Pear Rocket Fuel??

[GTS]

Last Saturday I steam juiced approximately 54 lbs of pears for a total volume of 4.5 gallons. Wanting to use the heat of the juice to help disolve the honey, I proceeded to pour in the entire gallon of clover honey. Once it cooled a bit, I found I had a starting SG on 1.116. YIKES!!

The other ingredients:
5 tsp acid blend
5 tsp yeast nutrient
1/4 tsp liquid pectic enzyme
2 packets of Red Star Champagne yeast

I thought it might be a little slow to get started, so I decided to use 2 packets of yeast. Fermentation has been a slow steady fiz, as I have had with this particular yeast in the past. I checked the SG after about 3 days and it had dropped to 1.072, so it is progressing. Not normally straying into the world of mead, my main question is, with this yeast, is it likely that it will ferment dry, or will it stall out with some residual sugar? I know that's hard to predict, just hoping someone has had a similar experience. I am assuming that it will make it to at least 1.000, but maybe not considering the alcohol tolerence of the yeast. I had planned to back sweeten a little anyway, so if it stops short of dry I won't mind.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[dralarms]

It should stop short, also pear takes a little time to come around.

 

[Tom_S]

1.116 will give you just over 15% alcohol, so that's pushing the limits of the yeast's tolerance of 13-15%. Under ideal conditions it may ferment out to 1.000, and I've heard of vintners getting alcohol levels over what the yeast typically ferments to. But right now it's a crap shoot as to whether or not your batch goes that far. I'd just wait until it finishes and if it leave the wine sweet enough, let it be. Or if you really want the full 15% alcohol, finish it off with some EC-1118.

 

[Runningwolf]

Pear Brandy?

 

[Deezil]

My money's on stopping short

Not only is it too much sugar for the alcohol tolerance of the yeast, but honey also has more complex sugars, some of which can be difficult for the yeast to ferment

Should be a good melomel though

 

[GTS]

Update!

Checked SG last night and it was down to 1.022, which puts me at the lower end of the alcohol tolerance level for this yeast. Planning on racking to secondary this evening and pulling a small sample for a taste test.

My initial thoughts were also that it would finish above 1.000, but it has been my experience with Red Star yeasts, that they often will exceed the published alcohol tolerance.

Thanks for your comments.
Greg

 

[g8keeper]

just because you are racking to secondary doesn't mean that it has finished at 1.022.....let it go a few more days at least afterwards, preferably another week, and then start checking your gravity for 3 consecutive days....if it hasn't dropped anymore in that period then it has most likely finished.....you can then proceed to stabilization....

 

[GTS]

Never said it was finished, just that it was progressing and was down to 1.022 and ready to transfer. Since it has made it this far, I expect it will finish fairly close to 1.000.

 

[fivebk]

yOU COULD GET SOME MORE PEARS, FREEZE THEM JUICE THEM OUT AND ADD TO YOUR WINE AFTER ITS DONE FERMENTING. tHAT WITH A LITTLE WATER WILL BRING THE ALC LEVEL DOWN A BIT. I'M AFFRAID THAT AT 15% YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TASTE THE PEAR FLAVOR

BOB

 

[Deezil]

If you rack, and leave behind the majority of the sediment in the bottom of the fermenter, theres a chance that you could actually cause the fermentation to hang/stall - ask me how i know

Also, sometimes (depends on the nitrogen demands of the yeast strain) overpitching yeast (2 packets pitched with only nutrients enough for 1 packet) can sometimes lead to the H2S / Rotten Egg smell.. You havent hinted at it at all, just giving ya food for thought / things to think about and watch for..

 

[Tom_S]

Yes, when I was still relatively new to winemaking, I wondered why fermentation would stop and the wine would clear after I racked from primary to secondary. Now I make sure to pick up some of the lees.

