|
How about a good recipe for pear cider? Is Magners dry or sweet? Also, thanks for sticking to the rules so far as far as promoting your brand.
As far as recipes here are a few:
Perry (pear cider)
Dry perry (pears) / cider (apples)
firm but juicy pears
So, your apple/pear tree is overflowing and there is only so much you can eat. Well you can always brew them!
Ingredients
sour apples (cider) or firm but juicy pears (perry)
1) Choose your fruit make sure you avoid bad ones
2) Leave them in a warmish place for several weeks until they are just beginning to soften.
3) Chop and smash the fruit into a pulp
4) Strain through muslin, pressing very hard so that all juices are extracted. A fruit press is best for this but that an expense we'll try to avoid.
5) Keep this juice in the pan in a warm place.
6) Allow to bubble.
7) When bubbles rise to the surface of the liquid and the sediment drops to the bottom, put into a cask.
(Please note this recipe is country style where the natural yeast on the fruit is relied upon to ferment the extracted juice. This can be risky as who knows what yeast there is on your apples. Some less country minded folk wash there apples very well and add brewers yeast to the extracted juice to ensure that all is well)
8) Once bubbles stop and the brew is in the cask cover tightly.
9) Leave for 6-7 months
10 Strain and bottle.
Recipe 2
heated 4 gallons of apple cider (don't remember the brand; good quality, but from the supermarket) and one 32-oz can of Canned Pears (Generic Brand Bartlett) to 160 degrees for ten minutes, cooled the liquid to 80 degrees and then threw the entire contents, fruit included, into a bucket fermenter. I used a dry Nottingham Ale pack I had lying around. I didn't even bother to re-hydrate the yeast; I just threw it on top dry.
2 weeks later, Bottle the resulting liquid with 4 oz. corn sugar. The finished product was a very light straw yellow, tart, dry sparking cider with just a hint of a pear nose. 5.3% ABV. The stuff looks and tastes a lot like a white wine spritzer. Personally, my tastes run more towards the dark, robust and flavorful, but stepping back and evaluating it objectively, it's actually pretty darn good.
Recipe 3
PEAR CIDER
Pear cider, the rare cousin of apple cider, is a treat if you can find it! Pear cider is simply fermented pear juice without water or sugar added. Pear cider is known as “perry” in the English speaking world. Let's take a look at the interesting traditions, production and commercial varieties of perry.
Traditions
Wild pears (Pyrus communis) were indigenous to Central Europe and Northern Asia. Humans have selectively cultivated pears almost as much as apples over the centuries. The Greek botanist, Theophrastus (c372 - 287b.c.) distinguished between wild and cultivated pears. The first reference to the use of pears for fermentation was by Pliny the Elder (23-79AD) who noted that the Falerion pear made good wine.
The Romans reportedly introduced pears into the British Isles. Country tales say that where wild English pears grow, there was once a Roman villa. Old pear trees are often found among monasteries and churches. The Warden pear, grown in the reign of Henry VIII (1207-1272), was used for perry and as a preservative. This pear was praised for the “austere” flavor before tastes changed to the modern fondness for sweetness. The English drank perry and cider as a substitute for wine during the seventeenth and eighteenth century wars with France.
The British have cultivated specific pears to make perry for centuries. This tradition is strongest in the English counties of Worcester, Gloucester and Herefordshire along with Monmouthshire in Wales. So-called perry pear trees are known for their slowness to produce, volume of production, large tree size and their longevity. Hence the saying:
“He who plants pears
Plants for his heirs.”
Perry pear trees may require a fifty-year wait to achieve full production from standard rootstocks. A tree in 1790 produced 5 to 7 tons per year near the River Wye. Another tree near River Severn in Gloucestershire was known as the “Westbury Tree” and covered nearly two acres. Some of the perry pears planted at Hellens Manor house in 1702 are still alive today!
Special “cider pears” are grown in various parts of continental Europe. Another pocket of perry production occurs in the southern Normandy portion of France. German pears were often diverted from perry into schnapps.
