Pear recipe?

[Bavis54]

Hi guys, I ran upon a grocer today about to dump several bushels of Anjou pears, they are ok, just a little ripe. I got most of them thinkn I can make brandy , but I've been lookin on here n can't find one, has anyone ever worked with pears? I love the flavor of them, I think they'd make a great spirit, I jus not sure on how much or whether to add sugar or no?
Any ideas be greatly appreciated.

[der wo]

Wash them. Then mash them with your hands. If you can't, they are not ripe enough. Only mash the ripe ones and add the other ones later to the mash after ripening. Pears ripen fast when you close them in a sealed environment and air it only two times a day.

No water, no sugar.

A bit citric acid and calcium carbonate to lower and buffer the pH (ripe pears are not very acidic. This rises the danger of infections). Yeast, or better a running yeast starter.
Ferment slow/cold. Distill short after it has finished. Double runs in a potstill or single runs in a reflux still.

If you add sugar, the main problem is IMO not, that you dilute the flavor, the main problem is, that the longer fermenting will blow out much original pear flavor through the airlock. Pear flavor is very volatile.

[Bavis54]

Hey thanks der wo - I did exactly as u said, they were very ripe so had no problem mashing them- I filled my 20 gal fermenter with mashed pears and juice, n still have several left. U said no water right?

[NZChris]

Yes, he said 'no water'. Pear brandy/schnapps/etc. is not so much a 'recipe',as a method, a method common to most fruit. The main differences being forced on us by the cellular structures of the fruits.

[Bavis54]

Ok thanks, this my first fruit wash, I have a buuuunch of pears, but to get even 10 gal of wash it takes a whole lot of fruit. Jus wantd make sure this was right

[der wo]

Yes, it's no recipe. It's a general method. Some fruits need water, apples for example, but ripe pears don't. Using pectinase helps to get the mash thin from the beginning without using water. And some fruits are acidic enough, so you don't need to add an acid.

[NZChris]

The only water that gets near my apples is when it rains.

[der wo]

I just looked at my notes. My last apple batch got 2l water (including the yeast starter) for 20kg apples. Apple is not the best example. A better one is quince.

[cranky]

I've done good with fresh pear juice. mashed the pears, bagged then pressed. There really isn't much pulp to them so I don't think they really need pressed, they are mostly liquid. As far as apples, no added water here either, I chop the apples, press and ferment. Use a good wine yeast, don't use bakers for fruit.

[der wo]

When fermenting juice I would not add water of course.
Perhaps for clarification: I write about fermenting the whole fruit, cranky about fermenting the juice only, NZChris I don't know.

[Bavis54]

Hey guys, I did exactly what u said far as just mashing pears, no sugar, no water, since this my first try, i. Basically jus washed em and mashed em in a bucket til I could fill up my big fermenter- but I didn't keep up with the numbers like I should have- so if you guys had to guess, how many lbs of pears would u think it takes to simply make 5 gal of wash? I'm jus curious to know how many pears or how many lbs I need for next batch if this works

[der wo]

In metric units it's very easy. 1l water = 1kg. Because fruits have sugars, they are a little heavier. We measure this with a hydrometer. Ripe pears have an OG perhaps of 1.060. This means 1l pears must = 1.06kg.

[MichiganCornhusker]

A pint's a pound the world around.

[Pikey]

A pint's a pound the world around.

Not in the uk - it's not !

[cranky]

I know a 5 gallon bucket of apples weighs 23 pounds. Ground up you can fit 46 or so pounds in it. I think pears run about the same. 16 pounds of apples = 1 gallon of juice. I think juicy pears usually run around 1.5-1.75 gallons to 16 LBS.

[Shine_Dad]

A co-worker brought me a couple of Pears to work today. Said they are referred to as 'Cooking Pears' - He says he has two trees of them on his property and they're near ripe. Says I can have as many as I wanted if I wanted to try to make some pear moonshine.

I've never done an all fruits fermentation... But it sounds like all you do is mash them up and throw on some yeast, let it ferment and throw it in and run... so what is this? It's not a whiskey, its not a 'sugar head' ... so is this considered a Gin or something? If the entire base is just a single type of fruit?

