Topping up Pear

[cowgirlallison]

I have a batch of pear that I just racked for the first time and I don't want to add plain h2o to top up so can I use apple juice? If so should I use a concentrate or just a bottle of Welches 100% juice ready to drink? Or any other suggestions?

 

[Scott]

Cowgirlallison,
I haven't made any pear, BIMO a good topper would be a Reisling, Moscatoor Sauv Blanc, some have a pearish or good addition to the pear.

 

[Wade E]

Did you stabilize that Pear yet?f you add something with residual sugar it may start fermenting again. If t is stabilized with sorbate and k-meta then its your choice to either add a finished wine or juice. I probably would look for something with Pear flavor such as a Juicy Juice or even canned Peras in light syrup.

 

[cowgirlallison]

I have only added K-Meta but was going to add the stabilizer when I got ready to top up. Do I need to add stabilizer for a certain time before I add something that could start refermentaion? Or can I do both at the same time?

 

[Wade E]

You can do bot but if waiting a few months after adding k-meta then you should add k-meta again before adding sorbate as sorbate works better in the presence of k-meta.

 

[cowgirlallison]

Ok so another question is what about using campden tabs each time I rack instead of K-meta? I have read this numerous times to do this so I was wondering what the difference is?

So I don't need to top up the pear until I rack next time (1month) add K-meta and K-sorbate at this time and then should I wait a few days after stabilizing to add anything with sugar? or is it fine to add all at once?

 

[Wade E]

Campden tablets and k-meta are the same thing with the exception of campden tablets having a filler to hold them together and that sometimes causes problems with having little floaties in your wine if not mashed up and pulverized well. You do not add k-meta or campden every time you rack, you add it after it is done fermenting and then about every 3-4 months that it is sitting in a carboy. As far as topping up you really should when it is done fermenting especially if you have opened it up and released the existing gases that were protecting your wine. You can add sweetener right aftrer adding the sorbate. What you should always do though is wait 3-4 days after sweetening to make sure it does not start fermenting again.

 

[cowgirlallison]

ok last question on this....I think...I racked it on 9/15 and added K-meta only so if I get my pear juice to top up with say by next monday will I need to add k-meta again with the K-sorb or is the k-meta still prevalent enough after a week to work with the k-sorb without adding more at such a short interval? I am sorry I seem to make things way too complicated!!!

 

[grapeman]

It is best to add it a bit ahead of the sorbate anyways so you should be good to go.

 

[Wade E]

Dont be sorry, thats what we are here for. I agree with appleman that what you added last week is sufficient.
Edited by: wade