Do you guys think that a cyser needs to be clear or not?????

Squatchy · Nov 25, 2014

I just racked my first cyser over to a secondary to add some oak and vanilla bean to balance out too many cloves. I had some extra after topping off my head space so I mixed it with some must I had in the fridge from a 5ver I just made a few days ago. I was really happy how much better it tasted from the dry batch in the primary. It taste as good as I might expect as I don't have much experience in fermenting. I don't feel that a cloudy drink steals from the experience, especially as the cider I started with was cloudy to begin with. Do you make yours clear or leave it as is???? If you were to clear it would you use Sparkleoid ( I was planning on it if I were to clear it) or something else. I want it ready for xmas parties.

I like the buzz this provides. I seem to feel that different buzzes somehow are different in how the effect hits me. Does this make any sense to any of you????

Thanks

Ryan

mannye · Nov 26, 2014

I try to make everything clear. I'm obsessive about it.

WVMJack · Nov 26, 2014

Clear is just a personal thing, do you like cloudy sweet cider? The euro guys have no problem bottling some of their stuff cloudy on purpose. It seems you may be a newbie? Some of that stuff that is making it cloudy may be yeast, if you bottle it with a bunch of yeast they die and dissolve and may or may not leave a good taste behind. Also if you leave any sugar in there those cloudy yeast will eat it in your bottle and one night late while you are asleep you will hear muffled little POPS coming from your basement, this will be your bottles popping

One advantage clear has is there is a lot less yeast floating around. THe honey can contribute to a haze from the protiens in it, if you what you have is clear and you add honey and it becomes cloudy its probably the proteins, sparkaloid works great on that haze or leave it the way it is. If someone puts their nose up in the air when you share a bottle with them take them off your bottle list if they are to hard to reeducate on what quality cyser really is. WVMJ

ostensibly · Nov 26, 2014

I've read that drinking mead young with the yeast still in suspension can cause GI distress, however I personally never noticed it. I've probably never drank enough cloudy to find out. Cider does take a while to clear also.

Squatchy · Nov 26, 2014

ostensibly said:
I've read that drinking mead young with the yeast still in suspension can cause GI distress, however I personally never noticed it. I've probably never drank enough cloudy to find out. Cider does take a while to clear also.

Funny you should say that. When I racked this batch over to secondary last night I had some left over that I couldn't fit in my carboy. I had some must in the fridge for topping off things. I was mixing the must and cyser to get an idea of how much back sweetining it would need to taste good. It tasted so much better than how it tasted dry. I ended up drinking all of the extra and I was a human airlock all night!!! Won't be doing that any more

GntlKnigt1 · Nov 26, 2014

ROFL...human airlock. Love it.

Midnight Sun · Nov 26, 2014

Some cysers will never clear without filtration or clarifiers. I have a bottle from a batch 3 years ago that has never cleared. The cider was cloudy when I bought it and I never bothered to clarify it. Didn't see the need given the incredible flavor.

BTW, a local brew pub used to sell an apple ale and it was cloudy. The yeast was most certainly not making those batches cloudy. Sadly, they changed their recipe and the current version (clear) is not nearly as good.

EJM3 · Nov 26, 2014

+2 Human airlock (may need to steal that another time). Done that more than once to date.

I have made two 5 gallon batches of cider, neither of them made it to the bottling stage due to 2 legged cellar rats. Just too tasty with all the yeast floating around...

mannye · Nov 27, 2014

I never noticed that. I wonder how yeast can survive the bath of hydrochloric acid it is subjected to in mah tummahh.

Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now.
U g

EJM3 · Nov 27, 2014

I used my googlefu to come up with average stomach acidity at 1.5 to 3.5, so if some can survive down to 2.6 then they can have a feast in the 10 miles of small intestinal surfaces.

mannye · Nov 29, 2014

EJM3 said:
I used my googlefu to come up with average stomach acidity at 1.5 to 3.5, so if some can survive down to 2.6 then they can have a feast in the 10 miles of small intestinal surfaces.

That's a lot of farts.

Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now.
U g

EJM3 · Nov 29, 2014

Trumpestuous even. The angel Gabriel has nothing on yeast mowing on the sugars inside there!!! Windows rattling, cupboard doors swinging, dishes tinkling (yup said tinkling, twice mannye!), and the odour of a can of roasted peanuts permeating the entire house, even the dog and cat wanted nothing to do with us!

SCCCCRRRRIiiiiitchhchch Back on track here: I'm either going to wait for the yeast to settle or otherwise make sure the darned things don't have much vitality left then get them out. If I want I will Sur Lie to get some extra whatever the particular yeast contributes as it decomposes, but no more live yeast drinks (small sips seems ok for me, no mouth full(s) for me).

ChrlZ · Nov 30, 2014

I always shoot for clear cider/cyser, but I pretty much rely on racking and time to get it that way. In my experience, any additive that helps clear a must faster also strips of some flavor. It may be a subtle loss - but that's too high a price to pay in my book. I have friends who add pectic enzyme at the crush - some of them let the enzymes work for a while before they pitch their yeast and they claim it helps clarify the must without changing the flavor. I can vouch for 'em on that score - but Bentonite, Sparkleoid and for that matter, even filtration with diatomaceous earth seems to get to crystal clear at the price of a bit of a flavor. Just my two cents - in the end, it's what you like to drink, eh?

ostensibly · Nov 30, 2014

ChrlZ, good point on the pectinase. My cysers usually drop crystal clear eventually, but I hit the musts with pectinase before pitching the yeast. Not super helpful for OP but it's good to remember that apples have pectin.

mannye · Dec 1, 2014

Re-reading the original post I don't think I've answered the question. Does it NEED to be clear.

The answer is no. It does not need to be clear. I'm sure it will taste the same with or without haze.

For many people (me among them) the enjoyment is enhanced when the drink is visually appealing as well.

Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now.
U g

Squatchy · Dec 1, 2014

SO I used Sparkelloid on this batch. It.s been 2.5 days and a lot of settling has happened. It's dropped out all the way to the bottom along the sides of the carboy and I have a mushroom cloud in the center about 20% af the way up. The dust seems very fine and easily stirred with any movement of the carboy. I'm thinking it will be easily sucked up in my racking cane when I transfer it. Hopefully it will thicken and solidify over time.

mannye · Dec 1, 2014

That's why I like Super Kleer. The sediment is "heavy" and I can sit the covered tip of the racking cane on it without the fear of sucking up an excessive amount of sediment.

EJM3 · Dec 3, 2014

So far without using fining agents I have had ~18 batches just clear naturally, and only 2 that I used Bentonite on. Mostly as a foam reducing agent, worked pretty well there. And 1 of those 2 batches I did try and use it as a fining agent and it just would not clear. Took all the way until secondary to drop the last of the lees out.

Search

Do you guys think that a cyser needs to be clear or not?????

Squatchy

Lifetime GotMead Patron

mannye

Administrator

WVMJack

NewBee

ostensibly

NewBee

Squatchy

Lifetime GotMead Patron

GntlKnigt1

Got Mead? Patron

Midnight Sun

NewBee

EJM3

Honey Master

mannye

Administrator

EJM3

Honey Master

mannye

Administrator

EJM3

Honey Master

ChrlZ

NewBee

ostensibly

NewBee

mannye

Administrator

Squatchy

Lifetime GotMead Patron

mannye

Administrator

EJM3

Honey Master