hi folks! good to be adding to the forums -- i've appreciated all the good ideas and experiences, now I'm asking for more.
last year we started (wild) fermenting the juice from both our early and late apples in earnest, with very drinkable results -- even though they were all dessert apples. we've got a whole bunch (about 25) apples and pears that we grafted (ahem, thanks karen and mark!) which should start fruiting in the next year or two. and this year i've been topworking a bit to keep adding variety.
so the main questions: it's possible to find good info on the prime perry (and of course cider) varietals in england, but the situation may be very different here in terms of how they actually taste or produce. so i'm wondering about local experience regarding favorites with a track record.
i'm especially curious about good perry varieties, since that seems harder to find info about.
thanks!
.brush
I have never grown pears for perry, but have seen a couple varieties for sale. Keep you eyes out for scions of them:
http://www.raintreenursery.com.....ars/Perry/
For cider apples I have grown and blended (in Utah) before moving back to Oregon:
Black Twig
Campfield
Court Pendu Platt
Ashmead's Kernal
Cortland
Cox's Orange Pippen
I have some grafted this spring from my trees in Utah, so hopefully in a few years..... I try for about 20% 'bitter' (high tanic acid), 20% 'sharp' (high malic acid), and 60% 'sweet" apples. Last year's sweet cider we pressed was extremely good, with plenty of zing! One variety I would like to get for cider here in the PNW is Foxwhelp. By the time I arrived at the HOS scion exchange last month, the cuttings were all gone <sigh>. However, pretty much everything I grew in Utah was at the scion exchange, so I am assuming they grow around here just fine.....
thanks for the suggestions! i'll be sure to find the experts in person at the next HOS event -- and will try to report back here.
for, now, i'll offer a bit of the perry research i've got so far -- from england, which as i say might be very different. based on my unscientific grab-bag approach to the scion exchange so far, the perry-specific trees i have so far are clusters, brandy (both should fruit next year) and blakeney red (grafted onto a mature tree this year). according to the following site, these are of "poor", "average", and "average" vintage quality. oops! (although brandy and blakeney red are among the few varieties sold commercially around here.) http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s...../pears.htm
based on that site, i'm curious whether anyone has experience with any of the following pears, all rated "good" to "excellent" quality:
Sweet Pears
-----------
Coppy 1067 0.28 0.05 very good 1 week
Ducksbarn 1054 0.33 0.12 good 1 week
Hendre Huffcap 1059 0.37 0.08 good 2 weeks
White Longdon 1063 0.39 0.14 excellent 1-3 weeks
Medium Sharp Pears
------------------
Arlingham Squash 1052 0.40 0.14 pleasant 5 days
Brown Bess 1055 0.55 0.10 good 3 weeks
Early Griffin 1053 0.48 0.12 good immediate
Gin 1052 0.42 0.15 good 3 weeks
Green Horse 1050 0.75 0.11 good 3 weeks
Gregg's Pit 1055 0.57 0.11 good 1 week
Knapper 1051 0.46 0.08 good 5 days
New Meadow 1062 0.53 0.06 very good 3 weeks
Red Longdon 1059 0.60 0.11 good 3 weeks
Thorn 1062 0.57 0.10 good 1 week
White Bache 1062 0.65 0.08 excellent 1 week
Winnal's Longdon 1058 0.57 0.11 good 1 week
Yellow Huffcap 1064 0.62 0.10 excellent 1 week
Bittersweet Pears
-----------------
Nailer 1051 0.37 0.23 good 3 weeks
Bittersharp (Astringent-Sharp) Pears
------------------------------------
Barland 1058 0.92 0.26 good 3 days
Butt 1056 0.54 0.32 good 4-10 weeks
Green Longdon 1057 0.48 0.19 good 3 weeks
Holmer 1072 0.84 0.30 good 4 days
Moorcroft 1066 0.50 0.17 excellent 2 days
Oldfield 1065 0.73 0.15 good 3-6 weeks
Rock 1086 0.51 0.98 excellent 8 weeks
Teddington Green1063 0.80 0.33 excellent 1 week
Hi brush, i am grafting my perry orchard this year. i probz did a lot of the same research you did.
have you seen the Mt vernon perry research?
http://extension.wsu.edu/marit.....perry.aspx
amazingly from this and the ARS GRIN Pyrus database(are you familiar with this?), i figured out(i hope) 10 or 12 or i cant remember how many... varieties that all ripen around the same time, so in ten years or so i can maybe have enough perry to sell.
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
John S
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