\n<\/p>\n
Cider has made its comeback. Walk into just about any taproom, bottle shop, or well-stocked grocery cooler in the United States, and you\u2019re likely to find one or more ciders jockeying for space among the beers and RTD cocktails. People know what cider is, whether it\u2019s the old-school hard cider of their youth or a new-look artisanal bottle that exudes rustic class. <\/p>\n
However, ask them about this rare, mysterious thing called \u201cperry,\u201d and you may get a lot of blank looks. So, let\u2019s talk about it and start unpeeling that pear\u2014because if you\u2019re letting it pass you by, you\u2019re missing out on a wonderful beverage to brew and drink. <\/p>\n
Briefly: Perry is to pears what cider is to apples. And that\u2019s simple enough on paper, but the reality is more complicated and far more interesting. Perry has centuries of history in Britain and France, but in North America, it\u2019s still a fringe pursuit. Ask a dozen American cider drinkers if they\u2019ve had a true perry, and maybe one or two will say yes. Ask a cidermaker if they\u2019ve made one, and there may be a long pause followed by a story of frustration, patience, or maybe even a dump bucket. <\/p>\n
Heck, one of my perries turned a pale magenta color in the bottle, which\u2014I don\u2019t mind saying\u2014freaked me out. It turned out to be a perfectly normal and safe thing, but yowza\u2026
Here\u2019s the thing: Pears don\u2019t play nice. And that\u2019s part of what makes perry both beguiling and elusive. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
First, definitions. At its most straightforward, perry is an alcoholic beverage made of fermented pear juice. However, as with cider, the difference between \u201cpear-flavored alcohol\u201d and the real thing is massive. <\/p>\n
\u201cPerries are very different than pear ciders, which typically are made mostly with apples or are dominated by other fruit besides pears,\u201d says Jeremy Hall, cofounder of Blossom Barn Cidery in Grants Pass, Oregon. <\/p>\n
That distinction matters. As with cider apples, traditional perry pears\u2014those grown specifically for fermentation\u2014do most of the heavy lifting. They don\u2019t just add a \u201cpear flavor.\u201d These types of pears aren\u2019t pleasant to eat fresh\u2014they\u2019re often small, tannic, acidic, and gritty. <\/p>\n
I first got into perrymaking after planting some fruit trees to screen my backyard view of a neighbor\u2014and I got a great deal on the trees because they produced pears that other people didn\u2019t want! Once pressed and fermented, however, the same traits that make those pears less than ideal to eat make them a real pleasure to drink. <\/p>\n
And even if perry pears and cider apples have that distinction in common, the drinks are not the same. <\/p>\n
\u201cPerry has a distinctly different flavor profile\u2014often lighter, more delicate, and nuanced than most apple ciders,\u201d says Kari Williams, owner and head cidermaker at Snow Capped Cider in Cedaredge, Colorado\u2014a frequent award winner for their perries as well as ciders. \u201cA great perry is soft and elegant on the palate, with a harmonious balance of sweetness and acidity.\u201d <\/p>\n
The result is a beverage that shares cider\u2019s refreshment but often with a more ethereal character and with a persistently light sweetness that\u2019s due to the chemistry of pears themselves. A true perry is made exclusively from pears and pear juice\u2014otherwise, you\u2019re making something like pear cider (apples and pears) or pear wine (pear juice plus adjunct sugars). And the end results are not the same. <\/p>\n
So why don\u2019t we see more perry on shelves? It\u2019s not because they\u2019re unappealing. The answer lies in the fruit. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Unlike apples, pears carry with them a whole chemistry set of quirks that make them more challenging to ferment well\u2014and chief among those is sorbitol. <\/p>\n
Both pears and apples have a variety of natural sugars, says Doug Reeser, owner and cidermaker at Excursion Ciders in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. \u201cBut pears have sorbitol, a naturally occurring sugar that is unfermentable. This means there is always a light sweetness, even in the driest perries.\u201d <\/p>\n
That may sound like a nice perk\u2014and it can be\u2014but it also complicates fermentation management, measurement, and consistency. For example, as Hall at Blossom Barn notes, it can impact your hydrometer or refractometer readings. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just the sugars that are different in pears\u2014it\u2019s also the acid content. <\/p>\n