I apologize for asking, and am not trying to annoy anyone, but this really has me interested in trying these free pears... would someone have a specific thread they could point me towards that might better prepare me for trying this? Or providing additional things I can learn before trying this?

Thanks, sorry to revise a 5 year old thread but when I searched this is what I initially found.

[8Ball]

A co-worker brought me a couple of Pears to work today. Said they are referred to as 'Cooking Pears' - He says he has two trees of them on his property and they're near ripe. Says I can have as many as I wanted if I wanted to try to make some pear moonshine.

I've never done an all fruits fermentation... But it sounds like all you do is mash them up and throw on some yeast, let it ferment and throw it in and run... so what is this? It's not a whiskey, its not a 'sugar head' ... so is this considered a Gin or something? If the entire base is just a single type of fruit?

I apologize for asking, and am not trying to annoy anyone, but this really has me interested in trying these free pears... would someone have a specific thread they could point me towards that might better prepare me for trying this? Or providing additional things I can learn before trying this?

Thanks, sorry to revise a 5 year old thread but when I searched this is what I initially found.

Yep. In the deep south, farmers have ‘canning pears’ and also ‘eating pears.’ The canning pears are harder and have less sugar, so they use them for canning with sugar added. Eating pears are softer and sweeter so they can be eaten right off the tree. Do a search in the tried and true section and you will find the info you need.

[Shine_Dad]

A co-worker brought me a couple of Pears to work today. Said they are referred to as 'Cooking Pears' - He says he has two trees of them on his property and they're near ripe. Says I can have as many as I wanted if I wanted to try to make some pear moonshine.

I've never done an all fruits fermentation... But it sounds like all you do is mash them up and throw on some yeast, let it ferment and throw it in and run... so what is this? It's not a whiskey, its not a 'sugar head' ... so is this considered a Gin or something? If the entire base is just a single type of fruit?

I apologize for asking, and am not trying to annoy anyone, but this really has me interested in trying these free pears... would someone have a specific thread they could point me towards that might better prepare me for trying this? Or providing additional things I can learn before trying this?

Thanks, sorry to revise a 5 year old thread but when I searched this is what I initially found.

Yep. In the deep south, farmers have ‘canning pears’ and also ‘eating pears.’ The canning pears are harder and have less sugar, so they use them for canning with sugar added. Eating pears are softer and sweeter so they can be eaten right off the tree. Do a search in the tried and true section and you will find the info you need.

It sounds like I will need to consider adding some sugar then to the fermentation process to up the ABV potential. It also sounds like a bit of a messy process... I assume once something like this ferments I would just pour the entire thing into the still, pear chunks and all?

Thanks for the tip, I'll do some digging around.

[8Ball]

A co-worker brought me a couple of Pears to work today. Said they are referred to as 'Cooking Pears' - He says he has two trees of them on his property and they're near ripe. Says I can have as many as I wanted if I wanted to try to make some pear moonshine.

I've never done an all fruits fermentation... But it sounds like all you do is mash them up and throw on some yeast, let it ferment and throw it in and run... so what is this? It's not a whiskey, its not a 'sugar head' ... so is this considered a Gin or something? If the entire base is just a single type of fruit?

I apologize for asking, and am not trying to annoy anyone, but this really has me interested in trying these free pears... would someone have a specific thread they could point me towards that might better prepare me for trying this? Or providing additional things I can learn before trying this?

Thanks, sorry to revise a 5 year old thread but when I searched this is what I initially found.

Yep. In the deep south, farmers have ‘canning pears’ and also ‘eating pears.’ The canning pears are harder and have less sugar, so they use them for canning with sugar added. Eating pears are softer and sweeter so they can be eaten right off the tree. Do a search in the tried and true section and you will find the info you need.

It sounds like I will need to consider adding some sugar then to the fermentation process to up the ABV potential. It also sounds like a bit of a messy process... I assume once something like this ferments I would just pour the entire thing into the still, pear chunks and all?

Thanks for the tip, I'll do some digging around.

