Kit Cider With Fruit Added

[keleidoscope]

I just bottled my experiment.

I used the black rock cider kit (which I have used many times before, it always comes out great) and I put some pears in there, to see what happens.

I looked here and googled a bit but couldn't really find out much about adding fruit.

So I sort of winged it. I cut the pears into chunks, threw them into boiling water to sterilise them, put them into a mesh bag and dumped it into the fermenter.

So we've got black rock cider kit, a malt/dextrose mix, lactose, pears, and a champagne yeast.

Has anyone added fruit like this?

I gotta say, when I bottled it before, the colour of the stuff is putrid! Looks like brown murky gutter water. Smelt ok though!

I'm curious about the state of the pears, but I can't get the lid off the damn fermenter, I'll have to wait until one of the guys comes home to have a look.

I thought I'd post and tell you guys about it in case anyone was thinking of trying something simular.

 

[Wolfy]

I think you'll find that the pears disintegrate and 'dissolve' out of the mesh bag, leaving lots of gunk in the bottom of your fermenter.
I'm sure it will taste fine but you may well find you have lots of floaty bits unless you rack a few times and/or filter your cider.

 

[keleidoscope]

Most of the pear gunk stayed in the bag, which I'm glad I used, most threads I read that involved putting fruit in didn't mention using a bag.

Looking at the sediment, racking would have been a good idea, but the second fermenter was occupied so I didn't do it. Mistake. It seems to be settling well though!