.

My question is - did I get hosed, or does this sound legit? I felt very vulnerable in the store, since I'm new to this. I really trust the posts in this thread and value the opinions I've recieved.

**Nurmey** · 05-31-2008, 03:14 AM

I have not used Super Kleer but I have used Sparkloid and it works great. I'm pretty sure it's the same sort of thing (possitive negative ion whatever). I think you will have clear cider in a few days (fingers crossed).

warboss100 · 05-31-2008, 09:24 AM

well blackhawk i also went and bought some pectin enzyme too add to my cider as i got advice on here, its been 1day so far and no signs of clearing so we'll see..
and my cider has only been in secondary for about 6weeks