Cider Newby Question

[devilssoninlaw]

I'm planning a batch of hard cider as soon as my yeast arrives. Last night I was given a large can of Del Monte diced pears and the ingredients are " Pears, Water and Pear Concentrate".

My plan was to dehydrate the pears but I thought I could add the liquid from the 6.6 lb can to my apple juice prior to pitching my yeast, for an apple/pear cider. Does anyone see a reason why I should not do it? Thanks for any input!!

 

[Yooper]

No, that should work as long is there is no sorbate or benzoate in the ingredients.

 

[devilssoninlaw]

No, that should work as long is there is no sorbate or benzoate in the ingredients.

Right on!! I have enough juice for a 5 gallon batch but may trim it down to 3 gallons of apple juice to get the pear to come through.

 

[Rish]

You might consider waiting until apple juice fermentation is almost done, then add your pear liquid and let it finish. Delicate flavors and aromas can be blown off by initial vigorous fermentation. Good luck!

 

[Chalkyt]

Check the SG of your apple juice and your pear juice, then make up a sample of both in the proportions you are planning to use and check the SG. The reason I suggest this is that the pear juice may have added sugar which will change the OG of your cider and hence ABV etc.

Otherwise, the idea seems O.K. to me, although IME pears haven't done much when I include them in cider even though pears have twice as much (non-fermentable) sorbitol as apples. I haven't found the expected touch of sweetness from the sorbitol all that noticeable. Nevertheless, experimenting with new ideas is all part of the fun,

Cheers!

 

[Raptor99]

One of my favorite ciders is an apple/pear cider. I use frozen pears along with the apple juice.

 

[devilssoninlaw]

You might consider waiting until apple juice fermentation is almost done, then add your pear liquid and let it finish. Delicate flavors and aromas can be blown off by initial vigorous fermentation. Good luck!

Interesting! I hadn't thought about that Rish, thanks for the tip.