Easy Perry from a Carton

You will need

• Pure pear juice (carton, no preservative)4.5 L
• Wine or cider yeast1 sachet
• Yeast nutrient1 tsp

Method

1. 1

   Sanitise. This is the shop-cupboard route to perry — no pressing, no windfalls, any month of the year.

2. 2

   Check the juice has no preservative (sorbate-preserved juice will not ferment). Pour it into the demijohn, leaving headspace.

3. 3

   Take a reading — pear juice sits near 1.050, a session strength. Pears carry sorbitol, a sugar the yeast cannot fully ferment, so a perry keeps a natural soft sweetness even when fully dry — that is the lesson, and why perry tastes rounder than cider.

4. 4

   Pitch the yeast and a little nutrient; fit the airlock.

5. 5

   Ferment out, rack when clear and bottle.

6. 6

   A soft, gently sweet, refreshing perry for almost no effort.