Cold Crashing Cider Questions

[WVMJ]

I now have a freezer on a temp controller, cider now fermenting away at a cool 59F. Normally would just let it finish, rack and age for a year. But now since we have temp controller I thought we would try cold crashing. There seems to be a lot of different ways people cold crash.

Should the cider be racked off of the gross lees first?
What temperature is cold crashing done?
And for how long would wine yeast like D47 need to be kept in the cold to settle out?

WVMJ

 

[madscientist451]

Cold crash it, let it settle, rack it off then keep it cold and let it clear.
How long it takes a cider made with D47 depends on several variables. I've never been in a hurry with wine and cider, it just clears by itself by spring, so don't have an answer.

 

[WVMJ]

At what temp?

 

[madscientist451]

To get the yeast to settle out, might as well go as low as you can.
A cider with 6% ABV can go down to about 28F without freezing.
My basement is pretty cold in the winter, about 40, so I age my cider down there until spring or until I drink it.

Here's a HBT link that shows freezing points for various ABV:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=192138

 

[bmd2k1]

Reviving thread...

Curious to see how long peeps typically cold crash for & thoughts on this process.

I typically go 48-72hrs in high20s. I currently don't know if going longer would provide any benefits.


Cheers [emoji111]

 

[AzOr]

Since this is being revisited.....

If it’s been racked off lees and pectic enzyme added, it should clear within 48 hours. Some believe that pectic enzyme only works pre-fermentation, but I’ve had great luck after as well. As long as the abv is less than 7-8%.

 

[CKuhns]

Typically 3 - 5 days to clear. I have had a few that dropped a lot of lees but got hazy when cold and never really cleared until I brought them back up to room temp and then racked off the lees. Not sure what causes it.