I want to make cider.

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
bottlebomber

bottlebomber

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2011
Messages
14,292
Reaction score
2,753
Location
Ukiah
I've made beer that is crystal clear without filteration and I am wondering if it is possible to do this with cider. Also, do you need to boil the juice and for how long. I know im being lazy by not researching, but I've got hundred of pounds of ugly apples to deal with every year this is something I want to get into
 
No, don't boil the cider! A couple of reasons, one is that you'll get a "cooked fruit" taste like the difference between cooked apples and raw apples. Also, boiling would set the pectin and cause some haze as well as thicken the juice (think jelly!)

Winemakers and cidermakers will tend to use campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite) for fresh juice from pressed apples to kill microbes before pitching the desired yeast. Or, the wild yeast from the apples can be used but it's not a dependable way to do it.
 
Yooper said:
No, don't boil the cider! A couple of reasons, one is that you'll get a "cooked fruit" taste like the difference between cooked apples and raw apples. Also, boiling would set the pectin and cause some haze as well as thicken the juice (think jelly!)

Winemakers and cidermakers will tend to use campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite) for fresh juice from pressed apples to kill microbes before pitching the desired yeast. Or, the wild yeast from the apples can be used but it's not a dependable way to do it.
Click to expand...

Awesome! Thank you. I knew I could turn to HBT for answers... that makes perfect sense. I've made a lot of jam and apples and quince is particularly high in pectin. So have you ever seen any homebrew cider come out clear like a good commercial brand? Or is that only obtainable with expensive filteration
 
it is easy to get completely clear cider but it takes way more time to clear than beer. plan to secondary for something in the order of 4 months and most ciders will clear, but all ciders are different.
towards the end of this lengthy and incredibly informative post there is a set of well controlled experiments by comrade cvillekevin on clearing using different clearing agents, have a read.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/
 
The other question about clear cider is.... Why? You will most likely use dark bottles so its not that important and aside from the bottom of the bottle, it still tastes the same if its mostly clear vs. crystal clear. Pectin enzyme is also supposed to help clear it.
 
sashurlow said:
The other question about clear cider is.... Why? You will most likely use dark bottles so its not that important and aside from the bottom of the bottle, it still tastes the same if its mostly clear vs. crystal clear. Pectin enzyme is also supposed to help clear it.
Click to expand...


While a great number of us do bottle in recycled beer bottles where the clarity would be less noticeable. But I know that I and others like to decant our finished product into a glass. This is to not only appreciate the color and clarity but more importantly IMO to get ones nose "involved" in the experience.
 
sashurlow said:
The other question about clear cider is.... Why? You will most likely use dark bottles so its not that important and aside from the bottom of the bottle, it still tastes the same if its mostly clear vs. crystal clear. Pectin enzyme is also supposed to help clear it.
Click to expand...

Why? Well, I only like to drink clear wines, meads, ciders, and beers. It really is "yukky" to me to drink a murky drink. I always use a glass. Even my hard lemonade is served crystal clear!

A beverage with suspended solids and/or yeast gunk in it doesn't taste quite right to me.

Pectic enzyme will only help clear a pectin haze. There are other causes of haze, though- and usually time will clear it but there are finings to use as a last resort if needed.
 
sashurlow said:
The other question about clear cider is.... Why? You will most likely use dark bottles so its not that important and aside from the bottom of the bottle, it still tastes the same if its mostly clear vs. crystal clear. Pectin enzyme is also supposed to help clear it.
Click to expand...

I can't remember the last time I drank homebrew or anything except maybe a soda out of the bottle... its a very important part of the process for me.
 
So maybe I stuck my foot in my mouth on that one. I guess my point was beyond aging, it does not seem necessary to do anything else to clear cider. It might not be perfectly clear, but pretty dang close.
 
sashurlow said:
So maybe I stuck my foot in my mouth on that one. I guess my point was beyond aging, it does not seem necessary to do anything else to clear cider. It might not be perfectly clear, but pretty dang close.
Click to expand...

Its ok, it seems like here at HBT we are a lot like our brews... very forgiving, and we'll all end up drunk regardless ;)
 
Pappers_ said:
The best advice to give a new cider maker is to read www.makinghardcider.com
Click to expand...

I liked this site a lot, tons of good info and illustrations. The one thing I found, though, was that the host didn't exactly encourage fresh unpasturized cider making. He acted like contraction of sickness such as E.Coli was a very real risk.
 

Similar threads

Chalkyt
Using Fuji juice to make sweet carbonated Cider
Replies
1
Views
412
Chalkyt
Chalkyt
Chalkyt
Opinions on eating apples for cider
Replies
7
Views
786
Fixerman
F
Chalkyt
A “new” way to produce sweeter cider, perhaps.
2
Replies
41
Views
2K
Johnny2
J
C
First hard cider questions and concerns
Replies
4
Views
625
Graham H
G
epicarmyman101
Lager yeast and cider, wanting to try
Replies
4
Views
831
alestateyall
alestateyall
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top