Apple-Pear cider

[petrostar]

So I decided to brew some cider and learned a lot from all of you on the forums! Gonna post my recipe because it has only been 5 days in the fermenter and it tastes like Jesus in a glass! Here goes.

2 gallons motts organic cider (no sugar added or preservatives)
1/2 cup raw local honey
1 cup corn sugar
2 cans organic pears in juice (no sugar added or preservatives)
1/2 t yeast nutrient
2 t pectic enzyme
1/2 pack Nottingham yeast

Started by blending pears with their juice in food processor until liquified. Took two cups cider and put it on stove along with pears and honey and corn sugar. Brought to a boil for about ten minutes. Chilled to 70 degrees and mixed with remaining cider, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutrient. Aerated for about 5 minutes and pitched my rehydrated yeast. Its going strong in my old Mr beer container (i knew that thing was good for something)

My OG was 15.2 brix (1.061)
With only five days into fermentation I'm at 6.4 brix (1.0028)
Yes, that's 7.768% abv already! It tasted fantastic at this point so I can't imagine its going to get worse! Can't foresee much more fermentation either. Please let me know what you think so far, gonna transfer to 1 gallon glass jugs tomorrow to age a bit. Then going to bottle. The main reason I'm posting this is because I've heard so many talk about how you shouldn't be disappointed at this point if it doesn't taste good. I wanted to drink it Now! Thanks for the read. Pete.

 

[GinKings]

I think your calcs might be off a bit. I think you added a "0". 6.4 Brix isn't 1.0028. I'm guessing you meant 1.028, which makes it a little over 4% ABV. Fermentation is only about half done.

Recipe sounds good, but I think I would avoid boiling anything next time. I assume you are worried about sanitation. Heating to pasteurize would accomplish the same thing without boiling. Personally, I wouldn't have heated anything.

How long are you planning on aging? Be patient.

 

[ACbrewer]

reading over your ingredient list again, the pears themselves were probably pasturized in some fashion when canned, so if your blender was sanitized GinKings is right there is no need to boil/heat anything.... This looks tasty...

I might try it with my mr. beer

 

[petrostar]

Well, the gravity readings are adjusted for alcohol content. There is a lot of different brix calculators and spreadsheets out there that adjust gravity readings for alcohol content. It's not just a straight conversion into gravity. I can send you the links that explain this along with a YouTube video explaining the spreadsheet. Bobby from Nj is one source. Onebeer.net has an adjusted calculator for these readings also. I believe its morebeer.com that has the downloadable spreadsheet.

I boiled to break down some of the pear pulp and to pasteurize the raw honey. It seemed to work great. The processor was sanitized and the pears were canned so I assume they were also. Will definitely be aging this one for a bit and letting you know how it turns out! Thanks for the feedback. Pete

 

[petrostar]

I guess I didn't even think about the whole pasteurization process with the honey, Doing a little more research I realize I didn't need to boil it but shouldn't I have heated it? It is completely raw honey, NOTHING done to it.

 

[DoctorWho]

Looks good! My favorite commercial cider Balmers/Magners uses pear juice addition and I am trying to replicate that flavor. This is going to be my next batch!

The boiling can cause the cider to become cloudy. Not sure about heating the raw honey, but they must do something to kill bacteria when they bottle it.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[petrostar]

Isn't that what the pectic enzyme is for? To clarify? That's an honest question, first batch mind you...

 

[DoctorWho]

You are correct, Madam. Upon further research that is exactly what pectic enzyme is for. Boiling sets the pectin in the juice and causes haze and enzyme should clear that up. It also looks like you may not need it next time if you don't heat the cider up.

Either way, you still have some sweet, drinkable cider it sounds like!

 

[DoctorWho]

Oh, what was the final amount that this recipe made? I wan't desperately to make this but all my large fermenters are taken (stupid delicious cider) and all I have is a 1 gallon jug so I need to ratio the ingredients.

Thanks.

 

[petrostar]

8.5 quarts

 

[oldmate]

Mine is just finishing up now but lacks any body at all, tasty as all hell, but just feels like your chugging down some flavoured water.

 

[petrostar]

Quick update on this, I just tasted it and tested the gravity. It fermented out to .995 which brought it to about 8.6% I ordered a vial of organic green apple extract and intend to bottle it this weekend with a bit of splenda to help with the sweetness. Oh, it was a touch on the sour side, needs a little more sweetness. It cleared fantastic, I can almost see through my 1 gallon glass jugs. This stuff is so easy to make, Im starting to really dig these ciders!!!!!

 

[petrostar]

Bottled it tonight, added just under a half teaspoon of organic green Apple extract and 10 tbl of splenda (baking granules) to my two gallon batch. Got twenty 12 oz bottles it tastes so fantastic. I'm really impressed.

 

[oldmate]

I backsweetened mine with some yellow box honey. It's awesome, needs some age on it though.

 

[sashurlow]

So what do the pears do to the taste? Can you actually taste pear and apple in the finished product? Did you strain it or did the pears dissolve away?

 

[petrostar]

its more of a hint of pear flavoring, I made one batch with and one without pears. Yes the pears just fell to the bottom with the trub. The pectic Enzyme worked wonders for clearing it btw. Ill post some pics in a couple weeks of how clear it became. Think my Mr. Beer container is going to get some Hard Lemonade going next. Anybody know which recipe is the best for that?

 

[newbee17]

There's few good 1 on the hard lemonade thread

 

[DoctorWho]

I finally got around to making a (modified) pear cider. I did a 1 gallon batch as I don't have any free primary space for about a month. gulp.

My recipe was:

4 bartlett pears, cored and then liquified in blender
3/4 gal Motts apple juice
1 cup brown sugar
1/8t tannin
1 t yeast nutrient
Nottingham ale yeast.

OG was 1.070.

Oh and heres a picture, because I like pictures!

And its not Peas Cider, I promise