First attempt of Cider-making! Help is very much appreciated! :)

[Rattertat]

Hello fellow homebrewtalkers!

This is my first post and I am happy to have stumbled upon this board.

I'm from germany and there isn't a lot of information about cider-making on german sites, so I guess I'm lucky to have discovered this one here.

As the title already says I'm in the middle of my first attempt of cider making.

The goal is to create a dry, tart yet refreshing sparkling cider.

I want to be able to make a great cider from fresh apples this autumn harvest - and in order to be ready I now have two test runs going.

Both are made of around 12 liters of storebought, untreated, cloudy, organic apple juice.
Both are fully fermented and already racked off the yeast.
Now they rest in my basement since about two weeks.

The problem that I have right now is that they are both still cloudy!
I was hoping that the cloudiness would drop out with the yeast but it didn't. Two weeks of waiting didn't really make it better.

So the question is: How do I clarify my cider?

There are a lot of solutions to this I guess but I can't decide what to do, so I hope I can learn from someone more experienced than me.

Should I wait longer? (It's still test-runs, so waiting for months with no result would not be that great.)

Should I cold-crash it? (I still want to bottle-ferment for CO2 though and I fear that the residual yeast might be too low then)

Should I filter it? (I would have to invest in a filtration-system then...)

Should I use Gelatine/Kieselsol-fining? (It's not vegetarian anymore then but that doesn't really matter)

Any help is really welcome and well appreciated!
Thanks.

Jannis

 

[Whatsgoodmiley]

I'm not sure you'd want to consider filtration. Fine filters can remove the yeast, making bottle carbonation impossible without CO2. However, there are other ways to clarify. When using fresh fruit or pulpy juice, pectic haze can be an issue. Pectin creates that cloudy appearance in solution and can be removed by adding pectic enzyme to break it down over time.

I was not sure if I was correct so I looked it up and found this.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=193654

I look forward to reading what others have to say about it

 

[Maylar]

I would add some pectic enzyme and cold crash the cider. It should clear up in a week or so. Some folks here swear by gelatin but I've personally not used it.

For the future, add the pectic enzyme when pitching the yeast. It really helps.

 

[Rattertat]

I would add some pectic enzyme and cold crash the cider. It should clear up in a week or so. Some folks here swear by gelatin but I've personally not used it.

For the future, add the pectic enzyme when pitching the yeast. It really helps.

Nice, thank you very much.

I've read about adding pectic enzyme before fermentation (and also bought it already) but that was while my cider was already fermenting...

Is adding pectic enzyme now that fermentation has finished still a possibility? I think it sounds like it's worth a try as the apple pectin is what makes a cloudy juice cloudy right?

 

[Whatsgoodmiley]

I would suggest adding it now and giving it a few days to clear. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.

 

[Maylar]

Yes you can add it now. It works slower in the presence of alcohol so I wouldn't expect clearing in a few days, but it will speed up the process.

 

[Rattertat]

Perfect. I will give it a shot!