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Perry Ddocumentation

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The earliest text mentioning the pear is The Odyssey. Cato the Elder (234-149 B.C.E.) and Pliny the Elder (Natural History - 77 C.E.) both wrote about pear varieties. Poet Alexis of Thurii (4th century C.E.) describes wild pears as one of the staple foods of the Athenian poor. The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions old cultivated pear trees as being boundary markers.

Pliny mentions that a particular variety of pear was used for making wine. Palladius (4th century) said that Romans preferred Castomonial (perry) to apple wine, and wrote down a recipe for it. Perry was documentably in use in English households by the 15th century. A diary revealed that people were drinking it in Paris in 1447. The book Maison Rustique was published in France from 1569-1570, and in English in 1600. It includes information on the making of fruit wines, including perry.

My neighbor told me that I could have her pears, if I gave her a bottle of perry in exchange. I gathered the pears from the tree, and let them ripen in the open air. Then I cut up the pears and set them in an open cask. I added some of the pommy from a previous cask of perry to my perry, to make sure it would turn out to be good. I left the cask open until all of the scum and froth was gone. I closed the cask and let the perry sit for two seasons.

-Lady Banba MacDermot

My mother's neighbor told me that Rory and I could pick the pears off of her Bartlett pear trees for this project. Bartlett pears as a variety were discovered post-period, but may possibly have been in use during period. They are the most popular pear variety in North America. They are normally used for drying and canning.

When I got home with the pears (10 lbs.), I let them ripen for a couple of days. Pears ripen from the inside out. Then I added bottled water and sugar (8 lbs.), and cooked the pears (cored and sliced) around 145 degrees for around 45 minutes. I cooled the pommy (also called pomace) with ice down to 80 degrees, and took the SG (1.135) Then I put in the yeast (Lalvin 1116). Rory had been culturing this yeast, and it happens to be one of my favorites. One tablespoon of yeast nutrient was added, and I left the carboy with a towel over the top for 24 hours. After that, I put the lid with the airlock on the carboy and let it sit.

My first racking date was November 29, 2000. I added sugar (5 3/4 cups) at that date. I racked again on December 21, 2000 and January 18, 2001. The perry was very drinkable at the final date of racking, and excellent by the next month, when I bottled it.

The end product contains approximately 14% alcohol, and is sweet to the taste. Period perries were more often dry than sweet, but modern tastes tend to prefer sweet drinks.