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In the UK it is called perry, in France it is known as poiré, and in Spain it is known as perada. We know it as pear cider, and now we will teach you how to make this wonderful drink at home. At the same time, let’s remember history, chemistry and have a little discussion on the topic of family ties, who is older than whom and what does Russian kvass have to do with it.
So, pear cider… Once at the Glastonbury festival, which is held annually in the UK, someone said about perry: “like cider, but made from pears …”. Whoever said this had no idea how it could end. And it ended with the rapidly growing popularity of the pear drink and … the complete identification of perry with apple cider. A noble drink with a centuries-old and interesting history was buried under the shadow of its “big brother”. But what is perry? Does it look like apple cider? And finally, which one is older?
Meanwhile, perry, as an alcoholic drink made from pears, was first mentioned by Pliny the Elder, who lived in the middle of the first century. In the fourth century AD, Rutilius Taurus Aemilian Palladius, in his work “Opus Agriculturae”, gave a clear technology for the preparation of perry, which during the time of the Roman Empire was called “Castomoniale”. Rome fell and the drink was forgotten. But not in France, where the pear alcoholic drink acquired a new name – poire (poiré). So he would have remained the property of the French, if not for the war …
Poiret production technology was probably brought to England by the Normans, who invaded English lands in the eleventh century. The heyday of perry (from the English pear – “pear”) came in the 18th century, especially in the west of England in the counties of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, where the climate and soil were ideal for growing special varieties of pears, and already new hostilities with France closed a shop with cheap French wines. English perry was dry and served straight out of the barrel, while the French bottled the rather sweet drink and carbonated it like champagne.
In Normandy, pear juice is mixed into apple must, which is then fermented, aged and distilled into calvados. As a result, the distillate is more interesting. They also make delicious liqueurs and tinctures from pears, the recipes of which are described in this and this article, respectively.
Modern perry, as such, does not exist. This is exactly what pear cider is made from concentrated pear juice and sweetened with corn syrup. In CAMRA (the independent voluntary organization Campaign for Real Ale), modern perry is called a “pear-shaped flavored drink” and you can’t argue with that. But you can also understand the producers – traditional perry, and even more so poire, is difficult to cook and not economically profitable. But not for the home winemaker…
How is perry different from apple cider and why is it so difficult to make?
It’s all about pears, or rather, the chemical composition of pear juice. First of all, it has much more tannins than apples. At the same time, tannins are of a completely different breed. While the tannins in apples provide bitterness, the tannins in pear cider provide astringency. But most importantly, if the tannins in apple juice contribute to cider clarification, then in pear juice it is the other way around. That is why it is almost impossible to achieve the transparency of a fermented pear drink.
It is possible to reduce the content of tannins in pear must without resorting to chemistry. To do this, crushed fruits should be left in a ventilated area for 12-24 hours. During this time, a significant part of the tannins will oxidize, and fermentation will go more smoothly.
Pears are sweeter than apples. Pear juice can contain up to 21,6% sugar and even more, so the output is a fairly strong drink, about 8%. But even with zero fermentation, perry is sweet. It’s all about sorbitol and other non-fermentable sugars found in pears. This leads to the fact that even after complete fermentation of the wort, its sugar content can be from 2,6 to 5,1%. Therefore, pear cider is always sweeter than apple cider, even dry English.
The acid composition of perry is also different from that of apple. It can be dominated by both malic and citric acid, depending on the variety of pears. And if malic acid is welcome, then citric acid can greatly spoil the taste of the drink and even spoil it. Now the most interesting thing is that pear cider has a lot in common with Russian bread kvass. The fact is that pears contain lactic acid bacteria that process malic acid into lactic acid. Therefore, perry is always a drink of double fermentation, yeast and lactic acid. And therefore it is also useful to our body, like real kvass.
But lactic acid bacteria are insidious. Some types of lactic acid bacteria can convert citric acid into acetic acid, which, as even a beginner in winemaking knows, is not good. Fortunately, usually bacteria that “attack” both malic and citric acid equally. Lactic acid fermentation can run in parallel with yeast fermentation, but, as a rule, it starts only after the end of yeast fermentation and provided that the ambient temperature is more than 15оC.
Pear juice oxidizes quickly, so cider may not always turn out beautiful. But this in no way affects its taste.
Finally, pear juice is low in nitrogen, which greatly complicates the life of yeast cultures. Therefore, the wort often needs the addition of yeast nutrients. Such substances are sold in any serious wine store. If you have experience with yeast nutrition, then for every 4 liters of juice, it will be enough to add 1 mg of thiamine hydrochloride and 227 mg of ammonium sulfate. These fertilizers will be enough for active fermentation of 2,6% sugar in the wort. Without fertilizer, provided that the pear variety contains a lot of tannins, the start of fermentation can be delayed and there is a great risk of must contamination.
By the way, not all pears are equally good for making pear cider. In general, for the production of classic perry, pears are used specially bred for it. As a rule, they do not go to food, because they are too sour and tart, but they are perfect for fermented drinks. From this you should draw a simple conclusion: for your pear cider, you can take a mixture of commercial pear breeds with a high sugar content and tart wild game, which is much easier to get – no one needs it.
Perry production technology is not much different from apple cider production technology, so first check out the recipe for apple cider, as well as apple wine, where all the steps in the production of fermented drinks are described in detail. Adjust the recipes according to the recommendations below and you will get excellent homemade pear cider.
