Maceration and Pectin Extraction

[Ryn Eichenlaub]

I work for a small commercial cidery, we generally grind and press about 80 bushels at a time. A few years ago we started macerating our pulp overnight and pressing the next day, mostly to improve work flow.  The ciders we've been making from this process have been fine. However, this year on our first two presses it was evident that quite a bit of pectin had been extracted. The resultant pulp was nearly as difficult to press as dessert fruit and our yields were quite disappointing (750 L of juice from 80 bushels using a bladder press). 

In Craft Cider Making Andrew Lea recommends using pectolytic enzymes to address this issue. I was wondering if anyone had tried it and what your experience was like? Any ideas on how to evenly apply it to a large volume of pulp? 

Ryn

[Claude Jolicoeur]

If you take 16 kg per bushel, 80 bu makes 1280 kg.

750 L of juice at SG 1.050 (volumic mass 1.052 kg/L), would be 789 kg of juice.

789 kg of juice from 1280 kg of apples makes a yield of 61.6%

In my opinion, this is a perfectly acceptable yield for a bladder press. You could expect more from a rack and cloth hydraulic press.