# Pear Cider from grocery store juice



## Jan Meyer (25/2/13)

Making a Pear Cider for the wife, but I am quite interested in how it is going to turn out.

Made a Black Rock Apple cider kit first, took 2 weeks to ferment at 18 degrees, and after kegging I dumped the pictured juice on top of the last 1L with yeast and let it rock again. Guess I will know if it's good in a few weeks. It started fermenting very quickly since the yeast was very healthy after 2 weeks on the Black Rock kit.

Sitting at 18 degrees for this one as well.

Got it all from Woolies, 14L of Nudie apple juice (just juice, no nonsense) and another 6 cans of 750ml pear juice (also has nothing else in it).

Will update...


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## TheCarbinator (25/2/13)

How much was the pear juice?


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## Deep End (26/2/13)

I bought some from Woolworths the other day, about $2.85 per 850ml per can, bit pricey compared to apple juice.


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## New 2 Brew (26/2/13)

I'm thinking about making a pear cider from store bought juice too. I've been looking around but I can only seem to find the Goulburn Valley pear juice cans for around $2.80 per 850ml.
Did you happen to find any other sources in your search?

I'm also curious about the % of pear sugar that won't ferment.


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## Deep End (26/2/13)

Only other thing I have seen is pear concentrate, pear juice is a bit hard to come by, consumer demand I guess.


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## Jan Meyer (26/2/13)

TheCarbinator said:


> How much was the pear juice?


Mmmm... not sure but all up it was just under $60. A bit pricey I know, but waaay cheaper than pressing my own apples/pears and more control than a kit.


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## Jan Meyer (26/2/13)

New 2 Brew said:


> I'm thinking about making a pear cider from store bought juice too. I've been looking around but I can only seem to find the Goulburn Valley pear juice cans for around $2.80 per 850ml.
> Did you happen to find any other sources in your search?
> 
> I'm also curious about the % of pear sugar that won't ferment.


Not sure what %, but I took info from all over the forums about making non-kit cider and the best I could come up with was pressing my own juice or grocery store juice at a ratio of 4:1 appleear. I figured I would go one better and get the juice that is pure with no preservatives, non-reconstituted and no extra anything and see how that goes. The reconstituted juice would've been about $35 for the whole lot (think Berry juice). A lot cheaper, but not real juice. Pressing my own was going to be around $120 excluding the press equipment. Way too expensive.

If this turns out well then I will continue making it and not bother with kit/own press. What I am really after is a base pear cider that I can sweeten with lactose if need be (or more pear juice), but is not too sweet to start off with (I can always use less pear juice). 

I know pear juice has some non fermentable sugars which will make the cider sweeter, but by how much, I'm not sure. I'm sure this recipe will need some tweaking but if I'm lucky it won't 

I didn't actually expect to find the pear juice at the grocery store, but luckily it did. Not sure how common this is, but I would guess not very common. Demand cannot be that high.

A small update: it is fermenting very quickly. Today it was already slowing down a lot and it's only been 3 days! I guess throwing it on top of the already healthy yeast is giving it a head start. Might be done by this weekend at this rate. The another 2 weeks in the keg maturing...


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## Jan Meyer (26/2/13)

O and as for finding other pear juice in my searches: nope. I was surprised at finding this one. There was a brand that did an apple/pear juice which would've been ideal, but it had other crap in it and was re-constituted.

This juice I found with the other Berry juices and things in the regular aisle, not the cold freezer section where I got the Nudie apple juice from. Hence I figured it was for making deserts/cakes or something.


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## Deep End (26/2/13)

The Goulburn Valley Pear Juice in the cans is pretty common, not something you go looking for every week at the supermarket buts its been there for a while. Probably aimed at the elderly and constipated to "loosen up" some stools; Pear Juice's other useful attribute, gotta taste better than prunes!


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## New 2 Brew (27/2/13)

Ive seen people mention apple & pear juice from Aldi. I might look into that and throw in a few cans of the "stool softener" pear juice. 

I wouldnt mind spending the money on the nudie but it might just turn out as an expensive experiment


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## 431neb (27/2/13)

Jan, I used that same pear juice (in the cans) as an augment for an Aldi Apple and blackcurrant "cider" that I have made a couple of times now. It's in the bottle now and pretty cloudy. I used gelatine for the first time to try to clear the finished product and had limited success. I hate to think what it would be like without the gelatine. Better to either be all cloudy or crystal clear - I have a half arsed attempt that looks like a mistake.

Previously, I produced an absolutely crystal clear drink with a solid yeast (coopers kit yeast leftover from brewing beer). This time around I am cloudier and the yeast is loose in the bottle. 