Traditional Pear Cider Recipe with Wild Yeast
First of all, harvest the pears and leave them in a cool room for 2 days to 1 week to ripen, depending on the variety of pear. This is a very important point! If the pears lie down a little, then the drink will turn out empty, without a pronounced pear taste. If the pears are overexposed, then they will begin to rot from the center outward, which will definitely ruin the future perry, and it is very difficult to notice this. Ripe pears should not be washed or cooked if the cider is to be fermented with wild yeasts.
On average, it takes about 10-15 kg of ripe fruit to make 16 liters of pear cider.
Grind pears in any convenient way (without tails), for example, using a grain grinder or meat grinder. Leave the pears in a cool, well-ventilated room at least overnight, and preferably for 24 hours – during this time, excess tannins will oxidize and fermentation will be easier. Next, you need to extract juice from the settled cake. This is best done with a wine press.
Since not every house has a wine press at hand, and the rental of such equipment is not developed in our country, I can offer another way to get juice – using a juicer. We squeeze the juice, add 5-10% of the total volume of pear pomace juice to it and leave it for at least a few hours in a cool place to oxidize tannins. After vigorous fermentation, before the first pouring, the cake can be filtered through a linen bag without any problems.
After extracting the juice, it is advisable to measure its acidity or conduct a pH test (acids in pear juice, as a rule, are not enough for normal fermentation). Our goal is to provide a wort of 3,9-4 pH (or 0,6% acidity). If the pH test showed more, then malic or tartaric acid should be added, but in no case citric acid (read the previous chapter). To increase the pH, precipitated chalk is added, which can be easily found in any chemical store. You can also add a small amount of pectinase, but in practice it makes no sense to do this – pears have much less pectins than apples, and the turbidity of the must is provided by tannins and the pectin enzyme is not an assistant here.
The content of sugar and acids in pears of popular varieties of central Russia
Usually there is enough sugar in pears and there is no need to sweeten the juice, but if a suitable device for measuring sugar content is at hand, then our goal is to get a value above 1055 hydrometer units, that is, more than 13,6% sugar. It should also be remembered that non-fermentable sorbitol is present in the juice (from 2,6 to 5,1% of sugar in the wort).
Then pour the juice into a fermentation container, filling it no more than ¾ in volume and cover the container with gauze or clean towels. Now the wort needs to be provided with peace, a dark place and a stable temperature in the range of 22-25оC. Fermentation should begin within 1-2 days. After that, you can wait a couple more days and install a water seal. Further, perry is prepared like apple cider or wine, without any changes in technology. So read the relevant materials on our website and everything will work out with pear cider.
The only remark. After yeast fermentation, in particular quiet fermentation, pear cider should be kept at a temperature above 15оC. This, as already mentioned in the previous section, is necessary for lactic fermentation and enrichment of the drink with lactic acid.
When ripe pear cider, which has stood all winter in a cool room under a water seal, and then a little at a temperature of 15оC, brightened as much as possible and pleases with its excellent taste, it’s time to bottle it and carbonate, which is not necessary at all. To do this, boil a simple sugar syrup 1: 1 and add 2-3 tablespoons of this syrup to each bottle (per 1 liter of drink), while the cider should be poured over the shoulders of the bottle so that there is little room for foam. Bottles, of course, should be closed with a secure cork, then left for 3-4 days in a warm place for carbonization, and then again in a cool place for storage.
Too much sugar should not be used to carbonate pear cider. A large amount of carbon dioxide promotes the growth of lactic acid bacteria, which will quickly turn your perry into excellent sour slop. In general, carbonating a drink using champagne technology is very difficult, because tannins, which are still in excess in the drink, will prevent secondary fermentation. It may make sense to leave the cider uncarbonated – it turns out great anyway.
Yes, I agree, traditional pear cider is not easy to make at home. But what it needs for craftsmanship and attention to detail, the drink makes up for with an unusual, vibrant pear taste that can compete with the taste of any French or English manufacturer of “real” perry!
Pear Cider Recipe with Pure Yeast Cultures
There is no great wisdom here. After we have obtained the juice, leveled its acidity and sugar content, we need to add crushed sulfur dioxide tablets (campden) to it to remove wild yeast. Keep in mind that pear juice contains a large amount of acetaldehyde, which neutralizes sulfur dioxide, so you need to take 2-3 times more tablets (1 standard tablet per 1 liter of juice). Just remember that sulfur dioxide can adversely affect your health, for example, if you are asthmatic. But even an increase in SO2 by 2-3 times does not make the drink more harmful than a bag of dried fruits, in which this SO2 is many times more (read about sulfur in winemaking in this article).
Due to stringent sulfur dioxide regulations in Europe, commercial perry producers use pasteurized pear must. It’s also an option, but pasteurization completely destroys lactic acid bacteria, so the perry turns out to be like our store-bought “undercooked”. True, conscientious manufacturers, after pasteurization, return lactic acid bacteria back in the form of pure strains.
You need to fill the fermentation tank by 3/4, no more!
After adding sulfur dioxide, cover the juice with a cloth and leave it alone for 48 hours. Then pitch any suitable pure yeast cultures (PKD) after fermenting according to package instructions. For English-style dry perry, any ale yeast will work, but for French-style perry, it’s better to buy ChKD Champagne. Of course, specialty cider yeast will work well. Then we proceed according to the scheme described earlier. The only thing you can add to the wort is yeast nutrition from a liquor store or individual substances described in the second paragraph of this article.
To improve the juice and increase its acidity, you can add apple juice, literally 5-10% of the total volume of pear juice. Pear-apple cider ferments much better, and the drink is interesting. Not embarrassing, in general. Just don’t add too much juice, otherwise it will be apple-pear cider, which is even further from true perry.
Good luck!
PS Do you like this topic? Try to make pear wine, where you can miss a lot and gain a lot.