perry-msg

perry-msg – 1/12/12

A cider made from pear juice rather than apple juice. Directions.

NOTE: See also the files: cider-msg, cider-art, beverages-msg, brewing-msg, mead-msg, wine-msg, p-bottles-msg, beer-msg, jalabs-msg, fruit-pears-msg.

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This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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Stefan at florilegium.org

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Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: mead from pears?

From: una at bregeuf.stonemarche.org (Honur Horne-Jaruk)

Date: Fri, 31 Dec 93 07:50:01 EST

Summary: Make Perry instead! instructions included.

Greetings from Alizaunde-

Good gentle, there is no need to divert thy pears into so minor a brew as

mead. Fermented pear juice becomes Perry (as fermented peach juice becomes

Peachy) and stands, along with the justly legendary ciders, as the

foundation of England's non- honey `wines'. (Our grape wines, alas, bear

little investigation. Or flavor.) With Queen Mary so involved with her

Spanish suitor, these good native drinks are out of the fashion: how-

ever, I remember somewhat of their preparation, and my scribe will send it

thee. I wish thine undertaking all good profit.

A. de B.

-And from Honour, some practical tips:

Use wine yeast for Perry, not beer yeast (around here often bread yeast)

used for mead. Like English fermented cider, Perry is usually brewed

slightly `dry'; if the fruit is bruised, it must be brewed dry- get yeast

specifically bred for that purpose- as it would otherwise turn bitter.

the riper the pears are, short of over-ripe, the sweeter the Perry you can

produce.

I've made Perry twice. The first batch taught me not to use bread

yeast (it was still drinkable, in fact I got compliments, but someone tipped

me about using wine yeast next time). I didn't have access to a cider press,

so I used a food processer and a jellybag (a cloth strainer.) General con-

census: pleasant, but too `yeasty', and oversweet.

For the second batch I used commercial canned pear juice, and a few wild

grapes for their captive yeasts. Everyone liked it more, most much more, than

the first. It had no yeast scent at all, and noone reported a yeast taste. It

only had one fault, in fact (aside from being only a month old); the solids

I didn't strain out caused really disgusting dregs.

I was badly hampered by the fact that I'm physically allergic to

alcohol, and thus can't taste stuff to see how it's doing. You'll probably

produce far better results, even if you can't get commercial wine yeast to

work from, just because you don't have that limitation.

Good luck- Honour(please tell me how it

worked.)

From: Kel Rekuta <krekuta at tor.hookup.net>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Hard (Pear) Cider

Date: 7 Oct 1995 04:42:00 GMT

Organization: HookUp Communication Corporation, Oakville, Ontario, CANADA

> I just aquired about 15lbs of pears, and was wondering...read

> hoping... that one of you wonderful people has a recipe for Hard Cider.

> I am thinking that an apple recipe could be used for pears, but I could

> be wrong. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

> Thanks in advance,

> Beatrix von Dunsel Turm

Oh Oh! Crush those lovely soft yellow plumpies up with a like amount of

apples, preferably tart cidery ones available right about now in most

northern lands. Pitch a champagne yeast on the must. Stir it up for

maybe five to eight days at room temperatture once a day. Keep it covered

to keep out the wee beasties.

Rack it through a sterilized (boiling in water) fine cheesecloth. Rack

this again after ten days to two weeks directly into champagne or beer

bottles. Some pressure will build up over the six to twelve months you

leave it carefully alone. Pop one every month just to see how wonderful

apple perry is as it ages to subtle, bubbly and fruity deliciousness

over the next few months.

If you are feeling generous, share your good fortune with your friends.

If they like light sparkling wines, they will be further endeared to you.

Wassail!

Ceallach

Ealdormerean Old Phart

(who is about to do the above mentioned activities)

From: ALBAN at delphi.COM

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: cider, distillation

Date: 27 Oct 1995 00:27:38 -0400

Arval asks, regarding cider and common sense:

>Are there period recipes for hard cider?

the following comes from the Larousse Gastronomique

(London; Hamlyn Publishing Group 1988), which,

although i don't have its bibilography handy, is a source i

consider reasonably reliable:

Calvados: "Brandy made by distilling cider. Cider

distillation is a very old tradition in Normandy - it was

mentioned in 1553 in the diary of Gilles de Gouberville, a

gentleman of the Cotentin. The best Calvados is made

with cider that is over a year old...It is not, however, the

same as the American spirit, applejack...."

