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. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. 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. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ 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 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? 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, Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 17:35:12 -0800 (PST) From: Beth Ann Snead 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." To: "'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 To: "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 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Apple cider To: "Cooks within the SCA " On 10/11/05 20:37, "Sheila McClune" 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 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Perry???? To: Cooks within the SCA 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 >>>