Get ready for cider season with a twist! If you have some juicy pears, you can easily make homemade pear cider and wine.
Unlike traditional apple cider, pear cider is light, sparkling, and sweet. With a bit of extra fermentation, it can transform into a golden sweet dessert wine.
Don't worry if you don't have whole fruit; we also have a recipe for pear cider from the juice. Learn everything you need to know to make your own delicious pear cider at home.
Whether you prefer it fresh or fermented, this unique and tasty drink is definitely worth the effort!
Pear Cider or Wine
When it comes to homemade beverages, cider, and wine share a common starting point: fruit, sugar, and yeast. They also undergo a similar fermentation process. However, there are key differences in the final product.
Cider is typically bottled early in the fermentation process before the yeast has consumed all the sugar. This results in a sweet and sparkling beverage.
Wine, on the other hand, is allowed to ferment until most of the sugars have been consumed, resulting in a drier and more alcoholic drink.
Yeast nutrients and energizers are necessary to feed the yeast during the fermentation process. As a result, making sulfite-free pear cider and wine is easy with the addition of these ingredients.
For those looking for both cider and wine from the same batch of pears, it's simple. Bottle a few early to enjoy as cider, then let the rest continue to ferment for a delicious pear wine!
How to Make Cider and Wine
Ingredients
- 5 lbs of ripe pears
- 18 cups of filtered water
- 3 lbs of sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp acid blend (or the juice of 2 lemons)
- 1 tsp of fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1/4 tsp tannin
- 1 packet of wine yeast
- 1 tsp of yeast energizer
Instructions
- Wash the pears and remove any bad spots, but leave the skin on
- Boil 4 cups of water and pour it over the pears
- Mash the pears with a masher to extract the juice
- Bring the remaining 14 cups of water to a boil and pour it over the mashed pears
- Cover the pot and let it sit for 24 hours
- Add sugar, acid blend, yeast nutrient, tannin, and lemon juice, and stir well to mix the ingredients
- Add the yeast according to the instructions on the package
- Stir the mixture well and measure the specific gravity if desired
- Cover the pot and let it ferment for 3-5 days, stirring once or twice a day
- Strain the liquid through a sanitized mesh bag or cheesecloth-lined strainer
- Move the liquid into sanitized carboys, top them with an airlock, and ferment in a dark, cool location for 2 weeks
Cider
- Wait for the fermentation to slow down after 2 weeks
- Look for bubbling in the airlock to indicate readiness for bottling
- The ideal temperature for fermentation is 68 F / 20 C
- Let the bottles sit at room temperature for 1 week to carbonate
- Test carbonation by squeezing plastic bottles or popping the lid on glass bottles
- Store the carbonated pear cider in the fridge.
Wine
- For wine, rack the liquid to clean carboys after 2 weeks
- Add yeast energizer to the clean carboys
- Rack again after 3 to 4 weeks to remove the remaining dead yeast
- Age wine for 3 to 4 months in carboy before bottling
- Allow bottled wine to continue aging for a few more months
- Wine tastes best if drunk the year after primary fermentation (1 year from start to finish)