Fining agents are more than just compounds added to help clarify your cider. They can also remove other compounds, usually with the goal of improving stability. However, these agents can impact color and aroma. As defined by R. Marchal and E.J. Waters in the book Managing Wine Quality(1), fining is the addition of a substance … Continue reading Cider Fining 101
Tag: Pectin
Cider Words: Enzymes
Enzymes commonly found in cider and perry. Enzymes are proteins that act as catalyst for chemical reactions. In cider making, they can enable or speed up these reactions. This enzymes can improve clarification, increase juice yield, extract color, enhance aroma and flavor, and stabilize your cider(1). They can also improve the nutritional characteristics of foods … Continue reading Cider Words: Enzymes
Cider Question: Do you need to use pectic enzyme?
Pectic enzymes or what are also referred to a pectinases, are enzyme compounds that cleave or breakdown the natural pectin found in both apples and pears. Generally, pears have higher levels of natural pectin. Pectic enzymes are often produced naturally during fermentation by yeast, but as is common, the amount will vary by yeast strain. … Continue reading Cider Question: Do you need to use pectic enzyme?
Cider Question: Does my cider look okay?
The simple question about whether someone’s hard cider looks okay usually occurs during two specific times. The first is during fermentation when yeast form what can be called a krausen or a white or brown yeast cap. The second time is after fermentation has completed and the cider is aging or maturing. During the aging … Continue reading Cider Question: Does my cider look okay?
Hazy Cider: Colloids
If your hard cider is hazy, it has colloids. Cider colloids are a mixture of small particles or compounds that are insoluble and evenly suspended within your cider. Colloids are generally compounds made up of carbohydrates, color compounds, or proteins(1). The carbohydrates and color compounds are usually derived from the fruit. The proteins are usually … Continue reading Hazy Cider: Colloids
Pectic Enzyme: Juice Application
Impact of Pectic Enzyme - Juice Application Pectolyase, pectozyme, and polygalacturonase are three types of pectic emzymes or what are often called pectinases. These are naturally occurring compounds found in plants that breakdown the polysaccharide known as pectin. Pectin gives structure and strength to the plant cells. This structure is what make jelly and jam become … Continue reading Pectic Enzyme: Juice Application
Hard Cider Tip #27: Clear or Cloudy Juice
I hope you are finding the information you need. Please don’t hesitate to leave me a comment or contact me if you have specific questions. To make the best hard cider, should juice be crystal clear or should it be cloudy? Have you even thought about it much? If you have read some of my … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #27: Clear or Cloudy Juice
A Study in Color: Making Cider Silver
In my original post on the color of cider, I asked the question what color hard cider should be. I described cider in the context of wine. Should cider be white and red or something different. I did this because in both cases, you are using fruit juice. While there are some natural variances in … Continue reading A Study in Color: Making Cider Silver
Hard Cider Tip #15: Pectic Enzyme
What is pectic enzyme and why would you add it to your juice or cider. Pectic Enzyme is also know as pectinase, which is an enzyme that breaks down pectin. In other words, it is a protein that acts as a catalyst to degrade the pectin naturally found in fruit. Pectin is a complex carbohydrate … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #15: Pectic Enzyme