pear cider

[benkeirs]

hi there, just started my first pear cider the other day, I'm kinda just goin with the flow at this stage, has anyone got any major tips for me? cheers Ben.

 

[sa101]

not sure mate, but I've always wanted to get one done! I bought some "Apple/Pear" juice last week, but haven't started yet.

Are you pressing your own pears? Let me know how you're progressing, very interested on whether or not there are any differences in the process compared to brewing simple apple cider. My guess is that there isn't.

 

[benkeirs]

no not pressing, just got some 100% pear juice from the supermarket. I only did a 4lt batch to start with, it's bubbling away just nicely so far, cause pear juice is very cloudy, I'm guessing the final product won't be crystal clear.

 

[Greghark]

I've been making pear cider for a few years now. I've tried a few different methods but I have found that I don't have to do anything differently than if I was making apple cider. Most pear ciders on the market either blends a little pear juice with the apple or adds pear flavor to a finished apple cider. I tried these and I like just making a batch of straight pear cider the best. I do add some brown sugar, ~2# for a 5 gallon carboy, just to bring the alcohol to around 6% (personal preference). The juice looks identical to apple but there should be an obvious pear aroma. When finished I find my pear cider to have a very good flavor and is always one of my favorites.

My only source of pear juice is Keystone homebrew in Allentown, PA. They partner with some local folks to get fresh pear cider, and many types of fresh apple cider, every year. I don't live near them so it is a hell of a drive, but worth it once a year for 10-20 gallons of the good stuff. I have never tried store bought sweet pear juice, but might try it in a small batch expirement.

 

[Greghark]

Forgot to add...

I rack all of my ciders once or twice before bottling and it can finish just as clear as apple cider and with the same carbonation (I bottle carb my stuff).

 

[sa101]

sounds brilliant! Can't wait to start my batch! My guess is that it might need some extra time in the bottles to clear, as it's a more cloudy juice, but worth the wait

 

[GinKings]

My guess is that it might need some extra time in the bottles to clear, as it's a more cloudy juice, but worth the wait

I would suggest letting it clarify before bottling. Any clarification in the bottles leaves the sediment in the bottom of your bottle. It's not the end of the world, but it's not very attractive.

 

[oasisbliss]

Greg, can you give instructions on this ? and what kind of yeast you use?
thank you

Mike

 

[dr_al]

we used 30 lbs of frozen and thawed pears, and we juiced 30 lbs of frozen and thawed pears, put it all in a big bucket hit it with camphden tabs and pectic enzyme, let it sit and hit it with cote des blanc we had allot of pulp so we added a gallon of apple juice unfortunately but it turned out awesome. primary to seconday in a week, we had the 30 lbs in a big straining bag so we added that to 5 gallons of apple juice in a new bucket and thats pretty tasty to.

i would reccoment at least 3 rackings to get all the pulp out, we did 2 and it was crystal clear so we thought but after kegging it dropped some more. aged it 8 months force carbed and served, no back sweetening no sorbate

it was our first try and it came out very tasty even with a few mistakes. it has to age it gets ride of the dirty flavor we found we had from some seeds that got gnawed up in the juicer.

 

[hurleyburley]

Al, I am hoping that you see this. I see that you live in Evart so I thought you might be able to direct me. It looks like you are pretty active on this site, so I am posting with the hope that you or somebody in West Michigan has info. I am new to this forum, new-ish to cider making. I have made apple and I want to try pear cider. I see that you ground your own pears and I am just not ready for that much work, just yet. I am trying to find some pear cider/juice somewhere in West Michigan. In fact, I would prefer to find organic pear and apple cider and would be willing to pay more for it. Currently, I drive about 40 miles in the wrong direction to get it! I live in Whitehall, Michigan which is just North of Muskegon. My last batch came from Conklin/Coopersville area and it wasn't organic. I can get it from Lewis Farms to the North but they sell it pasteurized by the gallon. That is so expensive that it might be cheaper to buy Strongbow in bottles or cans. We have all kinds of orchards just to our North, but I am not aware of any pressing cider/juice for sale in bulk, let alone organic. Do you have any leads for me? I am willing to drive up to an hour to get some good stuff. Please let me know if you can help or if anybody reading this has any leads. This looks like a great forum for home brewers. Thanks, in advance, for any leads anybody might have.

 

[dr_al]

Hi there hurleyburley,

Unfortunatly I don't know of an place that sells it close to me, I source mine from a friends one lonely tree and this year it was bare unfortunatly.

I have looked into ordering cans online but its pretty expensive and the other option is the rare find of juicy juice in the store.

On the one time we had enough saved up we also did a 2nd run batch that was mostly apple juice and the bag of mashed pears. It has many nice pear characteristics, more nose and body than a strait apple cider. I don't even know what type of pears they are but now that i'm typing this I should have started seedlings 2 years ago....

 

[hurleyburley]

Hi there hurleyburley,

Unfortunatly I don't know of an place that sells it close to me, I source mine from a friends one lonely tree and this year it was bare unfortunatly.

I have looked into ordering cans online but its pretty expensive and the other option is the rare find of juicy juice in the store.

On the one time we had enough saved up we also did a 2nd run batch that was mostly apple juice and the bag of mashed pears. It has many nice pear characteristics, more nose and body than a strait apple cider. I don't even know what type of pears they are but now that i'm typing this I should have started seedlings 2 years ago....

Thanks, Al. If you or anybody hears of some bulk pear juice/cider, especially organic, in our area please post for all to see. Peach wine made with cider yeast could be really good, as well. St. Julian has a really good sparkling peach wine. It is inexpensive and very tasty. I would like to start with something like that and expound.

 

[dr_al]

I need to hit the farmers markets this coming year and see what i can find, ask any one who is selling pears if they have the tarter pears better for perry. we have no idea what type of pear tree it is over here but they are small ugly and make darn tasty perry.

 

[Hazel Sims]

so I'm getting ready to start my first ever batch of perry! yay! I wanted to know how important is it to core the pears and get all the seeds out? should I freeze my pears before I grind them? also I am going to make my first batch just straight pear, but my second batch I was thinking of adding some crab apples to since I have so many of them, I was thinking that the pears might be sweet enough to balance out the tartness of the crab apples... thoughts?
also how important is it to core and deseed my crab apples before grinding them, and if needed, does anyone have any tricks on how this should be done?

 

[RPh_Guy]

I wanted to know how important is it to core the pears and get all the seeds out?

Don't bother.

should I freeze my pears before I grind them?

Freeze or grind, not both.

I was thinking that the pears might be sweet enough to balance out the tartness of the crab apples... thoughts?

Sounds reasonable to me!

how important is it to core and deseed my crab apples before grinding them

Don't bother. Seeds aren't harmful.

P.S. Welcome to the forum! Might want to check the date on a thread before replying to it. We're a little late to the conversation

 

[Big-R]

not sure mate, but I've always wanted to get one done! I bought some "Apple/Pear" juice last week, but haven't started yet.

Are you pressing your own pears? Let me know how you're progressing, very interested on whether or not there are any differences in the process compared to brewing simple apple cider. My guess is that there isn't.

I'm creepin' around this thread because I'm wondering about pear cider. I've made apple cider, from juice, from ultraviolet pasteurized cider mill cider [doesn't mess with the good fermentables and taste like heat pasteurization does], and fresh pressed apples. Hands down, pressed apples make the best cider. It ferments quickly, and it tastes like apples even on the dry side. That's my two cents, 7 years late.