Cider Clearing post Fermentation?

I did not add anything to my must before I pitched the yeast to help with clearing the cider.


Is there anything I can add when I rack to secondary to help clear this cider?

was it filtered juice to start with? by that I mean was it clear before you added the yeast? If it was then you need to do nothing. If it was cloudy before the yeast you might want to add some pectic enzyme to help it clear.

I was wondering this also... I didnt use pectic enzime right away, But I still can, right? what would be the best time to add it now? maybe when I rack to the Secondary?

ooops, my bad...Missed that whole secondary thing, sorry for the dumb question.

But, if you use the pectic enzime in the secondary.... should you them rack to a third? or will that be completely uneeded?

again sorry, guess I got the Virgin gitters.

Put in 1 teaspoon pectic enzyme per gallon in now. If its liquid just put it in if dry mix it in a 1/2 cup of the must first then pour it in. You can give it a gentle swirl to mix it. Then leave it alone. when it clears rack it to a bottling bucket and bottle. No need for an additional racking.

I know that 1 teaspoon is more than normal but I have been told to add the extra when you add it late. if going in before the yeast use the normal 1/2 teaspoon per gallon amount.

The juice I used was fresh pressed cider, no pasturization and no filtering.

It is just about ready to move to secondary and it has cleared some, but it is still cloudy. I will have to see if I can pickup some pectic enzyme at LHBS.

If you dont the only thing that will happen is that it will not clear as well as it would if it had some pectic in it. Other than that it will drink just as well.

One thing that also really helps clear ciders and wines if if you put the carboy in a cold place for two weeks. That really causes the proteins and other stuff to fall out and clear it right up. If that doesn't work, I've used sparkelloid with success.

Tonight I racked one of the 5 gallon batches to a secondary and added the pectic enzyme. The recipe I used had a bit much brown sugar, so the cider is still quite dark. It is down to 1.016 SG at the moment. Slow slow fermentaton but still working a bit.

I'd like to get close to dry, but leave a little residual sweetness to it and then keg and carb it , so it is getting close, if I can get it to clear a bit, I will then cold crash it.

I like my draft cider on the border of sweet/dry, my SG yesterday was 1.016 and I wondered if I should keg it and cold crash it in the next few days?

DO you think If I cold crash it, it will clear well? and can I carb it at the same time?

YooperBrew said:

One thing that also really helps clear ciders and wines if if you put the carboy in a cold place for two weeks. That really causes the proteins and other stuff to fall out and clear it right up. If that doesn't work, I've used sparkelloid with success.

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I'm in a similar situation with a month old cider. I used unfiltered juice, no pectic enzyme, fermenation is done, but it's still cloudly.

I'm going to add some pectic enzyme and stick the carboy in a cold place before resorting to more chemical means. Should I rack off the gross lees before doing this or do you think a couple more weeks on them won't hurt?

Also, if I eventually go the sparkelloid route, will I still be able to bottle carb?

BBBF said:

I'm in a similar situation with a month old cider. I used unfiltered juice, no pectic enzyme, fermenation is done, but it's still cloudly.

I'm going to add some pectic enzyme and stick the carboy in a cold place before resorting to more chemical means. Should I rack off the gross lees before doing this or do you think a couple more weeks on them won't hurt?

Also, if I eventually go the sparkelloid route, will I still be able to bottle carb?

Click to expand...

If you have gross lees, I'd rack it. It'll clear better if you rack it. I would think that some cold crashing and sparkelloid would leave enough yeast in suspension to bottle carb, but if you want to make doubly sure, you could add a pinch of fresh dry yeast to your bottling bucket after the priming solution is cooled, mix that up, and then rack the cider into it.