Pear wine

[TommBomb]

Hey fellow wine makers, I'm interested in making a 6 gallon batch of pear wine and was hoping to gather a little more info. So far Deezil has been a big help already. Anyways, has anybody made some recently? What variety of pear did u use? Pounds per gallon? Acidity and TA comments? Did u add raisens? Basically any info would be great. What type of yeast?

Thanks

 

[gird123]

I made some the middle of last summer with Costco pears. Not sure the variety. I used montarachet yeast. 20 lbs pears 2.5 gallons steamed pear juice, 2.5 gallons of apple juice from Costco adjust to an abv of 1.085. And a TA of .55 and ferment. Of course yeast nut and so on.. I added very light oak. Then back sweeten just a little to taste. Awesome! Hope it continues to improve. My mom does not like white wine, but she asked if she could take a couple of bottles home after Sunday dinner. I bottled it on Tuesday.

 

[gird123]

Two years ago I made a pear wine using Jacks recipes and it was way too thin. Good but to thin. This one is like drinking a smooth glass of pear with a hint of Chardonnay in the background.

 

[Turock]

Bartlett pears have very good flavor and is the only pear we make wine from, after using other varieties that don't have as good a flavor.

We freeze them first because that yields a good amount of juice for testing. We use no water. Consider about 10# per gallon. Pear can be harsh for its first 2 years in the bottle, so use 71B for your culture and it will turn out nice and smooth. Set the PH pre-ferment to 3.3 to 3.4

Just before bottling, we sometimes add some cinnamon extract that we make. Cinnamon pear is really good.

 

[LonelyMassachusetts]

I made a batch a year ago. Here's some notes:
-The flesh turns brown very quickly, so add campden or lemon juice immediately
-If you're going to use fruit chunks, don't chop the fruit too small or you'll eventually have pear soup on your hands. And if you do go with this option...
-the lees can be very light and fluffy. There's some in the bottles I have, and they swirl around with the slightest disturbance
-And lastly, good luck!

 

[TommBomb]

Thanks a tonne guys, very much apprexiated. Can't believe it takes that long to age.

 

[TommBomb]

Would u suggest removing the skins? Slice the pears in larger cubes, and throw in the fruit bag in the primary?

 

[gird123]

I would defiantly use the skins in the primary with pair. I used gelatin to clear it and it packed the lees down nicely. With gelatin don't get the water too hot. Works very well with a lot of white wines. IMO.

 

[saramc]

Do not forget the pectic enzyme, in fact an enzyme called Pearadex is fabulous for pears, apples and quince. Even amylase plus pectic enzyme works better than pectic enzyme alone when dealing with pears. Consider using a blend of 2 parts European/American pears of choice plus 1 part Asian pears. The blend is most delicious. It is important to trim any bruised areas before proceeding to use the fruit. When prepping to freeze I chunk the fruit, core and all, and spritz it with citric acid solution, Sprite/7UP is fine too, as I place it in vacuum pac bags.

 

[TommBomb]

Wow interesting ideas! Stoked!!

 

[Dend78]

here is my thread on the pear wine i made

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f45/pear-34180/

might find something in there of use, end product was very good, im typically not a dry wine guy but what i left dry was the best. the semi-sweet was okay just not what i was hoping for.

 

[TommBomb]

thanks dend.. very good log keeping. helps a tonne. seems like pear is a challenging wine.

 

[Dend78]

nah it wasn't to bad hardest part was cutting up the fruit hahah

 

[Turock]

You should use bentonite in the primary, or it will be very difficult to clear. We always use bentonite for this wine and it clears very well, giving a sparkle to the wine.