\u201cMuch of the acid in pears is citric,\u201d Hall says, \u201cwhich has a ready path to acetic acid and hydrogen sulfide. Most of the acid in apples is malic, which is much more robust and doesn\u2019t pose the challenges that citric acid does during fermentation and aging.\u201d <\/p>\n
Acetic acid (vinegar) and hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs) can both ruin your whole day, flavor-wise. <\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the texture. Pears are annoyingly hard when unripe\u2014then they get soft and mushy when ripe, which makes pressing and juicing difficult. Even before fermentation, handling pears is a test of patience\u2014and that\u2019s before we factor in the near-perfect timing of the squirrels and birds who know when they\u2019re just<\/em> right, going absolutely wild on them the day before I\u2019m planning to go out and pick. Nature, eh? <\/p>\n Yet these are not insurmountable problems. When it comes to sweetness and fermentability, today\u2019s yeast options offer plenty of tools to dial in what we want in terms of residual sugars. However, to the modern brewer or cidermaker in a hurry, this piece of advice isn\u2019t going to be welcome: Slow down.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n At Excursion, Reeser says he\u2019s battled through lagged fermentations, sulfur production, and stuck batches. His solution? Let time do the work. <\/p>\n \u201cGenerally, time is our friend with perry, and we age each season\u2019s pressing for a full year before packaging,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen young, there can be a harshness to them, but with age they mellow and soften. Barrel aging also softens and balances our perries. If anything, I would say that perry should not be rushed, and patience can save a perry that you may think needs to be dumped.\u201d <\/p>\n Williams at Snow Capped also preaches patience. For her, the careful selection of pears and close monitoring of fermentation are critical, but it\u2019s time that ties it all together. <\/p>\n \u201cFermentation can be unpredictable, especially in early attempts,\u201d she says. \u201cMonitor the process closely and don\u2019t get discouraged if the first batch isn\u2019t perfect. Perrymaking is as much an art as a science. Patience and practice are essential.\u201d <\/p>\n From my own home-perrymaking perspective, I\u2019ll add that I\u2019ve had success with picking early\u2014rescuing the pears from the scavenging fauna\u2014and letting my pears rest in the basement for a week before pressing. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a refrain you\u2019ll hear from just about anyone who\u2019s tried to make perry more than once: Don\u2019t expect instant gratification. A good perry takes time, and plenty of it. <\/p>\n For those prepared to take their first plunge into producing perry, what makes the difference between drinkable and dumpable? <\/p>\n \u201cThe key is selecting the right pears and understanding their characteristics before fermentation,\u201d Williams says. \u201cCertain pear varieties are ideal for aging, while timing the harvest can make a significant difference in flavor development.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Traditional perry pears are relatively rare in the North America, so Hall suggests foraging or working with wild pears. (That\u2019s assuming you\u2019re not like me, lucky enough to accidentally buy the right variety from a Scouting America fundraiser.) <\/p>\n Williams adds: \u201cThe seeds from culinary pears are usually viable, and birds who eat them can plant them in hedgerows, woodlands, and other places that aren\u2019t heavily managed.\u201d You might also be able to forage for some good options and then cultivate your own. <\/p>\n Pectic enzyme is your friend in many a fruit beer, wine, or cider, and it\u2019s especially so with perry. It\u2019s not just a clarifying tool\u2014though, oddly, that\u2019s the most common reason I hear from homebrewers who use it in their fruit beers\u2014but it also increases flavor extraction. That\u2019s important because pear has a softer flavor than many other fruits. <\/p>\n Also be sure to adjust your acidity. Most pears come in at a pH level of about 4.0\u2014too high for safe or bright fermentation. \u201cYou should add malic acid to get the pH to be 3.8 or below,\u201d Hall says. \u201cTypically, that means adding one to two grams per liter, but all pears are different and vary each year.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n You might have your brewing dialed in to the point where you don\u2019t have to worry much about pH, but that\u2019s not the case here. Time to break out those test strips or pH meter. <\/p>\n Commercial beer-brewing yeasts are an option, but for perry they\u2019re just not as thoroughly worked, reviewed, and \u201cknown\u201d as wine and cider yeasts. You want what works. <\/p>\n As Williams says, fermentations can be \u201cunpredictable, especially in early attempts.