Cider: "...In France regulations were introduced under

Charlemagne, and in the 12th century cider-making

established in Normandy and Britanny, where the

climate is very favourable for growing apples...Great

Britain also produces and consumes a great range of

ciders, generally pale in colour with a higher alcohol

content than in France, where processes sch as sweetening

and reconstitution with apple concentrate are

prohibited...."

Perry: "A fermented drink made like cider but with pear

instead of apple juice. It has been made since ancient

times in western France: Normandy, Britanny, and

Maine. Sparkling perry is an inexpensive alcoholic drink

in the UK.

"The French word (poire') should not be confused with

the pear alcool blanc, referred to in full as Poire William."

yeah, i know there are no recipes listed above, but, hell,

good cider requires apple juice and yeast. how much more

of a recipe does one need? <grin>

on the legality of distillation by private individuals, in the

united states: it isn't. i looked into this a couple of years

ago, specifically asking my lawyer if it were legal for me to

distill for educational purposes (i put it that way: i wanted

to know if i could get away with distilling small batches (a

gallon or two at a time) using period techniques and

period recipes, and writing the whole thing up, for this

historical educational group i belonged to). he checked

with his ATF contact in st. louis, and the answer came

back. lo and behold, distillation by private individuals is

illegal. period. you gotta get federal licenses, and state

licenses, and periodic inspections, and so forth, and so on,

if you distill *anything* alcoholic.

brewing, however, is just fine.

alban, <hic>

Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 17:35:12 -0800 (PST)

From: Beth Ann Snead <ladypeyton at yahoo.com>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re: perry difficulties

> Pear cider (perry) is much more complicated than apple cider.

I have never found this to be so. Using pretty much the exact methods

Markham describes I have never had a bad experience, although living

in first PA and then CT I find it impossible to get a true perry pear.

(generally, they're not available in the US) I've had success with a

mixture of Bosc and Bartlett although the ratio varies from batch to

batch.

Since it's one of the most popular things I ferment, I'm wondering

what made you make the claim?

Lettice, Lady Peyton

Journeyman Vinter, EK Brewers Guild

From: "Peters, Rise J." <rise.peters at spiegelmcd.com>

To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Brewing question, was OT: Trip to Ireland

Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 16:15:46 -0400

http://web.bham.ac.uk/GraftonG/cider/recipes.htm

has a perry recipe; see also

http://www.geocities.com/medievalbrewers/perry.html

and

http://web.bham.ac.uk/GraftonG/cider/perry.htm

Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2001 01:19:21 -0400

From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>

To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cider

Here is another source on cider and perry.

Davies, Stuart. "'Vinetum Britannicum': Cider and Perry in

the Seventeenth Century". Liquid Nourishment. Series: Food and Society, edited by C. Anne Wilson.[papers from the 5th Leeds Symposium, 1990]

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993. pages 79-105.

Johnnae llyn Lewis

Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 22:20:43 -0500

From: Patrick Levesque <petruvoda at videotron.ca>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Apple cider

To: "Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>"

<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On 10/11/05 20:37, "Sheila McClune" <smcclune at earthlink.net> wrote:

> So ... this has probably been asked/answered here before, but I'm

> drawing a blank.

> Is apple cider period?

> How about mulled cider?

> Arwen

> Outlands

Yes for apple cider and poiré - pear cider - (La Maison Rustique, 1572 -

probably there are earlier sources but its the only one I can think of right

now). I'd have to check for mulled cider, but off hand, I'd be inclined to

say yes, too.

Petru


Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:42:05 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Perry????
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

You might take a look at the Real Cider and Perry Page!
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/homepage.htm

See also
http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/oldscrump/history-perry.php for the history.

Johnnae

Elaine Koogler wrote:
<<< I'm not even sure this is the right way to spell this...peary? doesn't
sound right! However, I will be the proud owner of at least a gallon of
pear juice in a week or so...I'd love to make perry with it...I know that
this is a period drink, so it seems like a good thing to do with this
stuff. However, I don't have a recipe...does anyone have any ideas? It
would be great if it were a period recipe, but it's not critical.

Kiri >>>