Pectic enzyme for clearing apple juice

[Christian Annese]

I've always added pectin enzyme to my cider when I pitch the year. I'd like to try adding it 1 or 2 days before I pitch yeast to have a clear juice. I tried this approach however it's been 5 days and the juice hasn't cleared at all. Not sure what's going on. I'm using the recommended dosage. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Bartek Knapek]

My experience is that every juice is different. Some will drop the sediment and become crystal-clear even without the enzyme, while some will not be affected by the enzyme addition nearly at all.

> Dnia 26 marzec 2018 o 13:08 Christian Annese <chrisan...@gmail.com> napisał(a):
>
>
> I've always added pectin enzyme to my cider when I pitch the year. I'd like to try adding it 1 or 2 days before I pitch yeast to have a clear juice. I tried this approach however it's been 5 days and the juice hasn't cleared at all. Not sure what's going on. I'm using the recommended dosage. Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks
>

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[Claude Jolicoeur]

As Bartek said, every juice is different.
But also, not all pectinases are equal when used with apple juice. Are you using a pectinase that is known to work well for apple, or are you using just "any pectinase"?
Additionallly, some dosage testings should be done, as for apples the dosage could be substantially higher than for general use.
Temperature also has an influence, and higher dosage should be used at lower temperature.
Claude

[Christian Annese]

I'm using pectic enzyme by LD Carlson, temps where 65 degrees. I made another batch that I added raspberry puree too and that cleared right up.

Any brands you recommend that are good for apple juice?

[Mark Gildenhaar]

I have had mixed results using pectic enzyme to clear my cider. I've always added 1/2 teaspoon to each 5 gal batch. For those batches that this has proved successful it always takes weeks, not days, for the must to clear. This year I have four 25 liter carboys, all the same juice but staggered yeast pitching by about 25 days in two batches of two carboys each. I presume that due to the variety of apples that I used this year (8 - 10 different kinds of "wild" apples) I am noticing the color of the cider to be more copper-ish as opposed to the paler amber color of previous year's cider. The first batch has cleared somewhat and the second batch not as much (yet). Because I like a clear cider I was considering using a clarifying agent like Kiesolsol & Chitosan which I have used once in the past right before bottling. The cider cleared completely in about 48 hours. I would like to hear opinions from those more experienced than me on using clarifying agents.
Thanks.

[Claude Jolicoeur]

Le lundi 26 mars 2018 11:17:24 UTC-4, Christian Annese a écrit :

I'm using pectic enzyme by LD Carlson, temps where 65 degrees. I made another batch that I added raspberry puree too and that cleared right up.

Any brands you recommend that are good for apple juice?

I had a look at Google for "pectic enzyme by LD Carlson" and this in fact does look like what I call "any pectinase" that is sold in wine/beer supplies stores. In my experience, these are generally not very efficient for apple juice.
For my part I have had best results with Endozym Pectofruit at a dosage of 10 mL/hL. That enzyme is sold by Maison Arca Frin in France specifically for apple juice clarification.
Last year I tried a different one, Lysis Elite, which was suggested by an enologist in Montreal. Recommended dosage was 4 mL/hL and that didn't work. I tried to increase the dosage to 10 mL/hL, and that didn't work either. Hence, I wouldn't recommend that enzyme for apple juice.
There are many cider makers that I know who use Scottzyme Pec5L with good success, and claim a perfect clarification in less than 24 hours. I plan to try it next season.

And as an answer to Mark's note, this year, since my ciders didn't clear prior to fermentation because my pectinase didn't work well, I have to use fining to clarify my ciders. My preferred is in effect the Kiesolsol/Chitosan, which is almost always successful. Small sample testing is always recommended. In some cases, I've had to increase dosage to 150% of recommended in order to insure perfect clarification. For perry I rather use Gelatin/Kieselsol tandem, as the gelatin works well with pear tannins.
Claude

[Christian Annese]

Claude, thanks for all that information. I'm going to try Endozym Pectofruit next.