clearing my cider

I have about 3 gallons of cider in secondary right now. I initially put it into primary 2/26 and transferred to secondary on 3/29 (I also added a can of AJ to the secondary). It still looks very murky. Am I just too anxious or should this be clearing by now?

Here's the recipe I used:

3 .5 gallons of Mott's Natural (fresh pressed) 100% apple juice
2 .5 gallons of Mott's 1005 Natuaral apple juice (clear, not fresh pressed)
1 # light brown sugar
4 oz. lactose
1 packet Nottingham yeast

I know the recipe only adds up to 2.5 gallons but it came out almost 3 gallons.

Could the fresh pressed juice be the reason for the lack of clearing?

I plan on backsweetening with a can of AJ concentrate. What is the conversion of sugar for priming a 2.5 to 3 gallon batch?

Thanks for all your help!

I'm not sure why it's not clear, but it might take a while. You might have a pectic haze, though, since you didn't use any pectic enzyme. I'd wait and see. Was it clear before you added the juice to secondary? I say to be patient, and when the FG has been reached for 60 days or so, if it's still not clear, then you can try some finings. I'd try pectic enzyme first, in the amount of 1 tsp per gallon. Ideally, that would go in the primary, but it'll work later on, too.

I don't know about the priming, sorry!

Thanks Yooper,
The cider was not clear when I racked to secondary. How long will it take the pectic enzyme to take effect? How often should I check the FG? Is it like beer, if gravity is the same for three days?

And by the way, I don't usually take the advice of Red Wing fans, since I'm a die hard Blackhawks fan, but I really enjoy reading all your posts. They're very helpful, thanks.

GO BLACKHAWKS!!!

Blackhawkbrew said:

And by the way, I don't usually take the advice of Red Wing fans, since I'm a die hard Blackhawks fan, but I really enjoy reading all your posts. They're very helpful, thanks.

GO BLACKHAWKS!!!

Click to expand...

sorry, I can no longer be of any help. Have a nice day.

Blackhawkbrew said:

Thanks Yooper,
The cider was not clear when I racked to secondary. How long will it take the pectic enzyme to take effect? How often should I check the FG? Is it like beer, if gravity is the same for three days?

And by the way, I don't usually take the advice of Red Wing fans, since I'm a die hard Blackhawks fan, but I really enjoy reading all your posts. They're very helpful, thanks.

GO BLACKHAWKS!!!

Click to expand...

Ok, anyway!!!! Once you reach FG, you don't have to keep checking. But you shouldn't bottle until clear. With ciders, it can be a few months.

The pectic enzyme should work relatively quickly, if indeed that's a pectin haze. If it doesn't work, you can use some finings like sparkelloid. That works quickly, in about 3-5 days usually. But you'll be dropping lees (sediment) for a while until it clears- so after it's clear I rack and wait a bit before bottling just in case more lees drop.

I'd let it sit in the carboy for a couple of months, and then you can use finings if you'd like.

Thanks again Yooper! I'll wait a bit longer (boy it's hard though). I would like to bottle this in early June. If it's not clearer by the end of May I'll try the pectin enzyme We'll see. Why don't you want to bottle cider before it clears?

Blackhawkbrew - I feel that being a Canucks fan I should not offer my 2 cents joking, but I jumped the gun on my Apfelwein, missed the FG by 0.012 or so - and am now worried about the consequences (it was kegged). Take the time - I wish I did.











And...
I know, I know - I'm going to get some **** about the blowing it at the end/Canucks fan.

from what i understand...if you didint start with a clear product for the cider- the end product wont be clear either. I have apfelwein going right now and it began clear then clouded and then is clearing now again...you could try finings or gelatin however let it sit for a while in the carboy and some more yeast etc should drop out of suspension.

THERE IS NO REASON THAT IT WONT STILL BE GREAT! I know of others who have used organic applejuice and it ended cloudy but was still delicious!

Thanks Scinerd, that was my thinking as well, that since more than half my original cider was cloudy to begin with that it would be tough to get a clear end product.

NWernBrewer, how should I determine what my FG should be?

Oh yea, don't feet too bad about your Canucks, at least they have MADE the playoffs in recent years. However, things are looking up in Chicago hockey!!

My ciders and apple wines are clear, even if I start with cloudy unfiltered apple cider. I wouldn't bottle until it's clear, because if it does clear in the bottle, you'll have tons of gunk in the bottles. It's certainly your choice, though!

The FG depends on the OG and the yeast you used. If you used wine yeast, you could finish around .990-.996 or so.

Here's a picture of racking day at my house- the one on the left is apple wine made from cloudy cider.

damn thats looks awesome! although some are cloudier than others....how long have they been racking? whats the red one?

also what do you regard as the difference between apple cider and apfelwein?