Experimenting with pear cider

[user 31093]

I had 2 tins of golden circle cloudy pear juice sitting in the cupboard for a while now and yesterday I thought... why not ferment the stuff?

The tins were 100 percent juice, no preservatives etc

So I sterilised a 2L snap lock plastic jug that has a seal, closed mouth and pressure release.

I boiled 50g of sugar to give the yeast sortin something to cling on to as I've read there's a lot of unfermentables in pear juice.

Ended up with OG of 1.059.

Threw in a spare kit ale yeast I had lying about, sealed it up and away it's gone.

24 hours later and it's got an odd odour, not awful just strange. Apparently it's normal for pear cider and will go away.

There's plenty of nice bubbling action going on.

 

[Alex.Tas]

do you mean its cloudy?

 

[user 31093]

do you mean its cloudy?

Well yes, it's cloudy pear juice.

 

[maxim0200]

Sounds intersting

 

[simchop84]

I did almost the same thing about a year ago. Roughly 2.5L in a 3L juice bottle with air lock and grommet in the lid. Just pear juice and lavlin ec1118 yeast. Can't remember the figures but I remember it was fairly dry but very nice. I can go through my notes and dig up figures if you want something to compare too.
Cheers
Adam

 

[user 31093]

Just took a reading to find below

SG 1.014 (so far about 5.9%)
Still smells strange
Tastes very nice, dry, not too sweet.

I have no idea how low the gravity will go on this before it ferments out, but I've read that the desired gravity is somewhere in the 1.006 ballpark so probable 2-3 days away.

Some people have reported pear going to 0.998 :unsure: That's one dry cider weighing in at about 8%
but one would think this ****** kit ale yeast will flop out before then.

 

[simchop84]

I had two other brews on at the same time so hard to comment on any odor. Ill be home in the morning briefly I will get my figures for you.

 

[fletcher]

Just took a reading to find below

SG 1.014 (so far about 5.9%)
Still smells strange
Tastes very nice, dry, not too sweet.

I have no idea how low the gravity will go on this before it ferments out, but I've read that the desired gravity is somewhere in the 1.006 ballpark so probable 2-3 days away.

Some people have reported pear going to 0.998 :unsure: That's one dry cider weighing in at about 8%
but one would think this ****** kit ale yeast will flop out before then.

i usually do this, then once it gets to where i want it (taste test and hydro tests), i bottle it (without sugar or carb drops or priming) and put it straight in the fridge. if using an ale yeast this most often stops it and if i get it about 1.014 it's still sweet but with an alcohol kick at about 5ish %.

often, the time in the fridge allows it to carbonate ever so slightly so that i have a very lightly carbonated cider. if you like a sweet cider i've found this to be a nice work around, you just don't ever have a spritzy, carbonated one.

leave it in the fridge for about 8+ weeks if possible and the flavours really even out nicely

 

[user 31093]

i usually do this, then once it gets to where i want it (taste test and hydro tests), i bottle it (without sugar or carb drops or priming) and put it straight in the fridge. if using an ale yeast this most often stops it and if i get it about 1.014 it's still sweet but with an alcohol kick at about 5ish %.

often, the time in the fridge allows it to carbonate ever so slightly so that i have a very lightly carbonated cider. if you like a sweet cider i've found this to be a nice work around, you just don't ever have a spritzy, carbonated one.

leave it in the fridge for about 8+ weeks if possible and the flavours really even out nicely

I was planning on priming with half teaspoon per 450mL bottle for a decent carb.

 

[fletcher]

I was planning on priming with half teaspoon per 450mL bottle for a decent carb.

yeah for sure. trouble i've found is that i don't like dry ciders, so i don't let them ferment out completely. if you like a dry cider then it works great and they can be quite high alcohol-wise. just a personal thing, i prefer about 5% with a very slight carb. horses for courses

 

[user 31093]

Well after a reading this morning of 1.007, and another 16 hours later of 1.007, I've bottled the buggers.

4 x 450mL bottles of cider ain't bad for something that otherwise would have gone in the bin.

Couple of weeks and let's see how they taste.