Style
Ice perry
Perry made from pear juice concentrated by freezing, in which the fruit’s unfermentable sorbitol adds to the residual sweetness the arrested ferment leaves behind.
Known locally as Poiré de glace.
- Family
- Concentrated
- Sweetness
- Sweet
- Carbonation
- Still
- Strength
- 7–12% ABV
- Serve at
- 6–9 °C
- Where
- Canada
Quebec’s reserved designation is written for cider from apples. Ice perry is made by the same discipline but generally sits outside that designation, so the term is descriptive almost everywhere it is used.
What makes it this style
- Pear juice is concentrated by freezing, by pressing frozen fruit or by separating ice from frozen juice.
- The fermentation is slow, cold and stopped or self-arrested with a large residual sugar.
- Part of the finished sweetness is sorbitol, which the yeast cannot ferment and which was concentrated along with the glucose and fructose.
- Acid — in pears predominantly malic with a measurable citric contribution — is present at a level that keeps the sugar from reading as flat.
What varies inside the category
Every style covers a range. This is what legitimately differs between two examples that are both correctly called by this name.
- Pear cultivar, and with it the sorbitol level, which differs substantially between dessert pears and traditional perry pears.
- Whether tannic perry pears are used at all. Most ice perry is made from dessert pears, which changes the structure entirely.
- Clarity and stability, since pear juice is high in pectin and difficult to clear at concentration.
- How much of the sweetness is fermentable sugar and how much is sorbitol — an analytical distinction that the palate registers as texture rather than as sweetness alone.
Sensory profile
Scored as bands rather than points, because the category genuinely covers a range and a single figure would claim a precision it does not have.
| Dimension | Typical | Range | Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweetness | Very sweet | Consistent | |
| Acidity | High | Some variation | |
| Bitterness | None | Some variation | |
| Tannin | Light | Some variation | |
| Astringency | Slight | Some variation | |
| Body | Very full | Consistent | |
| Carbonation | Still | Consistent | |
| Alcohol | Moderate | Consistent | |
| Freshness | Settled | Some variation | |
| Fruit character | Dominant | Consistent | |
| Phenolic character | Trace | Some variation | |
| Fermentation character | Restrained | Some variation | |
| Oxidative character | Trace | Some variation |
What you are likely to smell and taste
Each descriptor links to what actually produces it.
About Ice perry
Ice perry applies the freezing method developed for ice cider to a fruit whose sugar chemistry responds to it differently, and the difference is worth stating plainly because it is the reason the two products are not interchangeable.
Pears accumulate sorbitol, a six-carbon sugar alcohol, as a normal part of their carbohydrate transport and storage. Wine and cider yeasts cannot metabolise it under ordinary fermentation conditions. In an unconcentrated perry this already matters: it is the main reason a perry fermented to apparent dryness still tastes faintly sweet, and it is why residual sweetness in perry is a property of the fruit rather than a decision by the maker. Freeze-concentrate the juice and the sorbitol concentrates with everything else, so an ice perry starts with a guaranteed sweetness floor that no amount of fermentation can remove.
That has practical consequences. The maker aiming at a target sweetness in ice cider controls it by deciding when to stop the ferment. In ice perry the same decision is taken against a baseline that is already sweet, so the same finishing gravity gives a noticeably sweeter and rounder drink. Sorbitol also contributes a soft, slightly viscous mouthfeel distinct from the sensation of glucose, which is why ice perry reads as broader across the palate than an ice cider of comparable analysis.
The other difference is pectin. Pear juice carries more of it than apple juice, and concentrating the juice concentrates that too, so clarification is harder and haze is a recurring problem. Makers typically address this at the juice stage with enzyme treatment before concentration, since a concentrated pear juice is a difficult thing to clear afterwards.
In the glass, ice perry is pale to deep gold, dense, and dominated by ripe pear, honey and a floral top note that survives the cold ferment. Where traditional perry pears are used it also carries tannin and a genuine grip, which is uncommon but is the version that most rewards the effort, since it gives the sugar something to push against.
Tasting it
What to attend to here specifically, and what is routinely misread. The second list is the more useful one.
What to look for
- The interaction between concentrated sugar and sorbitol, which is what makes this different from ice cider. Both are sweet and one of them cannot ferment at all.
- Acid, which pears often supply less of than apples, and which the concentration makes more necessary rather than less.
