By some fluke/stroke of luck, I made an incredible perry that is insanely delicious. I have no idea how it turned out so good - everyone loves it. So hey, maybe if you try it, you will as well.
-Several bushels under ripe pears + cider press to get 5 gallons of juice (discussed at end)
-White Labs Farmhouse Blend
-Acid blend
-Yeast energizer
-Honey to raise the SG at the end
Before pitching, the pH was about 3.8 or 3.9 and I added acid blend to get it down to 3.5. The natural gravity was 1.053 which I thought was just fine. I didn't sulfite (atypical for me but eh whatever).
I added 1 tsp. of yeast energizer about a week in. Essentially, I have no idea what pear juice has or doesn't have and figured it would help the yeast. The juice was bubbling pretty well the whole time so I'm really not sure if it was necessary.
After 16 days the gravity was down to 1.005 and I decided to bottle. FYI: pears have a lot of sorbitol, which is naturally sweet and isn't fermented by yeast, at least, not via any process a brewer would want to direct. I wasn't sure how much drier it would go but I also didn't care too much.
Normally I do a secondary. I did not with this batch. Just didn't seem necessary. Right before bottling, I also stirred in about 1/3 lb. of honey to give it a little body during aging as I'd heard perry is best with lots of time.
Three days after bottling it tasted like delicious booze candy. A month after bottling it tastes like a very complex, semi-dry white wine with a wonderful nose and a great blend of flavors.
It is loved by all who try it. If only I knew how to recreate this at will! I'm definitely adding perries to my seasonal roster: the effort of pressing was worth it. Might be the Farmhouse Yeast Blend - I'm trying this with a cider right now to evaluate that.
Regarding the pears:
FYI for those who don't know, pears are generally harvested green and then allowed to ripen post-harvest. The resulting texture is vastly preferable to when they are allowed to ripen on the tree.
I had several bushels of under ripe Bartlett (Williams) pears at my disposal, so I pressed them into a juice. I got 2-2.5 gallons of juice per bushel and as a point, pears require much more effort to press than apples. Pears must be pressed immature or they will not go properly through a press. It is a lot of effort because they are still pretty hard. We ended up cutting the pears in half and throwing them in to press.
When I first pressed the juice, it was a white with a blue-green cast to it. I left it overnight in a cooler to let the flavors settle, during which time tannins developed much to my surprise. It was a very dark honey color by the time I got it into a primary container.
-Several bushels under ripe pears + cider press to get 5 gallons of juice (discussed at end)
-White Labs Farmhouse Blend
-Acid blend
-Yeast energizer
-Honey to raise the SG at the end
Before pitching, the pH was about 3.8 or 3.9 and I added acid blend to get it down to 3.5. The natural gravity was 1.053 which I thought was just fine. I didn't sulfite (atypical for me but eh whatever).
I added 1 tsp. of yeast energizer about a week in. Essentially, I have no idea what pear juice has or doesn't have and figured it would help the yeast. The juice was bubbling pretty well the whole time so I'm really not sure if it was necessary.
After 16 days the gravity was down to 1.005 and I decided to bottle. FYI: pears have a lot of sorbitol, which is naturally sweet and isn't fermented by yeast, at least, not via any process a brewer would want to direct. I wasn't sure how much drier it would go but I also didn't care too much.
Normally I do a secondary. I did not with this batch. Just didn't seem necessary. Right before bottling, I also stirred in about 1/3 lb. of honey to give it a little body during aging as I'd heard perry is best with lots of time.
Three days after bottling it tasted like delicious booze candy. A month after bottling it tastes like a very complex, semi-dry white wine with a wonderful nose and a great blend of flavors.
It is loved by all who try it. If only I knew how to recreate this at will! I'm definitely adding perries to my seasonal roster: the effort of pressing was worth it. Might be the Farmhouse Yeast Blend - I'm trying this with a cider right now to evaluate that.
Regarding the pears:
FYI for those who don't know, pears are generally harvested green and then allowed to ripen post-harvest. The resulting texture is vastly preferable to when they are allowed to ripen on the tree.
I had several bushels of under ripe Bartlett (Williams) pears at my disposal, so I pressed them into a juice. I got 2-2.5 gallons of juice per bushel and as a point, pears require much more effort to press than apples. Pears must be pressed immature or they will not go properly through a press. It is a lot of effort because they are still pretty hard. We ended up cutting the pears in half and throwing them in to press.
When I first pressed the juice, it was a white with a blue-green cast to it. I left it overnight in a cooler to let the flavors settle, during which time tannins developed much to my surprise. It was a very dark honey color by the time I got it into a primary container.