 

[GTS]

Deezil, I considered that possibility and for the first few days of fermentation I whipped a good bit of oxygen into the must once a day to keep things rolling along. Seemed to work, as it has had a lower SG each day and no off odors that I could detect. I did not get around to racking last night and plan to do that shortly. I will report on the SG at transfer later. At the SG level it is at right now, I am fairly confident that it will get close to dry in the secondary. I think there should be sufficient yeast floating around in the must, but I always seem to pick up a bit of lees anyway, so it should be OK.

Tom, I will keep that in mind when racking.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[seth8530]

My money's on stopping short

Not only is it too much sugar for the alcohol tolerance of the yeast, but honey also has more complex sugars, some of which can be difficult for the yeast to ferment

Should be a good melomel though

I dunno if its gona go dry or not but my bet is it wont be because of the type of sugar in honey. Last time I made a mead it hit .992 which is dry as dry gets lol

 

[GTS]

Well time will tell. I racked yesterday AM and the SG was at 1.012. It dropped by 0.010 in a little over one day, and is perking along nicely as I type this. It may not finish bone dry, but I suspect it is below 1.000 already, and I think it will fall a bit more before it is finished. As far as the alcohol covering up the pear flavor, maybe, maybe not. I sampled a small taste when I racked, which should have been around 14% or so, and the pear was still there, though probably not as forward as it might be at a lower abv. This will end up a sweet melomel, which should help bring out the pear. Thanks for all the comments, I will update in a week or two.

Greg

 

[mmadmikes1]

add some nutrients. It will help the yeast keep going. When I make meads I add nutrients as the fermentation procceds.Seth, If you got a mead to 992 you is the man. Dont worry about it being rocket fuel, it will just take a couple years to come around and be wonderful. I make a lot of maxed out yeast Meads (all)and no one ever complains.

 

[GTS]

mmadmikes1 said:
add some nutrients. It will help the yeast keep going. When I make meads I
add nutrients as the fermentation procceds.Seth, If you got a mead to 992 you is
the man. Dont worry about it being rocket fuel, it will just take a couple years
to come around and be wonderful. I make a lot of maxed out yeast Meads (all)and
no one ever complains.

I am a little hesitant to do anything right now as it seems to be fermenting just fine with no help. It is bubbling once about every 4 seconds today, so I think I will let it finish as is and see how low it can go. Since I will back sweeten it, I am good with anything below 1.000, which I am certain it has passed at this point. My buddies don't seem to mind the higher alcohol either.

Greg

 

[mmadmikes1]

Bubbling does not equal fermenting. My Meads always have a ton of CO2 and it is a pain to get it all gone. I have a Mead right now over a year old still bubbling off Co2.

 

[GTS]

True, but since carbon dioxide is a byproduct of active fermentation, it has been my experience that rapid bubbling in the secondary is usually a sign of a continuing fermentation process where greater amounts of Co2 are being produced. Also true that wines will release Co2 over a long period of time. However, I have never seen this slow release cause the rapid bubbling that fermentation causes. My wines generally bulk age long enough that mechanical degassing is not required, so I am quite familiar with the slow release of Co2.

 

[seth8530]

One thing to consider is that a temperature change will likely change the solubility of Co2 in the wine and thus could cause increasing or decreasing bubbeling.

@ mike
The mead that I got down to .992 was using Ec-1118 at a high temp.... I do not recommend ec-1118 for mead unless you are going for some kind of sack mead or something tho. And I also was forced to ferment at those high temperatures due to an extraordinary hot apartment.

 

[GTS]

Finally got around to checking SG last night. It has apparently finished at 1.006, which is not bad considering the high initial SG. This puts it right at 15% abv, with a very small amount of residual sweetness. However, this wine has more Co2 than anything I have ever made. Since I am not usually a mead maker, is this fairly common in a mead? It's not a problem since I will vacuum degas and bulk age it for a good while, I was just wondering. The flavor is pretty good, although a little hot right now. It will certainly benefit from a year or so in the carboy.

I have a few other wines that need attention, so my plan is to splash rack and vacuum degas this weekend. I will also add K-meta and sorbate at this time. It has cleared fairly well for the amount of gas suspended in the wine and I expect it will do much better after racking and degassing.
Thanks for your comments.