Senior project exploring the natural history and human relationship with one of the world's most loved temperate fruit, the European pear (Pyrus communis).
This was what I listened to all last week, laying in bed at night. It took a few days for the yeast to start their asexual reproduction party, and by now the activity had died back as they've consumed all of the available sugars. The fact that I put the bucket right up against the wall where the chimney of my residence hall resides must have helped spur a vigorous fermentation (ideal temperatures range between 68 - 72F).
Sorry I couldn't figure out how to turn the video to a vertical position!
My next move will be to rack the two gallon batch into two one gallon batches, with their additional flavorings.
What does a pear sound like? This is the most abstract question I've considered so far. My immediate associations are less along the musical spectrum and more so towards the natural and visceral noises, such as the solid thump of ripe fruit falling from a branch in September; the quiet sigh as a knife blade slices through the center of a Bartlett; the wet, sucking kiss of a bite as you devour the satiny rump.
As a pianist, once-upon-a-time fiddle player, and dabbler of many kinds of instruments, I have never felt the desire to compose my own music. I see it in the same way where not everyone enjoys cooking, but loves to eat. If I'd spent more time learning about music theory, perhaps I would have become interested, but there are so many pieces out in the world. For most of my life, I've pursued music that invokes certain emotions from me and other people, compelling me to learn to play them as a way to have a front seat in understanding how they affect us.
In my research, I didn't find much music that mentions pears, other than "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with the patridge in a pear tree and few older nursery rhymes. But then, there was this guy...
Satie, a rather eccentric fellow.
Erik Satie, who was a non-conformist composer who wrote largely for the solo piano at the turn of the 20th century, wrote something interesting called Trois Morceaux En Forme De Poire (Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear). Known for using odd scales and penning instructions with phrases such as "wonder about yourself" or "be radiant", he was often criticized for creating simplistic music without much sophistication. His responses were wrought with humor, writing pieces like Embryons Desseches no. 3 ("Desiccated Embryos") making fun of Beethoven for repeating large, chopping piano chords at the end of his pieces. Claude Debussy made a remark once that instigated the creation of Trois Morceaux, saying Satie's music had little form to it. Well, what's more shapely than a pear? The piece actually has seven parts to it and not three, and lots of character (that I wouldn't necessarily connect with a pear).
After putting some thought into it, if I were going to point towards a musical piece that reminds me of pears- the graceful shape of the fruit and trees, the taste, etc.- I might pick something Impressionistic such as Debussy's Girl With The Flaxen Hair as performed by Tal-Haim Samnon. The music of this era aimed to paint a picture for the audience, and this one has the kind of grace and gentle form I associate with pears.
Resources:
1) DuoKeira. "Eric Satie: Trois Morceaux En Form De Poire - VISION (DuoKeira Piano Duo &Valerio Carosi)." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
2) "Erik Satie (1866 - 1925)." Erik Satie. Music Files Ltd., 1999-2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
3) Girl with the Flaxen Hair by Claude Debussy. Perf. Tel-Haim Samnon. YouTube. Tel-Haim Samnon, 13 May 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
I started messing around with wine making and fermentation about three years ago, and have had mixed results. A few shining successes among many disappointments! This seemed like a fun way to continue my self-education while also getting to know the pear just a little deeper.
Here's the idea I'm operating on:
After looking at juice and concentrate prices, I decided to make a apple wine-perry hybrid that uses more apple than pear. Even if I had been able to afford more dessert pear juice, the wine resulting from it would probably be thin and boring since real perry pears are hard to come by (unless there's some growing in the backyard, a rare but slowly growing occurrence).
What I've done, as you'll see below, is put together a 2 gallon batch that starts around 13% ABV and will hopefully go down to about 11% alcohol by volume (ABV). At that point, I will divide the batch into two one gallon batches, where I will transform one into a still, semi-sweet methelgin (a spiced, honey-sweetened wine) and the other will be carbonated and infused with ginger and hawthorn berries. Both should produce about 4 or 5 bottles each.
Approximate cost for ingredients to make a two
gallon batch- apple "cider", organic pear "nectar",yeast,
additives, and sanitizers: $30.00
After scrubbing down all my equipment with hot soapy water, I set everything to sanitize
with StarSan (phosphoric acid) in the bathtub.
1 ounce/5 gallons of H2O. No need to rinse afterwards.
You can't see them, but there's a hydrometer and airlock in there...
Pouring out the cheap apple "cider" from Tops, blending with the pear nectar
from the co-op. Wondering if it's appropriate to call this pear wine, with only a quarter
of the recipe devoted to pears...
