Does anyone know where I can buy pear trees that make good Perry

Resurrecting an old thread since I'm also now contemplating growing perry pears. In fact I already have two in the works: Red Pear, and now Butt pear. My wife thinks the Butt pear is hilarious. She assures me that it will be the butt of many jokes.

I have found some excellent sites that talk about all the details of perry pear varieties.

Gloucestershire Orchard Group
http://www.gloucestershireorchardgroup. ... &sk=d&sd=a

Perry Pear Varieties
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/pears.htm

Perry Pears can grow to be large beautiful trees that make an impressive impact on a landscape. They can live 300 years and grow to the size and stature of large oaks (on seedling rootstocks).

Raintree now has some perry pears listed as part of a clearance sale, at around 15 to 20% off. That's where I got my "Butt Pear". Given how big they are, I don't suppose I can fit too many more of them, but I'm tempted to try "Yellow Huffcap" and maybe a few more.

Anyone trying perry pears? I think it's only been in the last few years that a person even has access to perry pear sources in the U.S. and PNW, so I'm guessing that they are pretty uncommon around here. But "perry" is poised to be the next big thing if you ask me... as in the interest in microbrew converges with the interest in heirloom fruit, and the hard cider craze runs its course.

WSU is already getting involved. They have started up a research program for perry pears, and scionwood may be available from them.
http://extension.wsu.edu/maritimefruit/Pages/Perry.aspx

I'm also looking for perry to taste as well if anyone knows of sources in the PNW.
Gordon

We're going to plant a few varieties this fall that we just grafted last month; Brandy, Hendre's Huffcap, Yellow Huffcap, Barnet & Winnal's Longdon. Partly for our own 'preserving', partly for sale/barter with others who want to do the same. We may add another variety or two if we can squeeze them in somewhere.

Good luck with yours!

So I decided to add Hendre Huffcap to the mix. It was highly recommended by Gary Moulton, fruit tree guru formerly of WSU, now doing consulting and teaching. He also recommended mixing Butt (an astringent pear) with a sweet European pear to make perry, although Hendre Huffcap can be used on its own.

I found this a useful and comprehensive reference to varieties, with excellent images of each type of perry pear:
http://www.gloucestershireorchardgroup. ... _pears.pdf

Tieton cider works is now producing a perry, although it's listed as "sold out" now.
http://www.tietonciderworks.com/tieton/ciders.html