Ask and you shall receive: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=80591&p=7633521&hi ... r#p7633521

[cranky]

A co-worker brought me a couple of Pears to work today. Said they are referred to as 'Cooking Pears' - He says he has two trees of them on his property and they're near ripe. Says I can have as many as I wanted if I wanted to try to make some pear moonshine.

I've never done an all fruits fermentation... But it sounds like all you do is mash them up and throw on some yeast, let it ferment and throw it in and run... so what is this? It's not a whiskey, its not a 'sugar head' ... so is this considered a Gin or something? If the entire base is just a single type of fruit?

I apologize for asking, and am not trying to annoy anyone, but this really has me interested in trying these free pears... would someone have a specific thread they could point me towards that might better prepare me for trying this? Or providing additional things I can learn before trying this?

Thanks, sorry to revise a 5 year old thread but when I searched this is what I initially found.

My 2nd favorite kind of fruit is free pears...My 1st favorite kind if free pears someone else picked

"cooking pears" tend to be denser and less sweet than "dessert pears". Cooking pears may not get as soft as dessert pears but they should get plenty soft to use the method described above. There are a couple of distinctions between some pears generally referred to as European and Asian. Asian are sometimes called "Apple Pears" because they are usually round like apples and not the distinct shape we think of as pear shaped. European pears are usually picked before they are fully ripe and left to ripen because if left to ripen on the tree they get mealy and begin to rot from the inside out. Asian pears stay on the tree until they are ripe.

I don't like to assume but I would guess from your post you will be dealing with European pears. If so and if you are planning on distilling them than try to leave them on the tree until the neck is slightly soft, not mushy, just slightly soft then let then finish ripening off the tree. Check them every day and crush the soft ones and add them to the ferment. Ferment with something like D-47 or 71B yeast...or even 1118 or another good wine or cider yeast.

If I am incorrect and they are Asian pears there are some things to be aware of. Shinseiki pears have a strange flavor and distill with such a distinct floral note that they can taste like you left it to air out too close to a box of fabric softener sheets. Other Asian pears tend to not be as floral but may have an unusual flavor you may not expect.

For clarification when you are fermenting fruit it is called a "must" once distilled it would be brandy. Proper brandy is made without adding sugar if you add sugar it becomes a "sugar head". Adding sugar may up the alcohol content but it also dilutes the pear flavor and adds it's own flavor. Before adding sugar test the juice and see how much sugar it already contains.

My experience with distilling pears is that the flavor comes over throughout the run but will be strongest just as the tails begin.

[Shine_Dad]

Sounds like cookin pears are not as ideal as eating pairs. I appreciate the link @8ball. Seems simple enough. A pear brandy that maybe I can turn into a panty dropper of some sort. Since they are free, I think I will consider cleaning out one of my barrels and giving this a go sometime in the next couple of weeks.... I mean worse case I f*ck it all up and end up with nothing... best case I end up with something different that didn't cost me any money really lol.

[cranky]

Sounds like cookin pears are not as ideal as eating pairs. I appreciate the link @8ball. Seems simple enough. A pear brandy that maybe I can turn into a panty dropper of some sort. Since they are free, I think I will consider cleaning out one of my barrels and giving this a go sometime in the next couple of weeks.... I mean worse case I f*ck it all up and end up with nothing... best case I end up with something different that didn't cost me any money really lol.

A couple of things...
#1- Cooking pears are fine for brandy

#2- I think taking the time to make a pear brandy and then using it for a panty dropper is a waste...for that matter I also think adding sugar and brown sugar to a pear ferment is sacrilege no matter how well 8ball thinks it came out it could have been better without them.

#5- Pear brandy is so good right off the spout I also feel it's best white.

Of course you can do whatever you want and listen to whomever you want but this is my opinion

[8Ball]

...for that matter I also think adding sugar and brown sugar to a pear ferment is sacrilege no matter how well 8ball thinks it came out it could have been better without them.

Sitting here smiling and sipping on some of my eating pear brandy (or sugarhead) as I read this post. Have a good night Cranky.

[EricTheRed]

As with peaches, boil the lot, cool, add pectolyase, cool, pitch yeast.
No sugar.
Low og but good flavour