- Pear character, which is more fragile than apple character and can be lost entirely in the concentration and the long cold ferment. Where it survives it is the whole point of the drink; where it has not, what remains is sweetness and acid with nothing identifying it as pear, and that is the failure mode worth naming.
What gets misread
- Applying ice cider expectations. The sorbitol means a given sweetness needs less unfermented sugar behind it, so the alcohol and the sweetness sit in a different relation.
- Reading the lighter body as thinness. Perry is lighter than cider and concentration raises the sugar without adding the tannin that gives cider its weight, so an ice perry can carry a very high residual sweetness and still feel less substantial in the mouth than an ice cider at the same analysis.
Cold, in a small glass, and in a small measure. Sweetness at this concentration fatigues the palate quickly, and the acid that keeps it drinkable is easier to find in the second sip than the fifth.
What it is mistaken for, and how to tell
One observation per pair, chosen because it separates them. Several of these are not styles at all — a commercial term, a legal category, or a fault wearing the same description.
- Ice cider — The fruit, and the consequence of it. Sorbitol in pears supplies part of the sweetness without ever having been fermentable.
- A naturally sweet perry — Whether the juice was concentrated. An ordinary perry can finish sweet on sorbitol alone; an ice perry has had water removed first.
How it is made
The methods that define or commonly produce this style.
Ice concentration
Freezing pressed juice and drawing off the unfrozen fraction, so that water is removed as ice and everything else in the juice is left behind more concentrated.
Cryoextraction
Milling and pressing fruit that has frozen on the tree or in store, so the ice stays behind in the pomace and only concentrated juice runs from the press.
Fermentation temperature control
Managing the temperature at which a ferment runs, which sets not only how fast it goes but which aromatics survive it and what the finished cider tastes of.
Arrested fermentation
Deliberately halting a ferment while sugar remains, to obtain natural sweetness from the fruit rather than from an addition — and accepting the instability that follows.
Sterile filtration
Membrane filtration at a rating that retains viable yeast and bacteria, which is what allows a sweet cider to be shelf-stable without heat or preservative — provided the filling that follows is aseptic.
Cold maturation
Holding cider at low temperature so that it settles bright, sheds colloidal material and stops changing microbially, without any additive or treatment being applied.
Where it is made
Food
Interactions rather than suggestions. Each explains the mechanism, so you can extend it to a dish that is not listed.
- Gorgonzola — The *dolce* form is creamy and only moderately salted, and pear sweetness with low tannin complements it without the acidic attack a cryoconcentrated apple product brings.
- Pear tart — The most direct aroma bridge available for perry: the same fruit, and the decadienoate esters that give pear its characteristic scent appear in both. The sugar level is high enough to clear a sweet tart.
- Custard tart — A custard tart is less sweet than most desserts here and its character is dairy and nutmeg rather than sugar; perry’s soft sorbitol sweetness and gentle pear aromatics complement it without the sharpness a concentrated apple style would bring.
- Stilton — The same sugar level with less acid and a softer, pear-toned aroma — a complement rather than a counterweight, which suits a smaller portion of cheese.
- Apple crumble — A softer, less acidic concentrated style: it complements the stewed fruit rather than sharpening it, which suits a crumble served with cream.
- Cheesecake — A softer complement, though it does less about the fat because its acidity is lower.
- Ice cream — A softer complement whose lower acidity suits a dairy dessert, though it does less about the milk fat.
- Milk chocolate — Pear and dairy-caramel notes complement each other, and perry’s softness suits a chocolate whose character is gentle rather than bitter.
- Pears — Where the pear is very ripe and therefore very sweet, only a concentrated style stays ahead of it.
- Bakewell tart — Perry’s soft sweetness and faint marzipan-adjacent aromatics suit frangipane; it does less about the jam’s sharpness.
- Treacle tart — Sorbitol-driven sweetness with lower acidity is a complement rather than a counterweight; it suits a tart served with cream, which supplies the fat the acid would otherwise address.
- Dark chocolate — Lower acid and softer sweetness make this a complement; it does less about the cocoa butter and suits a small square rather than a bar.
What can go wrong
Faults this style is particularly exposed to, given how it is made.
Pectin haze
A persistent, slightly viscous haze that will not settle, caused by pectin from the fruit remaining in solution as a colloid.
