So my wife does not like beer. I have successfully made a pomegranate/ Apple cider she likes. We were eating breakfast at First Watch and they offered a pear/apple chai cider (non alcoholic)
She requested an alcoholic version and somehow I succeeded on my first try. we have gone through 2 batches and it was very popular with friends visiting over the holidays.
Like the Pom/Apple cider the goal was to be able to buy all of the ingredients at Kroger’s. The Treetop Apple juice is pasteurized and the canned pears do not have any preservatives.
this recipe yields enough to fill a 1.5 gallon keg. The starting volume in the fermenter is closer to 1.75-2 gallons but there are lots of floating pear chunks that decrease my final yield.
0.5 Gallons Tree Top 100% pure pressed 3 Apple Blend
0.5 Gallons Tree Top 100% pure pressed Honeycrisp
4 15oz cans of sliced pears (just make sure there are no preservatives)
2 cups of water
0.5 cups dark brown sugar
1.5 tsp DAP yeast nutrient
purée the pears with a blender and add to the fermenter with the juices.
dissolve the brown sugar in the water (I do this in the microwave heating the water just enough to dissolve the brown sugar)
combine everything and ferment with a champagne yeast like EC-1118
The puréed pears make this very turbid with a lot of “chunks” that float to the top of the fermenter. I ferment in a better bottle with a spigot so I drain the cider into my keg and stop before the floating chunks get into the keg. I have also used a racking cane with a hop sock and racked under the floating chunks.
I do not fine as I wanted something that was turbid like a fresh pressed cider.
Once racked to the keg I add the following.
375ml simple syrup
3/4 tsp Potassium Sorbate (to arrest the fermentation)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp ground ginger
I was nervous about just adding ground spices directly into the keg but so far on the two batches I have Kegged there has not been a problem. The first couple pours sometimes have some spice bits but after that everything is good until the last pour. The flavor remains and since it has worked so far I’m not interested in changing to something like whole spices or using a spice ball etc. etc.
Everyone always comments that this would be great as a warm drink.
She requested an alcoholic version and somehow I succeeded on my first try. we have gone through 2 batches and it was very popular with friends visiting over the holidays.
Like the Pom/Apple cider the goal was to be able to buy all of the ingredients at Kroger’s. The Treetop Apple juice is pasteurized and the canned pears do not have any preservatives.
this recipe yields enough to fill a 1.5 gallon keg. The starting volume in the fermenter is closer to 1.75-2 gallons but there are lots of floating pear chunks that decrease my final yield.
0.5 Gallons Tree Top 100% pure pressed 3 Apple Blend
0.5 Gallons Tree Top 100% pure pressed Honeycrisp
4 15oz cans of sliced pears (just make sure there are no preservatives)
2 cups of water
0.5 cups dark brown sugar
1.5 tsp DAP yeast nutrient
purée the pears with a blender and add to the fermenter with the juices.
dissolve the brown sugar in the water (I do this in the microwave heating the water just enough to dissolve the brown sugar)
combine everything and ferment with a champagne yeast like EC-1118
The puréed pears make this very turbid with a lot of “chunks” that float to the top of the fermenter. I ferment in a better bottle with a spigot so I drain the cider into my keg and stop before the floating chunks get into the keg. I have also used a racking cane with a hop sock and racked under the floating chunks.
I do not fine as I wanted something that was turbid like a fresh pressed cider.
Once racked to the keg I add the following.
375ml simple syrup
3/4 tsp Potassium Sorbate (to arrest the fermentation)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp ground ginger
I was nervous about just adding ground spices directly into the keg but so far on the two batches I have Kegged there has not been a problem. The first couple pours sometimes have some spice bits but after that everything is good until the last pour. The flavor remains and since it has worked so far I’m not interested in changing to something like whole spices or using a spice ball etc. etc.
Everyone always comments that this would be great as a warm drink.