I'm also unsure that the pear juice added much in the way of residual sweetness but we drank all of the first try , "Berry Nice Cider" and the second attempt "Christmas Cheer" (At about 7%....fun times) so I can't compare.

FYI , I think I used about 4 cans of pear juice in 26 litres.

Tastes good but still had to use some Stevia sweetener to make it a little more like the ready to drink apple / cider thingys that are so popular at the moment. I bottle so I have to get a little creative to find sweetness without back-sweetening every glass. Kegging would simplify back sweetening I suppose.

In future , to get Rekorderlig / Bulmers, Kopparberg style lolly water I would make pure aldi apple juice "cider" and back sweeten with Ribena in the glass. 

Cider purists back off! If I make a bunch of this stuff it keeps the megaswill horde away from my beer....


Some of my disjointed ramblings on cider although I have learnt a little more since then ( that wasn't hard I was coming off a low base...LoL).

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/32364-simplest-cider/page-9

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/53620-scrumpy-baby/page-2


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## Bribie G (27/2/13)

I've tried numerous "gourmet" ciders and really at the end of the day I most prefer megaciders such as Mercury - not surprising as my favourite wines are Golden Gate Spumante or Fruity Lexia. Sue me. Currently have a kit plus 6L Aldi apple juice plus dex on the go. I might do the next one just on Aldi juice which is a dollar a litre, and maybe a couple of tins of pear. The blackcurrant sounds interesting. I keg so will back sweeten then crash to 2 degrees to slow any secondary fermentation.


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## manticle (27/2/13)

What's a gourmet cider?


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## bum (27/2/13)

Cider for Tarquin et al, I'd expect.


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## Airgead (27/2/13)

Bribie G said:


> I've tried numerous "gourmet" ciders and really at the end of the day I most prefer megaciders such as Mercury - not surprising as my favourite wines are Golden Gate Spumante or Fruity Lexia. Sue me.


More to be pitied than scolded... h34r:

Give the Squires cloudy cider a go. Surprisingly nice drip that one.

Cheers
Dave


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## New 2 Brew (27/2/13)

I read that stevia can leave a bad aftertaste. Anyone had any experiences with this? I'm happy to use lactose to sweeten but would prefer to not have the extra sugar.
Otherwise I've read to use alcohol sugars (same crap they use in most sugar free lollies).

Anyone know a good place to get Yeasts like 4184 or nottingham? Wanting something that is going to leave some sweetness and save me adding too much after fermentation.


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## Deep End (27/2/13)

I made a kit cider up a few weeks ago and added 9l of apple and blackcurrant juice from woolies to the mix, couldnt help myself but try one last night after a fortnight in the bottle. Started at 1.054 and finished at 1.000 making it around 7.5%. 

Gives you a good thump in the mouth but leaves a lingering blackcurrant flavour, bit low on bubbles due to not enough condtitioning time, but that will improve in a week or two, or three even. 

But it wasnt a bad drop, certainly going to mess some people up at the next spit roast anyhow LOL

Got a apple and pear on the go now, 4 cans of goulburn valley pear juice, looks like liquid gold in the FV, interesting to see if there is any noticeable difference in sweetness. Not too fussed either way as I find I'm quite partial to a dry cider now anyway, had a gobful of the wife's mercury draught the other night and nearly spat it out after drinking my own brews.

I'm just enjoying "messing around" with different flavours at the moment.


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## Bribie G (27/2/13)

Had a session of the JS Cider on tap the other week and it was pretty good. I'd assumed that the stuff like Rekordelig that's flooding the bottlos was gourmet, but probably just gourmet priced. When I was in NZ I drank many litres of 8% Old Mout. Now that's a cider - it comes in plastic 1.25L goon bottles and it must be very traditional as I saw a lot of Maoris and Islanders drinking it.

Interestingly (maybe) I was talking to a ciderist at the Wellington Beervana and he said that using GENUINE cider apples, which are not grown in Australia - or very few anyway - they will ferment up to 11% ABV whereas the left over granny smiths, Braeburns, etc used for megacider only give around beer strength and they tend to hit them up with sugar like the megabreweries do with the beer. I read a report somewhere about the taste of true cider apples and they are so appley they are on a different level altogether to supermarket dessert apples that we are used to.

King Brown was a cider rep, he'd know what the companies do.


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## Airgead (27/2/13)

Bribie G said:


> I drank many litres of 8% Old Mout. Now that's a cider - it comes in plastic 1.25L goon bottles and it must be very traditional as I saw a lot of Maoris and Islanders drinking it.


