- 50
lbs (approximately) of unknown variety pears
- Yeastlab
British Ale Yeast (A04)
I
picked the pears and left them to stand for one
week in a cool well aired area. I did not wash them
or cut out any diseased parts. I did discard obviously
rotten fruit. I cut the pears into small slices
and ran them through my fruit juicer. This machine
was made to cope with the odd orange at breakfast,
not such a volume of pears! It coped well enough
but took hours. I'll never do it that way again,
next time I'll make, buy or hire a cider/fruit press.
The
pears yielded approximately 2 1/2 gallons of juice
to which I added 3 crushed campden tablets, 3 tsp
of pectolase, and 3 tsp of yeast nutrient. I covered
the juice and let it stand for 24 hours. The pH
was 3.6 - perfect, and the O.G. 1065. I pitched
the yeast and left the juice to get on and ferment.
I racked after 4 weeks at which time the gravity
was 1010. 4 weeks after that I bottled the perry
and started drinking it just a few weeks after bottling.
I
should have left the perry to mature for a few months
so it could undergo a malo- lactic fermentation.
It was a little sharp because I didn't do this.
However, having said that, it was one of the best
perries I've ever drunk, even if I do say so myself.
I have no idea what variety pears they were I used,
however the tree is very old (200-300 years) and
I strongly suspect it is an old perry variety. Sadly
the tree is dying, but I'm determined to get some
grafts before its demise - a pear like that can't
be wasted.
Gillian
Grafton
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