Pear Cider... kind of

[Kittyfeet]

I came across 25 pounds of pears the other day and decided a pear cider would be a tasty fun experiment.

After a bit of searching, I found absolutely nothing that would help me with a recipe, so I pretended I knew what I was doing and made it up as I went along.

Yesterday the pears were quartered and thrown them in the blender (except the core; that was just thrown into the fermentor. I didn't want to crush any of the seeds or those brown crunchy things on the bottoms).

After all they were all processed, I had a mass of thick apple sauce looking goop in my fermentor. You would think 25 pounds of pears would yield a substantial amount of goop, but it was less than 3 gallons total.

Knowing all the lees this stuff is going to throw after it ferments and clears, I really had no idea how much actual cider I would end up with, so I threw in a gallon of apple juice (and campden).

Now it looked like slightly less thick goop, but srsly, this stuff is difficult to stir. It's maybe 3.5 gallons. 4 if you cross yours eyes and look at it funny. But still, it's not much.

Added pectic enzyme 12 hrs later. Stirred again, but it took some effort to get a good swirl on.

This morning I was running late for work, so I threw in some Notty and didn't stir. When I came home, the yeast was still sitting on top of this stuff. I stirred it all in and it seems to be doing... as well as can be expected.

My question is what do I do with it now? I have every intention of letting it ferment, but do I add another gallon of apple juice? Do I ... [insert brilliant idea here]. Should I introduce malo in a few months? Add oak chips?

 

[MrWiggles]

in short, yes, add more Apple juice.
The pears should have been pressed, though. You don't make hard cider from apple sauce do you? And what were you searching to try to find a recipe? The Brits call this "Perry", basically a pear hard cider. But just add a bit more apple juice to thin it out some more and you should end up with a nice fermented beverage. Take notes too on the ratio of pear to apple juice too in case this comes out good.

 

[oldmate]

I'd definitely add some more apple juice! Let us know how it tastes in a few weeks!

 

[Yan]

in short, yes, add more Apple juice.
The pears should have been pressed, though. You don't make hard cider from apple sauce do you? And what were you searching to try to find a recipe? The Brits call this "Perry", basically a pear hard cider. But just add a bit more apple juice to thin it out some more and you should end up with a nice fermented beverage. Take notes too on the ratio of pear to apple juice too in case this comes out good.

The problem with using ordinary pears is that they are too soft to press when ripe. crushing them turns them to a soft mushy pulp. The pears traditionally used in making perry are hard, round little things with a texture more like apples.