Here at Dan's it comes in a nice looking champagne bottle and costs a bomb. Just goes to show... if its imported it must be good.


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## Bribie G (27/2/13)

In NZ it's in a 1.25L goonie which costs around AUD $5
I bought 4 bottles to take home as souvenirs and the girl at the New World supermarket checkout looked concerned for me  Lovely friendly people the Kiwis, quite blown away.


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## 431neb (27/2/13)

New 2 Brew said:


> I read that stevia can leave a bad aftertaste. Anyone had any experiences with this? I'm happy to use lactose to sweeten but would prefer to not have the extra sugar.
> Otherwise I've read to use alcohol sugars (same crap they use in most sugar free lollies).
> 
> Anyone know a good place to get Yeasts like 4184 or nottingham? Wanting something that is going to leave some sweetness and save me adding too much after fermentation.


My neighbour and I were talking cider and it turned out he had just chucked a jar of stevia in the bin. I retrieved it and used it in my "Christmas Cheer". 

First I tried it in a cup of tea - as per instructions - and it was bloody awful. Super sweet and a bit weird. Think of the aftertaste of pepsi max if you've ever tried it. So I proceeded very carefully and and added an amount that I hoped would be subtle. I put about 11 grams in 23 litres. Don't quote me but I think that is approximately one teaspoon (equivalent to 1 tsp sugar) in a litre. I notice it but most don't. Remember though that these are very unsophisticated palates that I'm farming this out to.

On the topic of lactose. I used it to sweeten an alcoholic lemonade years ago. I needed heaps and it tasted like shit. Many mistakes made on that one though... 

PS if anyone is making a kit. Think twice before adding the "cider flavouring" if it's included in your kit, it's probably Potassium something or other.


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## manticle (27/2/13)

Bribie - Rekordelig is horrible oversweetened syrup. I can't drink it.

I generally avoid ciders that use any fruit other than apple. You being an ex- pom should surely know of some decent ciders?


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## Deep End (27/2/13)

Was buying some empty bottles the other week, and was given a few bottles of cider made from the apples grown on the farm I was at getting the bottles, a mix of true cider apples and eating apples, 50-50 mix. It was a great drop, but very very sour and appley, which is maybe what true cider should be like? Was a million miles away from anything we'll make from supermarket juice or buy at the bottlo, wish I had some more of it, but alas it didn't last long.


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## manticle (27/2/13)

'true' cider (or real cider, etc) is varied. Maybe not as diversely varied as beer but certainly not one single taste.


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## New 2 Brew (27/2/13)

Excuse the ignorance but what's the problem with potassium?


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## Greg.L (27/2/13)

I have a few batches going at the moment from fresh juice. When the primary is finished they are very sour and dry, not what I like at all. I put the cider through MLF which converts the malic acid to much less sour lactic, the cider is then much less sour but loses some flavour. After a month the flavour comes back and I have a nice cider that tastes good though completely dry. You have to give MLF time to settle but it makes a nice cider. I wouldn't drink a dry cider that hasn't been through MLF.


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## Deep End (27/2/13)

So how do you induce a malo lactic fermentation?


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## Greg.L (27/2/13)

You just pitch some MLF culture. You can also try adding some cider that's been through MLF already, will usually work.


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## Greg.L (27/2/13)

Cheap MLF culture here, you wouldn't need the nutrient for cider.

http://www.anpros.com.au/wine-making-products/anprolac-direct-innoculation-malolatic-cultures/anprolac-culture/


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## 431neb (28/2/13)

New 2 Brew said:


> Excuse the ignorance but what's the problem with potassium?


Nothing at all. The name escaped me at the time but the stuff in question is probably C4H4KNO4S otherwise known as Acesulfame potassium. Artificial sweeteners are all a bit suspect IMO but this one is really in doubt. 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acesulfame_potassium


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## New 2 Brew (1/3/13)

Has anyone tried to use a pear essence?
My plan is approx 19L of Cloudy apple Juice, 4L of Pear juice cans, S-04 yeast.

I'm going to bottle so I was planning to use Pear juice to bulk prime and just work it out to use approx 180g of sugar (I'll just work out sugar content off the cans).

I know the yeast will chomp away at my pear sugars and poo out more alcohol so to keep it a bit more pearish would it be worth throwing in one of those 'top shelf pear essences' bottles? Would it even be noticable in 23-25L? I'd put it in after racking the first time, thinking of adding 125g of Lactose for sweetness too.

Are there any other pear extracts or flavourings that are worth looking into?


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## Weizguy (21/9/15)

I have some Apple/Pear juice from the supermarket. Figured it's gonna turn out better than swill, with the Wyeast Cider yeast


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