A midseason perry pear with high acids and low tannins. Origin: traditional old English cultivar. The ‘Huffcaps’ are a related group of cultivars with a distinct elliptical shape, protruding calyx end, and capacity for producing a strong perry. The Yellow Huffcap may be the original Huffcap pear from which the others were derived. The name ‘Huffcap’ may have come from a potent ale that could “lift one’s cap”, or possibly from an alternate spelling ‘Huffcup’ referring to “lifting your cup” when making a toast. Tree: mature tree is large with large spreading limbs. Very productive, but biennial bearing, slow to come into bearing; early flowering. Perry: fruit milled within one week of harvest; juice acidity 0.62, tannins 0.10, specific gravity 1.064; contains a higher concentration of citric acid than most other perry pears (>0.3%); produces a consistently good to excellent full-flavored vintage with moderate acids and low tannins. Fruit: small, elliptical, 41–51 mm long, 35–45 mm diameter; stem thick and swollen at both ends, 14–22 mm; stem basin small or none; calyx basin narrow; calyx upright. Skin green or dark yellow with no blush, russetted around stem and calyx; covered with large, corky lenticels. Flesh slightly yellow-green with few stone cells. Ripens mid-October in England’s West Midlands, mid-September in western Oregon; must be shaken before ripe to prevent rotting on the tree.
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