Perry pear trees

Pear cider or Perry is an increasingly popular drink, produced from traditional perry pear trees.

• Perry pear tree

  Brandy

  

  A mid-season English perry pear which produces a low-tannin juice.

  • Gardening skill: Average
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 3
  • Uses: Hard cider
• Perry pear tree

  Butt

  

  Butt is a traditional English perry pear, with medium acidity and medium tannins.

  • Gardening skill: Average
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 3
  • Uses: Juice
  • Uses: Hard cider
• Perry pear tree

  Gin

  

  Best seller

  A rare English perry pear variety with good disease resistance and medium acid and tannins.

  • Gardening skill: Average
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 3
  • Uses: Hard cider
• Perry pear tree

  Hendre Huffcap

  

  A well-known English perry pear variety, and a reliable cropper. Makes a light, low-tannin perry.

  • Gardening skill: Beginner
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 3
  • Uses: Hard cider
• Perry pear tree

  Winnals Longdon

  

  A traditional English perry pear variety, which produces a low tannin perry.

  • Gardening skill: Average
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 3
  • Uses: Juice
  • Uses: Hard cider
• Perry pear tree

  Yellow Huffcap

  

  A popular English perry pear which produces a good quality low-tannin / medium-acid perry.

  • Gardening skill: Average
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 3
  • Uses: Hard cider

How to choose Perry pear trees

Perry is a traditional drink made from fermented pear juice, and in recent years has enjoyed a resurgence in interest, along with its cousin cider. Perry is now sometimes called pear cider and although this is incorrect, the term seems to have made it more accessible to consumers.

Perry pears are closely related to mainstream pears, and will cross-polinate with them, and both are classified in the species Pyrus communis. However it is likely that perry pears are a distinct sub-species.

If grown on seedling rootstocks perry pears can be very long-lived, as well as growing to a considerable height and spread.