For unknown reasons perry never gained the popularity achieved by apple cider in colonial America. Colonial American recipes noted that perry should be made from “...the best pears for this purpose are such as are least fit for eating, and the redder they are the better.”
Even in 1890 William T. Brannt noted in A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Vinegar and Acetates, Cider, and Fruit Wines:
“The manufacture of pear-cider is very limited and no great future can be promised for it, as even when most carefully prepared, it is far inferior to cider and other fruit-wines. Its fabrication is best understood in England, and how little it is appreciated there is shown by the fact that three-fourths of the quantity manufactured is consumed by the farm-laborers. But any one who has large pear crops at his disposal and wishes to use a portion of them for the manufacture of a beverage should add to the pear-must one-quarter its quantity of bittersweet apples or a few quarts of black currant juice, which will improve the taste of the cider and its keeping qualities.”
Now most Americans don't even know what perry is!
Homemade Perry
There are generally two types of pears available to the perry maker - European and Asian pears. European pears are the traditional pear-shaped fruit which are often described as buttery in taste. Asian pears which were introduced to the United States in the early 20th century are now fairly common in American markets. Most Asian pears originated from Japan or China and are often called pear-apples due to their round shape and crispness. Some of these pears have high sugar and a unique spiciness. Both types work well in perry.
Pears should be completely ripe before grinding. A bushel of pears (42 pounds) will typically yield 2.5 to 3.5 gallons of juice depending on the efficiency of the grinder and press as well as the condition of the pears. Rice hulls may need to be added to the pomace (ground pears) for pressing of some European pears. Pears often contain more sugar than apples with specific gravities ranging from 1.050 to 1.090. Pears (with the exception of perry pears) are low to medium (0.2% to 0.6%) in acid level. Unlike the malic acid in apples, pears have predominantly citric acid.
Perry - 5 gallon batch
5 Gallons Pear Juice (no preservatives if possible)
0.5 tsp. Grape Tannin
2.5 tsp. Pectic Enzyme
2.5 tsp. Yeast Nutrient
Lalvin EC 1118 Yeast
3/8 cup corn sugar (bottling)
Measure the sugar level and add cane sugar if necessary to reach 1.050 S.G. Perry like wine requires acidity, sugar and tannin for balance. Check acid level with titration test kit. If acid level is less than 0.6%, add malic acid to reach 0.6%. Keep the carboy topped up to discourage the formation of vinegar and age over the winter if possible.
Blending perry with other fruit is also highly recommended. Fruit perries may be made with the addition of up to one pound of fruit (sour cherries, blackberries or cranberries) per gallon in the secondary fermenter.
Perry is also enhanced through wood aging. Freshly emptied bourbon barrels provide a sanitized way to add wood character and complexity to perry. Less than one barrel batches may be made by using the charcoal bits (“char”) that fall from the inside of the barrel.
Commercial Varieties
Perry contains sorbitol, an unfermentable sugar, which gives the drink some residual sweetness and a fullness of flavor. Perry often becomes naturally effervescent when aged.
England has many fine farmhouse perries. One of the few imports to the U.S. is Gwatkin's Blakeney Red Perry at 7.5% abv. This single variety perry is made in Herefordshire. The best way to find English perry is to buy the current
cider guide from CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) which is periodically updated.
Christian Drouin Poire is a blend of five French cider pears at 4.0% abv. It is made in the Normandy region and currently imported to the U.S. It is dry, flavorful and quite highly carbonated.
Pear ciders are available from many of the large scale American producers - Woodchuck, Ace, etc. Some of these pear ciders appear to have pear flavoring rather than pure juice. For small batch perries, Michigan residents are fortunate to have Uncle John's Farmhouse Perry in St. John's. This perry won best of show competing against national competition in last year's GLOWS competition.
Last recipe with thanks to Bob Capshew Via Michigan Beer Guide. (http://www.michiganbeerguide.com)
|
