Pear cider, Perry, think Lambrini, or Pomagne, I think that was probably Perry from back in the 70's!
Anyway, Perry is a very refreshing summer drink, sweet, easy going and fun. Cider has never been so popular in this country, and the fruity flavours really add something extra interesting to this market, Kopparberg, Thatchers and Old Mout are the big brands doing very well in pubs and supermarkets.
So, how easy is it to make something similar to these at home, for a fraction of the price? read on, and you'll discover how simple making cider at home really is.
Day 1
Here is my can of concentrate, inside is all the ingredients I'm going to need to make 20 pints of Pear Cider. This can will make 40 pints, and to do that you'll need a kilogram of brewing sugar, but I'm going to make half the amount with no sugar, this is going to give me more flavour and mouthfeel.
Also included with the can is a sachet of sweet cider yeast, and some flavouring concentrate.
A few other bits of equipment I'm going to need, a hydrometer and trial jar, so I can check the progress of the fermentation, a thermometer, I cant let it get too warm or cold, and a syphon tube to fill my bottles when we're ready in a week or so.
I'm also going to need a 25l fermenting bucket to brew it up in. All of these items are inexpensive, and can be reused many many times to keep your costs to a minimum.
Lets get brewing then, I open the can with a can opener, and pour the contents into my sterilised bucket,
I put the kettle on, and pour 2 litres of boiling water into the bucket, and give everything a good stir.
Now, I'm going to add some water from the tap, and I'm up to the 11 litre mark on the side of the bucket. After another stir, I take a temperature check with my thermometer, 21 degrees is just right for the yeast to work best, room temperature.
Now, I take a sample of the liquid in my trial jar, and pop the hydrometer in it, this gives me the OG, telling me the sugar content, and how much alcohol I can make, how strong the finished Pear Cider is going to be, so I make a note of the reading, 1.040.
Finally today, I add my sachet of cider yeast, and give it a final stir,
That's all there is to it, so I now put my bucket of Perry somewhere warmish, to keep it at room temperature for a week or so. I put my feet up for the rest of the day.
Day 7
My Pear Cider has been bubbling away happily for 4-5 days, and now it has settled itself down and finished, so I take another hydrometer reading, now we're at 1.002, giving my Perry an ABV of about 5%.
Now, using my syphon tube, I transfer the liquid into my bottling bucket. Here, you could go straight into fresh, sterilised bottles, or a barrel if you prefer.
I also take a cheeky taster sample, so see how it tastes, it's a bit dry and sharp at the moment.
So, I need to add the sachet of pear cider flavouring, this is pretty strong stuff, so I add a bit at a time, stirring, tasting, until I'm happy with the sweetness and flavour.
When I'm happy, I add 100g of brewing sugar and stir this in. This is the priming sugar, and will give me a secondary fermentation in the bottle, giving a nice bit of fizz and life to the cider.
Now, using a bottling wand, I fill my bottles with my cider!
Now I have 20 bottles of Perry! Yay!! I'm going to make a little label for them so I know what's inside, and leave them somewhere warm for 2-3 days, then put them somewhere cool for a few weeks, before cracking one open. Hopefully it'll be a nice warm sunny day, but in Somerset, it's not always!
And that's it, maybe 30 minutes work on day one, and another 45 on day 8, all at a cost of way under £1 per bottle - if I made 40 pints, probably around 60p a bottle!
I hope you enjoyed that, please feel free to add your comments or questions to this blog too.