Stuck fermentation
A fermentation that has stopped before the sugar is gone and will not restart, leaving a sweet, low-alcohol cider that is vulnerable to everything.
Oxidation
The cumulative effect of oxygen on finished cider: fruit aroma flattens, colour deepens towards amber, and a bruised-apple or sherry-like character replaces the fresh one.
Unwanted refermentation
Fermentation restarting in a sealed container, generating carbon dioxide that was not planned for and pressure that a bottle may not withstand.
Related styles
Ice cider
Cider made from apple juice concentrated by freezing, fermented slowly and stopped while a large residual sugar remains, giving a dessert-strength drink of high acid and high sweetness.
Perry
The fermented drink of pears, a tradition parallel to cider rather than derived from it, in which unfermentable sorbitol leaves a sweetness the maker never chose.
Poiré
French perry, made chiefly in southern Normandy and Maine from local perry pears, characteristically sweet, low in alcohol and firmly sparkling.
Still perry
Perry without carbonation, in which the fruit’s sorbitol sweetness and its texture carry a drink that has no bubble to lean on.
Quebec ice cider
Ice cider made under Quebec’s reserved designation, which sets out how the juice may be concentrated, what may be added and what the finished product must contain.
What people ask next
Questions readers ask about the things this page mentions. Each one goes to the section that answers it rather than to a page written to receive the question.
- What is perry — Perry is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting the juice of pears, traditionally of specific perry pear cultivars rather than eating pears. It is to pears what cider is to apples, and has its own history in the three counties of England and in Normandy.
- What temperature should cider ferment at — Most cider is fermented cool, commonly between about 12 and 18 °C. Cooler ferments keep more fruit aroma and run slower; above the low twenties the cider tends towards hot, solvent-like higher alcohols.
- Why did my cider stop fermenting — The usual causes are a shortage of yeast-available nitrogen, a temperature that has dropped, too much sulphite at the start, or a yeast that has reached its alcohol limit. Check the gravity before assuming anything is wrong: many ciders simply finish.
- What is ice cider — Ice cider is made by concentrating apple juice by freezing before fermentation, so that the ferment starts from a very high sugar level and stops sweet. It is a Quebec speciality with a protected definition there.
- How do i clear a cloudy cider
- How do you stop cider from fermenting — By removing the yeast, by chilling, by filtering it out, by pasteurising, or by a combination — and in practice a home maker cannot reliably stop a ferment mid-way with chemicals alone. Sorbate prevents yeast multiplying but will not stop an active ferment.
Where to go next
- All styles — The full range, grouped by what defines each one.
- Sweetness decoder — What the word on the label means, in the system that defines it.
- Serving — Temperature, glass and how to open it without losing half of it.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
Research on pear juice composition and sorbitol in perry
Various journals and institute reports · peer-reviewed literature · registered as competent for this subject
The evidence base for the single most important chemical difference between cider and perry: pears carry substantial sorbitol, which yeast does not ferment, so a fully fermented perry retains sweetness a fully fermented cider cannot.
The New Cider Maker’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers
Claude Jolicoeur, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9781603584739 · reference work · bibliographic record verified, not opened 2026-08-25
Bibliographic record verified on 2026-08-25 against the Open Library union catalogue: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013, ISBN 9781603584739, one edition recorded. That establishes the citation points at a real book in a stated edition, which is what a citation needs and is all it establishes. No copy was opened and nothing is quoted from it. The book itself is in print and not digitised in any open collection; where CiderHQ needs a figure from this territory it uses an accessible research source instead and says so.
University of Vermont cider research
University of Vermont Extension · university · retrieved 2026-08-24
Perry Pears
L. C. Luckwill and A. Pollard (eds), published for the National Fruit and Cider Institute by the University of Bristol, 1963 · reference work · bibliographic record verified, not opened 2026-08-25 · covers 1963
Bibliographic record verified on 2026-08-25 against Open Library, which records the work as Luckwill, 1963, published for the National Fruit and Cider Institute by the University of Bristol. The catalogue entry names Luckwill alone where the standard citation names Luckwill and Pollard as joint editors; CiderHQ keeps both names and records the discrepancy rather than silently following one catalogue. This is the foundational descriptive work on English perry pears and the ancestor of most later variety lists. No copy was opened: it is sixty years old, out of print, and held in research libraries rather than in open digital collections.