PEAR CIDER for a NEWBIE

[Hercs74]

Hi all... I'm For the first time ever I'd like to have a crack at doing a nice pear cider. I have a pear tree in my garden, which I'd like to put to good use. Could someone point me in the direction of a good receive and any good tips and tricks for best taste etc.

Thanks very much.

 

[oldbloke]

It's a lot of work and needs a fair bit of kit. And you almost certainly have dessert pears not perry pears.
But...
Perry pears have much more tannin and more acid then dessert pears, but some tannin is removed at the juicing stage so you might get away with adding powdered tannin from a homebrew shop or some strong tea. You'll probably need to add some acid.
Pick the pears, leave to mature for a while, crush (proper scratters aren't cheap), press the juice out (a juice press isn't cheap)
If you only want to do a gallon or two, you might get by with standard kitchen equipment, but don't burn out the motors...
With perry pears you'd leave the juice a bit for some tannins to degrade but as you're probably short of tannin anyway...
Bung it in a fermenter with nutrient and yeast and hope for the best. Ferments 1 to 3 weeks, depending.

Have a look at the Wikipedia page on Perry

 

[Hercs74]

Thanks for reply. So just a couple of questions;

1). Is there a way I can tell which pears I have ?

2). How much tannin do I need to add depending on type of pears ?

3). Likewise with the acid ?

4). What's the best kitchen equipment to use in place of scatters and juice press.

Sorry for all the questions but just want to be comfortable in my own mind before I start ...

Many thanks

 

[Hercs74]

Apparently pears are Conference Pears..???????

 

[oldbloke]

1. I can recognise Conference Comice and William but after that I have no idea. There's probably a pear variety webpage somewhere.
2. Tricky. Do they taste bitter? If not, I'd go the full 1tsp powdered or 4teabags-in-big-mug level
3. Probably not worth worrying about, but a homebrew shop may have some pH test papers, you want about 3 to 3.8. Again, what do they taste like? If you add any, malic is probably best but citric (or lemon juice) would be OK as would tartaric
4. A big juicer I suppose, maybe a processor that can do a rough chop first. If you're not doing much you could just chop with a knife but it's tedious.

Ah, Conference. That's what my dad had in his garden. Quite good sugar levels but little tannin or acid. I'd add both I think.

 

[calumscott]

Of all the "eaters" I would have thought that conference would be the least worst for cider. They do have plenty of sugar but IMO they also have the best depth of flavour, I'm guessing this is probably down to a bit more tannin than some of the softer varieties.

You should be able to rent a press from a local homebrew shop. I know mine has two or three that they hire out.

How much tannin? That's trial and error really. When doing apple cider from supermarket juice I use 1tsp per gallon. Do 1/2tsp to the gallon this year and see what it's like then make a judgement for next year...

Acid, same goes really. Again for supermarket juice where I want west country scrumpy style I'll add a tsp per gallon of malic acid. I wouldn't add any if you don't want to go down this route with the whole Malolactic Fermentation (have a search, you'll find loads about it) route.

I would rent a press. Then your options are to give them a bit of a whizz in a food processor or chop them roughly by hand.

The alternative is a juicer but you run the risk of killing those if you have a lot to do...

 

[Hercs74]

Thanks for the replies...!!!! I really want to give it a go but I'm in 2 minds to be honest. I was looking at using my small 10 litre FV so how many pears in weight would I need ????

I have all the following;

Ph test paper, Wine Tannin powder, citric Acid, yeast nutrient, acid blend, and campden tablets.

One question, does the Best Before dates an issue...???

Thanks

 

[Crastney]

kitchen equipment if you don't have a juicer - you could use a sterilised bucket, and quarter the pears, and then bash with a rolling pin - this produces the pulp, leave this covered in your FV for 24 hours. Take the pulp, place in a musling bag (or clean tea cloth) between two chopping boards, a G-Clamp on each corner, gradually tighten the clamps, and collect the juice back in the bucket/FV You might need to do this in several smaller batches. All equipment sterilised of course. Pulp can go on the compost heap, to the nearest farm for animal feed, or in a pear crumble? If on compost, beware of vinegar fly! you'll get loads, and you'll need to ensure the brew isn't near the flies, else you could end up with 10 litres of vinegar.
quantities - depends on efficiency of pressing.
previously we've done a ton of apples and got 98 gallons of juice, we've done half a ton, and got 48 gallons, and we've done 800lbs and got 40 gallons - as a rough guide I think pears are similar, maybe slightly juicier?

on other websites a quick search gives 75% efficiency - 100kg of fruit gives 75 litres of juice, or 16 lbs for a 1 gal DJ... ish

 

[Hercs74]

Thanks for that advice.....