Caramel apple pear.... Maybe?

[Npei37]

Hi everyone. I'm new to winemaking, and looking for help/suggestions. I'm in the process of making a 5 gallon batch of wine. I started with 16 pounds of pears (all that were on the tree) and 10 pounds of Granny Smith Apples for the fruit 12 pounds cane sugar and 1 1/2 gallons distiller water. I quartered the fruit and froze it (I did this because in my mind freezing bursts cell walls leading me to believe I might get better release of sugars from the fruit.) I added the fruit, sugar, acid blend, pectin enzyme to a winemaking bag in a food grade five gallon bucket, boiled the water and poured it in (I boiled the water to try to kill wild yeast since I didn't want to use campden (sp?) don't have a winemaking store anywhere close).... I let this mixture sit 12 hrs and without activating (fear of using the wrong temp of water, no thermometer) sprinkled in red star champagne yeast. It has been 12 hrs and is bubbling nicely. The plan now is to let it sit in the primary fermenter for a week with a damp towel covering and stir a couple times a day just to break the crust. After a week strain into a carboy for secondary fermentation until the hydrometer readings are the same three days in a row. I'll then rack off the lees and put into the fridge to cold stabilize. I'll rack again into the carboy and from what I hear champagne yeast drys the wine out, so the plan is to back sweeten with homemade caramel, I'll leave it a week or so to make sure it doesn't deactivate and start to ferment again, as long as it doesn't I plan to bottle in canning jars. Like I said this is my first batch, and I'm just outlining a plan of attack I developed from reading numerous topics from numerous sources... Any comments or suggestions people can give would be appreciated! Please be nice as I know there is much I do not know... Thanks!

 

[Julie]

Welcome, by the sounds of your story, you have been doing some studying and I am surprised you didn't mention sorbate prior to backsweetening. You need to add sorbate or you will get re-fermentation.

 

[Npei37]

Well, I don't live near a store to buy it.... My hope was that I could cold stabilize and that all of the active yeast would die? Questions like these are why I joined here! Thanks so much for the reply.
P.s. I love boxers, I have 3

 

[sour_grapes]

Well, I don't live near a store to buy it.... My hope was that I could cold stabilize and that all of the active yeast would die? Questions like these are why I joined here! Thanks so much for the reply.
P.s. I love boxers, I have 3

No, yeast can survive low temperatures, and then re-activate when the wine is warmed up.

 

[Npei37]

Thanks! Had my mother in law pick some up for me as she lives near a store!

 

[Npei37]

New question

Thinking ahead.... It is my assumption that I will need to backsweeten (used champagne yeast) my plan is to juice some apples and make caramel, mix the two and use that mixture. My concern is that my juicer will aerate the apple juice. How should I degas the apple juice so that I don't oxidize my wine?
Thanks again!

 

[Npei37]

My thought is, since my wine is still in the primary, I have time on my side. If I juice the apples now and add some Metabisulphite (to knock out wild yeast) and caramel, I can let that mixture sit while my wine is in secondary fermentation and that with time it will flatten out and it will be ready to back sweeten when the time comes.

 

[Kraffty]

I don't think you'll have an issue. You shouldn't be creating gases in your Fpac, any air you introduce juicing should dissipate on it's own. Let if sit for an hour before you add it if it make you more comfortable.

Mike