What to do with pears

i have a pear tree in my back yard, and it is loaded to the hilt with pears. Obviously I want to ferment those little boogers, but my problem is that I don't have a press to get the juice out. Can I chunk and core them up and put them into a fermentation bag like I do other fruits, or will I have to come up with something else?

"The Joy of Home Winemaking" by Terry Garey is my winemaking Bible, and her recipe "Matched Pear" is exactly what you describe--cut them up and put them in a fermentation bag. I have a batch of "pear wine" aging right now, but I actually made it from some pear nectar that we canned last year while putting up pear preserves. I blended the nectar with white grape concentrate and water, fermented it, then blended the result with apfelwein. It's nice, but very sweet--probably not at all like what you're going for.

Here's her recipe--makes 1 gallon:

3-1/2 quarts water
2 lbs sugar or light honey
4 lbs ripe pears
1 crushed Campden tab
2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/4 tsp tannin
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1 packet dry champagne yeast

Boil water & sugar or honey together. Wash, stem, core, & chunk pears. Place pears in a fermentation bag and place in fermenter with crushed Campden tab. Mash pears in bag with a potato masher. Pour hot sugar water over pears, add tannin and yeast nutrient. When cool, add pectic enzyme. 12 hours later, add yeast. Ferment on the fruit for a week, remove & drain fruit bag, ferment another week, rack to secondary, rack in two weeks, rack again in two to six months. When clear, stabilize, sweeten if desired, & bottle.

I'm summarizing her recipe, so you might want to check the book to be sure, or adjust to suit your own experience. I'm still fairly new to the hobby, so YMMV.

Four lb is not many pears. if you pulp them it will help add flavor and pears are very mild in flavor. try this a 4 inch pvc tube or steal pipe ace should have some short lenghts and a baseball bat. drop a pear in smash lift tupe drop in pear. if the pears are ripe it will go fast and can be done in the fementer bucket. if not a pot, pail or the like. the more free juice and pulp the more flavors. two of us had to do this as kids and could do a 5gl bucket full in an hour or so. get smashing

I'm thinking a pear infused mead would be just perfect....half honey and half pear cider....yum!!!

the problem with pears is that the flavor is super light. I did a 1 gallon hydromel last year with 4# pears chunked and simmered and mashed in with 2# honey, it is such alight pear flavor that I have to tell you what it is, then you're like...oh ya!
pears freeze well for fermentation...so you have time to experiment!

You can process pears the same as apples for cider, ie garden mulcher and homemade press, if you pick them while still firm ( pears are actually ripe when firm, the softening is just a maturation stage). As has been said, the problem is the lack of flavour. add plenty of acid and tannin. I think they are best used as a base with some other fruit to add flavour.

If you have a good tree load it may be worth the effort to make a press, juice is much easier to work with than pulp.

Having enough pears is not a problem, last year I pulled at least 30 lbs off of my tree alone last year.

I am thinking about cutting up 4 lbs of pears, and adding 1 pineapple for a 1 gallon batch. I have made "pear honey" in the past which is cooked pears, pineapple, and sugar turned into a jam. The two flavors compliment each other very well.