baby, it’s all about pectin
So, after hearing back from Scott, boiling the pureed pears may not have been the brilliant stratagem I had envisioned. Apparently, when you boil fruit you activate a little thing called Pectin, which would be great if you were making jellies, but perhaps not so much for making beer. I transferred it¹ to the secondary fermenter for dry hopping last Sunday evening and took the opportunity to taste it. It tasted fine, with a soothing pear aftertaste, so I’m still optimistic. Hazey, carrot-juice looking beer be damned.
However, on the other earlier brew front:
Success!
¹ Possible names: The Devil went up To Oregon, PearBear, Parrotjuice