Clear cider went cloudy

[jsiddall]

I made a hard cider from pasteurized fresh cider dosed with pectic enzyme back in October. After about 3 weeks it fermented down to an SG of 1.001 and was crystal clear. However, a couple of weeks later the batch was completely cloudy and bubbling again. 3 months down the road, still in the carboy, it has remained completely cloudy.

I read on another thread that MLF can cause the cloudiness, and that seems like a reasonable explanation after having the cider perfectly clear, but I would prefer the cider to be clear before I bottle it.

Can I fine with something like sparkolloid and then prime and bottle? Will the fining agents remove any remaining yeast and prevent bottle carbing or will there still be plenty of yeast left?

 

[jsiddall]

For the benefit of others here is what I ended up doing with this cider:

Jan 25: Added 15 ml Sparkolloid boiled in 250 ml water. After 1 week no clearing
Feb 4: Added 12.5 ml pectic enzyme in case I under-enzymed before ferementation. After 10 days no clearing
Feb 13: Added superkleer. After 2 days cider is very clear. I think the trick was getting a negatively charged clearing agent (kieselsol)

I bottled a single primed bottle to see if bottle carbing will still happen with no extra yeast. Unfortunately the bottle was inadvertently put into the fridge for a while. Is the yeast for sure toast now or will warming it back up get it going again?

 

[DaMonkey]

For the benefit of others here is what I ended up doing with this cider:

Jan 25: Added 15 ml Sparkolloid boiled in 250 ml water. After 1 week no clearing
Feb 4: Added 12.5 ml pectic enzyme in case I under-enzymed before ferementation. After 10 days no clearing
Feb 13: Added superkleer. After 2 days cider is very clear. I think the trick was getting a negatively charged clearing agent (kieselsol)

I bottled a single primed bottle to see if bottle carbing will still happen with no extra yeast. Unfortunately the bottle was inadvertently put into the fridge for a while. Is the yeast for sure toast now or will warming it back up get it going again?

The yeast is fine, cooling it puts it into hibernation.

But it sounds like all you had to do to clear the cider was rack it again, did you try that?

 

[jsiddall]

The yeast is fine, cooling it puts it into hibernation.

But it sounds like all you had to do to clear the cider was rack it again, did you try that?

I did rack the cider once in the middle. But I don't see how more racking would clear anything. It has been sitting for 4 months and had not cleared at all until the superkleer.

 

[DaMonkey]

I did rack the cider once in the middle. But I don't see how more racking would clear anything. It has been sitting for 4 months and had not cleared at all until the superkleer.

When there are a lot of lees it keeps things suspended (for 4 months? I am not sure).