Clearing Ciders & Jam Questions

[sreichenberger]

Good morning, I am currently working on two Cider batches at the moment, but they still very much look uncleared. Concerning clearing (and flavorings as well) I have two questions:

1) Will the use of gelatin powder help clear the Cider?

2) What is the best course of action for adding jams to flavor the Ciders? Adding to secondary? Should I heat the jams in boiling water then add to the Cider? Should the jams be put inside a hob bag?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[sreichenberger]

Any tips regarding those two questions?

 

[wasully]

I don't know if anybody has ever really tried adding jams to ciders. What's the point of adding pectin to a cider(keeving aside)?

When you say you want the flavors in jams, it's going to be much simpler to add the raw products(not counting pectin) to the cider somehow, not jam.

I would attempt to breakdown the jam with heat+dilution and then mix it into fermented cider, personally. Fermented because alcohol helps break down pectin, so hopefully it wouldn't clump up again in the cider.

 

[dmtaylor]

Gelatin can indeed help clarify the cider. I do this quite often. Dissolve a pack in a little hot water (takes a long time to dissolve) then stir into the finished cider. A few days later it should be noticeably more clear. If you want to try this, use the gelatin after the fruit is added and finished fermenting. Gelatin should be the last thing you add before packaging.

Pectin can add permanent haze, which gelatin might not be able to remove. So it is better to add fruit alone than jam, assuming the jam contains additional pectin as a thickening agent. Fruit also contains its own pectin but not as much as jam. In any case, if you are going to try fruit or jam, do not heat it. Just add it to the cider then allow it to ferment out for a couple more weeks.

 

[sreichenberger]

Gelatin can indeed help clarify the cider. I do this quite often. Dissolve a pack in a little hot water (takes a long time to dissolve) then stir into the finished cider. A few days later it should be noticeably more clear. If you want to try this, use the gelatin after the fruit is added and finished fermenting. Gelatin should be the last thing you add before packaging.

Pectin can add permanent haze, which gelatin might not be able to remove. So it is better to add fruit alone than jam, assuming the jam contains additional pectin as a thickening agent. Fruit also contains its own pectin but not as much as jam. In any case, if you are going to try fruit or jam, do not heat it. Just add it to the cider then allow it to ferment out for a couple more weeks.

Thanks, @dmtaylor that's what I thought based on other readings. So here's what I am planning to do (please critique my method) adding strawberry which I have kept frozen for a couple of weeks (will thaw by keeping out beforehand) with jam into a hop bag (after sanitizing the bag), and then adding the hop bag with strawberries and jam into the fermenter. Wait two more weeks and then bottle.

Would that give me a good red berries flavor? I am also presuming the end Cider would be rather cloudy due to the jams being added instead of the actual fruits (except for the strawberries). Thanks in advance!

 

[dmtaylor]

Thanks, @dmtaylor that's what I thought based on other readings. So here's what I am planning to do (please critique my method) adding strawberry which I have kept frozen for a couple of weeks (will thaw by keeping out beforehand) with jam into a hop bag (after sanitizing the bag), and then adding the hop bag with strawberries and jam into the fermenter. Wait two more weeks and then bottle.

Would that give me a good red berries flavor? I am also presuming the end Cider would be rather cloudy due to the jams being added instead of the actual fruits (except for the strawberries). Thanks in advance!

Strawberry jam cider should turn out delicious. Yes it will be hazy but you can't taste the haze so who cares! Be aware that the sugars will all ferment so the final cider will probably be quite tart. You might want to add a few ounces of xylitol or lactose or other unfermentable sweetener to help balance the tartness.

Cheers and good luck, hope you enjoy!

 

[sreichenberger]

Strawberry jam cider should turn out delicious. Yes it will be hazy but you can't taste the haze so who cares! Be aware that the sugars will all ferment so the final cider will probably be quite tart. You might want to add a few ounces of xylitol or lactose or other unfermentable sweetener to help balance the tartness.

Cheers and good luck, hope you enjoy!

Thanks for the tip! Will post results in a couple of months.

 

[wasully]

Pectin can add permanent haze, which gelatin might not be able to remove. So it is better to add fruit alone than jam, assuming the jam contains additional pectin as a thickening agent. Fruit also contains its own pectin but not as much as jam. In any case, if you are going to try fruit or jam, do not heat it. Just add it to the cider then allow it to ferment out for a couple more weeks.

I definitely wouldn't add heat to fruit, but considering jam is already brought to boiling and then spends time in a water bath or pressure cooker-you might as well heat it up to make it more liquid before dumping it in the cider.