\u201d With that in mind, we can stack the deck in our favor through practice, patience, and good documentation. Choose a consistent yeast and pay attention to your fermentation temperatures and timing. Before long, you\u2019ll have gathered a good base of knowledge to inform future batches. <\/p>\n Also, again, don\u2019t rush anything\u2014neither in fermentation nor aging. Even after fermentation, my perries sit in their bottles for at least six months before I crack one open. My oldest at the moment is approaching three years of maturation. <\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve managed to make a solid traditional perry, the temptation is obvious: What else can you do with it? <\/p>\n Reeser has experimented with adjuncts, barrel aging, and foraged pears. He says bottles of his upcoming Community Perry, made from five different sources of unknown pear types, is delivering notes of pineapple and tropical fruit unlike anything he\u2019s made before. <\/p>\n Reeser also produces fruited perries\u2014flavored with blackberries or raspberries\u2014that have proven to be popular in the taproom. And he\u2019s intrigued by the idea of \u201cice perry\u201d\u2014fractionally frozen to concentrate the flavors, like eisbock or ice cider. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re going to get experimental, however, Williams urges caution. First, know your pears. \u201cUnderstanding the inherent style of your pears is critical,\u201d she says. \u201cBalancing the natural character of the pear with any enhancements is key to maintaining its identity as perry.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Likewise, Hall also encourages would-be perrymakers to keep it classic and be aware that other flavors can easily dominate the pear. <\/p>\n \u201cI think that once you\u2019re adding more than 10 percent of juice from other fruits, it is no longer a perry but rather a pear cider,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause perries are delicate, the characters that make them unique are lost and overwhelmed once you use a lot of juice from other fruit.\u201d <\/p>\n Innovation has its place. For purists, however, protecting the identity of perry means keeping pears at the center of the profile. <\/p>\n For now, perry remains a rarity in the United States. It\u2019s something you might spot at a cidery tasting room, or you may see a single dusty bottle on the shelf of a specialty shop. Thankfully, the passion of makers such as Williams, Reeser, and Hall means that the story of perry is still being written. <\/p>\n Just look at cider: Not so long ago, it was mostly a mass-\u00adproduced, over-sweet mess in the United States. Today, there\u2019s a thriving craft movement exploring heirloom apples, wild fermentations, and terroir-driven expressions. Perry could follow the same path, if more slowly. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s that word again: Patience. Because it will take patient cidermakers, adventurous drinkers, and perhaps a few lucky orchardists willing to gamble on planting pears that don\u2019t taste great off the tree. <\/p>\n Perry isn\u2019t easy. It tests the patience of makers and the palates of drinkers. It requires fruit that\u2019s hard to grow, hard to juice, and finicky to ferment. When it all comes together, however, the result is singular: a drink that captures the pear\u2019s delicate grace, layered with complexity, and touched by just enough natural sweetness to keep you coming back for another sip. <\/p>\n Maybe that\u2019s why perry feels so special to me. In a world of beverages\u2014including craft beer\u2014that are increasingly engineered, predictable, and consistent, perry insists on being unpredictable, inconsistent, and demanding. But that difficulty\u2014the effort it takes to make and appreciate perry\u2014is exactly what makes it worth chasing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cider has made its comeback. Walk into just about any taproom, bottle shop, or well-stocked grocery cooler in the United States, and you\u2019re likely to find one or more ciders jockeying for space among the beers and RTD cocktails. People know what cider is, whether it\u2019s the old-school hard cider of their youth or a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":352786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19356,1277,5874,9037],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-352785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-patience","tag-perfect","tag-perry","tag-pursuit"],"yoast_head":"\nPractical Advice<\/h3>\n
First, start with the right pears.<\/h4>\n
Second, treat the juice properly.<\/h4>\n
Third, control the fermentation environment.<\/h4>\n
Now What?<\/h3>\n