Late pectic enzyme addition

I currently have 5 gallons of cider made from
unfiltered in secondary. I currently have cinnamon, nutmeg, and oak soaking in the fermenter. My issue is that I'm only just realizing that I would have liked to add pectic enzyme to clear up all that nasty pectin making my cider cloudy. Will adding it after fermentation and spicing affect the taste at all?

It's unlikely that pectin is responsible for the cloudiness of your cider, so it's probably pointless.

What is the likely culprit for the cloudiness then? I assumed that since the apple juice itself was really cloudy that it must be due to pectin and proteins.

jpcoote said:

What is the likely culprit for the cloudiness then? I assumed that since the apple juice itself was really cloudy that it must be due to pectin and proteins.

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You know what, I may actually be wrong. It was my understanding that what caused most of the cloudiness in "fresh" cider were proteins and "pulpy" particulate. And it seems like it might be the case, but I can't say for 100% sure. It looks like *most* such ciders will still mostly clear if fermented and given enough time, though. In my own experience, pectin only became a cloudy problem when you heated the juice. That being said, it can't really hurt to add some.

Maybe somebody with more definitive knowledge can help clear things up.

In my experience it is largely a pectin issue. Supposedly pectic enzyme works best before fermentation and is inhibited by alcohol but I've successfully added it to difficult batched in secondary to help drop more sediment.

Would you recommend a larger than normal dose of pectic enzyme then?

Cold crashing (28F) is also effective at clearing a bad pectin haze.

jpcoote said:

Would you recommend a larger than normal dose of pectic enzyme then?

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Meh, just dose with the normal amount and you can always add more. Mix well but avoid splashing and oxidizing your cider.

Cold crashing can help as well but watch out for suckback in your airlock.

I did two five gal carboys a month apart. Both with fresh pressed juice and pectin enzyme. They both cleared nicely in the primary. One got cloudy again in the secondary while the other cleared more. I don't know why. Why?

Thanks for all the input!

Just wanted to do a quick follow-up on this. I finally got around to adding pectic enzyme to the cider, and within two days it went from completely opaque to nearly transparent!