Pear Cider Questions

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

hmvaught

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
We are starting our first ever pear cider batch using the pears off our own tree. We just finished juicing almost 5 gallons. Our initial measure of potential alcohol volume read around 7.5. Will the reading be different after adding the campden tabs? If we're going for a semi sweet finish, should we add more sugar to bring the reading up? We're going to be using a beer yeast instead of champagne yeast so we don't wind up with a super dry cider. Thanks to anyone who answers.

ForumRunner_20130816_220450.png
This is the fresh juice. It's frothy.


ForumRunner_20130816_220502.jpg
 
Campden tablets won't change the reading. Pears will ferment dry whatever yeast you use but if your pears have some sorbitol you will get a bit of residual sweetness. It is hard to predict how much sorbitol pears will have. If you are unhappy with the sweetness after fermentation, backsweetening with some juice and pasteurising in bottle are an option.
 
What is the purpose of juicing? I am gonna do the same with my pears but im just gonna peel them and have them in a mesh bag? Should work about the same? My pear wine came out great a couple years ago
 
Thanks! I wonder if I should put a lb or two of sugar in when I prime.

i don't know how big your batch is and i don't do non-metric... but if you put in more than a 'normal' amount for priming, which is generally 5-7 grams per liter, you are going to have EXPLODING BOTTLES! fun! the cider will be sweet but you won't get to enjoy it since it will be on the ceiling
 
What is the purpose of juicing? I am gonna do the same with my pears but im just gonna peel them and have them in a mesh bag? Should work about the same? My pear wine came out great a couple years ago

First you don't need to add water if you juice. Pears don't have a lot of flavor and adding water will just dilute the cider. Second it is a lot easier fermenting juice than fruit in a mesh bag. less handling means less chance of oxidation/spoilage.
 
We wound up getting 5.5 gallons of juice. Starting values (before corn sugar add):
SG 1.042
Pot. Alc. 5.5
%sugar 11

After just shy 1lb corn sugar (2 tbl used to bottle our 1 gal of stout)and one packet Coppers yeast:

SG 1.048
Pot. Alc. 6.5
%sugar 12.5

24 hours after pitching, bubbling at about 1 every 7 sec.
 
Just my .02

I would have gone with table sugar. In my opinion, it ferments out a bit less dry than corn sugar. With pears, you are already going to be dry with a very faint pear flavor unless you back sweeten or stop the fermenting process early.
 
UPDATE: The airlock has been pretty much still for about 24 hours. It was only super active for about a day. Should I chance taking a sample, or go ahead and rack to secondary and sample at the same time to limit exposure? There was a high enough krausen to clog the airlock after the first 24 hours, but it's only barely touched the end of it since I unclogged it.
 
UPDATE: Racked to secondary tonight. Readings indicated between 4.5-5% ABV, 3.5% sugar, and SG of 1.014 , so we must have done something right! Tasted it. Had a slight tangy taste coupled with a slight tingle on the tongue, similar a crisp wine. Now to wait some more for it clarify.

In fermenting bucket
ForumRunner_20130827_233034.png


In secondary carboy
ForumRunner_20130827_233050.png


Taste testing!
ForumRunner_20130827_233101.png
 
Back
Top