Feeling a little disappointed on the unremarkable, bland Bartlett-flavor of the "pear nectar"
and how much money I spent on it. Wish I could have afforded a can of pear juice concentrate
from the company Vitner's Harvest ($35).
Perfect! No need to adjust the acidity here. Thank you, apples! Wine needs to have
a pH between 3 and 4 not only to create the necessary environment for the yeast to proliferate
in, but also to make it taste more interesting than fruity flat rubbing alcohol.
Using my hydrometer to check the gravity (i.e. the density of sugar) in the must...
The must alone had a starting gravity (SG) at 1.050, which had the potential to produce 7% alcohol by volume (ABV). Wine can spoil during the aging process if it's less than 10% ABV, so it's recommended to keep it between 12 - 14%. I wanted to get the SG up to about 1.100, which would ferment down to a rather dry wine that has a potential of 13% ABV, with room to backsweeten if the mood strikes me.
Crushed two Camden tablets (one per gallon of must) to kill any unwanted microbes
in the must. This doesn't look illicit...
Doing a funny dance on top of the primary fermentation bucket to seal the lid.
Now to wait 24 hours for the sulfites to dissolve out...
My next move will be to let the must ferment for about a week (until 2/7), withdraw some of the must check the gravity to see what alcohol percentage it's at, and then divide the two gallon batch into the one gallon glass jugs for secondary fermentation and flavor agents. I'll need to rig up a homemade airlock of some sort...
Resources and References:
Mansfield, Scott. "Strong Waters: a simple guide to making beer, wine, cider and other spirited beverages at home". New York: Experiment, 2010. Print.
PERRY:
Here's a neat fact about pears that has always appealed to me as a fermentation-enthusiast: unlike apples, they contain larger amounts of sugars, and more importantly, undigestible sugars that both animals and yeast cannot break down. Sorbitol, a sugar that is mildly laxative and diabetic-friendly (found in prunes and plums) is one of these compounds that lends itself to creating beverages that remain slightly sweet even after being vigorously fermented.
Wide selection of perry pears from the National Collection of Perry
Pear Trees in Britain.
Just as cider is made from apples, perry is made from pears. Before the end of the 20th century, both were popular table beverages made with both dessert varieties and the hard, gritty, bitter fruits from wild trees that were not suited for eating. The Romans favored pear wine over that made with apples, carrying the tradition to what would later become the Normandy region of France, and further spreading to Britain with the Normand invasion during the 11th century.
A sharp decline in production followed after several hits of blight devastated pear orchards in England and France in the 1970's and 1980's,
Christian Drouin Perry
AeppelTreow Perry
Eric Borderlet Poire Granit
Perry comes in two different styles. English perry is still and dry, while French perry is sweeter and bottle conditioned like a sparkling wine. It's beginning to appear in wine and beer stores again as the wine and beer market has become interested in traditional beverages and wine makers responding accordingly to meet the demand. I have yet to try some myself, but am looking forward to the day when I have more disposable income to taste test these more novel beverages.
Note: There is also "pear cider" on the market, which is NOT to be confused with perry. It's a whole 'nuther ballpark. Made with juice concentrates, corn syrup, malt alcohol, and artificially carbonated, they are more like fizzy alcoholic fruit juices. Wyder's and Woodchuck both have apple and pear ciders on the market (among other companies) that might, depending on your preference, be considered tasty and refreshing. They're affordable and pretty easy to find in stores nowadays, and are highly standardized products that give the customer the same experience every time.
I personally do not like these kinds of drinks, which are unbearably sweet and over-carbonated, masquerading alongside traditional "farmhouse" ciders that have a lot more character... I obviously have my biases against malt beverages.
Not the real stuff. Don't fall for it.
POIRE WILLIAM:
Distilled from the William's pear (also known as Bartlett), there is also Poire William, which is an eaux de vie (brandy) originating in the Alsace (German influenced) region of France that is drank as an after dinner aperitif. I've been fascinated by this drink for some time now, because the bottles are often sold and displayed on bars with the fruit grown inside of them. Humans do such funny things to plants and animals...
Captive fruit, preserved in its own essence. Miclo brand.
Back in 2012, I experimented with growing some of the Sterling pears inside wine bottles, thinking I would fill them with vodka or brandy for Christmas presents. I rigged up four bottles with paracord, slipping the tiny developing ovules past the neck, and periodically checked on them to see if the wind blew them down. I had a problem with earwigs and water getting in, which rotted the fruits off and created a mushy mess on the inside before the pears matured.
Apparently, angling the bottles downwards and stuffing the necks with cotton gauze helps prevent the issues I experienced!
I experimented with growing pears inside wine bottles in 2012 to no avail!
I have plans for this year, though...
(this is not my picture- courtesy of Ironworks Distillery)
