So my 4 pear trees produced a bunch of fruit this year so I decided to make some perry. I'm new to brewing and have never done this before. Read a lot and researched and decided to experiment with different batches.
Pear varieties (guessing):
Green Anjous
Bartlett
Seckels
Batch 1:
Attempting pear wine,
mix is 70% seckel and 30% bartlett
just under 1 gallon of juice.
OG of 1.045, added sugar to bring OG of 1.070
used Red Star Champagne yeast
added pectic enzyme
Process: juiced pears, added campden tablet and pectic enzyme and let sit 24 hours. Pitched yeast and yeast nutrient and fermentation started right away and stopped after only 3 days. Racked into secondary and got a SG of 1.008. Trying to figure out what to add to fill headspace (carboy only 3/4 full). This is where I'm at right now.
Batch 2:
Attempting Pear cider.
mix is 60% seckel and 40% bartlett
2 gallons of juice
OG of 1.048, did not add any sugar
used Red Star Champagne yeast
added pectic enzyme
Process: crushed pears in bucket with wood block, added campden tablet and pectic enzyme and let sit 24 hours. Added more campden tablets and let sit another 24 hours. Didnt add anything and let sit another 24 hours.. (was waiting for fruit press to arrive) Finally pressed juice and pitched yeast and yeast nutrient. Fermentation may have already started before pressing. Was bulbing in airlock right after adding yeast and putting lid on. Checked this morning and its slowly fermenting.
Batch 3:
Attempting Pear cider.
mix is 100% seckel
4 gallons of pommace
Process: used meat grinder to crush pears, sat the last 3 days waiting for press, going to press tonight. It start bubbling last night so I put more campden in and stirred. Thinking of using nottingham ale yeast on this one.. not sure though.
I still have over 100 lbs of pears and some apples that I need to mill and press.. and I have 4 different yeasts available to try. White labs English cider, Nottingham Ale, Lavlin ICV K1V-1116, Lavlin EC-1118, and more Red star champagne.
Does anyone have any recommendations as to what my other batches can consist of? I don't know how I should split up these others...
Any suggestions or tips are welcome, I'm a newb.
I also have about 20 lbs of granny smith apples, 3 lbs of mcintosh apples, and a little bit of crabapples, I want to make one hard cider batch with these.
Pear varieties (guessing):
Green Anjous
Bartlett
Seckels
Batch 1:
Attempting pear wine,
mix is 70% seckel and 30% bartlett
just under 1 gallon of juice.
OG of 1.045, added sugar to bring OG of 1.070
used Red Star Champagne yeast
added pectic enzyme
Process: juiced pears, added campden tablet and pectic enzyme and let sit 24 hours. Pitched yeast and yeast nutrient and fermentation started right away and stopped after only 3 days. Racked into secondary and got a SG of 1.008. Trying to figure out what to add to fill headspace (carboy only 3/4 full). This is where I'm at right now.
Batch 2:
Attempting Pear cider.
mix is 60% seckel and 40% bartlett
2 gallons of juice
OG of 1.048, did not add any sugar
used Red Star Champagne yeast
added pectic enzyme
Process: crushed pears in bucket with wood block, added campden tablet and pectic enzyme and let sit 24 hours. Added more campden tablets and let sit another 24 hours. Didnt add anything and let sit another 24 hours.. (was waiting for fruit press to arrive) Finally pressed juice and pitched yeast and yeast nutrient. Fermentation may have already started before pressing. Was bulbing in airlock right after adding yeast and putting lid on. Checked this morning and its slowly fermenting.
Batch 3:
Attempting Pear cider.
mix is 100% seckel
4 gallons of pommace
Process: used meat grinder to crush pears, sat the last 3 days waiting for press, going to press tonight. It start bubbling last night so I put more campden in and stirred. Thinking of using nottingham ale yeast on this one.. not sure though.
I still have over 100 lbs of pears and some apples that I need to mill and press.. and I have 4 different yeasts available to try. White labs English cider, Nottingham Ale, Lavlin ICV K1V-1116, Lavlin EC-1118, and more Red star champagne.
Does anyone have any recommendations as to what my other batches can consist of? I don't know how I should split up these others...
Any suggestions or tips are welcome, I'm a newb.
I also have about 20 lbs of granny smith apples, 3 lbs of mcintosh apples, and a little bit of crabapples, I want to make one hard cider batch with these.