Pear Wine

[user 31015]

I have some pear wine I have been making. I am new and this is all quite an adventure!

It is 6 weeks in the carboy and has been racked once as it had gone quite clear and there was a lot of sediment.

It is also 25% ABV because I am a newb and didn't test the SG of the pear must before I added the recipe-stated sugar hehe.

So, I am wondering if I should just go ahead and bottle it now (once it is tweaked a bit) as it is clear and not fermenting any more, or should I bulk-age it longer (the recipe suggests 6 months, I believe).

When it is time to bottle I figure I will need to tweak it to make it really drinkable. Considering its alcohol content I reckon sweetening up it to be an aperitif sort-of drink would make sense - right? It is 0.90 SG now, what would I aim for? I would do what Jack Keller recommends and stabilize it before adding the sugar, etc, etc.

It is looking pretty clear - no need to add any sort of finings?

Are swing-top bottles ok for wine? I figure maybe not, but I have some, so I thought I would ask.

So far the wine is pears, sugar, yeast, water, pectonase, bit of lemon juice, bit of strong tea. I didn't have tannin to hand when I made it and I didn't do a PH reading (no strips to hand either).





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[sour_grapes]

Now you have me very curious. What was your starting SG?

You say you have 25% ABV, and that your ending SG was 0.900. Correct me if I am wrong, but I am guessing that your final SG was 0.990. If your starting SG was, say, 1.100, your ABV would be more like 14.4% (assuming I am correct).

What kind of yeast did you use?

 

[GreginND]

Even the super yeasts won't get up to 25% alcohol.


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[user 31015]

It might have been 1.112 at the start? I really have trouble knowing which set of numbers to read off my hydrometer - one set just has "90", and as you say, perhaps that means .990. Heh. Newbies.

It might be less than 25% - but it is definitely stronger than I had anticipated!

I am in New Zealand and the pear is made with SN9. I don't know what that would be around your parts.

 

[fabrictodyefor]

With those numbers your abv is 16.5 %. Definitely a little high! But how is the flavor? It does look very clear! I've had a pear wine going since 12/25 and it not near as clear. I am just letting it bulk age as my recipe said to bulk age for at least 6 months. IMHO at this point I would think it is all in the flavor. That high in alcohol might hide the taste of the pears and you might consider a flavor pak, but I would wait a couple of months to tweak it. The fruit may come forward if you let it set around a while! I too had trouble with the hydrometer in the beginning.

 

[user 31015]

Oh, correction, the yeast is CY17.

Ta - and the flavor is pretty good, I think! The wine is probably waterier than many here would like (from what I have read in the past day) but it isn't too bad at all. I will look to maybe flavor pack it and then keep aging it.

And yeah, the principles are what matter. I am starting to learn those here!

 

[user 31015]

Hey, would it be appropriate to post a kind-of "diary" thread in this forum? I'd like to write-up what I do so people can chime in. Eg, today I added a f-pack to my plum wine which, on tasting, was a great improvement. The pear - I think it will need a favor pack, as much as anything because of the ABV. I have some pears I got for a good price that are ripening and then they're going in the pot and in the wine. Like the plum, I'll probably stabilize after the pack has been added since it is definitely dry, and, after some time and maybe bentonite, sweeten and bottle (same plan for the plum). Good times!

 

[fabrictodyefor]

I am pretty new at this wine making, but you need to stabalize before you add a flavor pak or back sweeten. If you don't, then adding the fruit, which has some sugar, could start the yeast going again. Your pear is high enough in alcohol, you don't need to get it going again!

 

[buzzerj]

My pear wine (6 gallons) I started last September and I used at least one 12 oz. can of white grape juice concentrate per gallon in the fermentation to provide body. My must measured 1.092 after my sugar addition as I was attempting to get a 12% ABV which is good for a pear wine. I have been cold conditioning my now cleared wine in bulk in my basement. I sulfited and stabilized my wine a month ago and plan to back sweeten and bottle the wine soon. I haven't taken the gravity of the final wine yet but when I do back sweeten it I plan to use more white grape juice concentrate (planning about 3 12 oz. cans for the 6 gallons to start) to yield at least a gravity of 1.005. I'm not looking to over sweeten to quite the levels you are planning. I'd recommend you wait on stabilizing for a few months and when you do back sweeten, consider using white grape juice instead of sugar syrup. I think if you do, you get natural sugars already well in solution and it tastes less like sugarized wine which would need maybe more bottle aging to better combine the flavors. With a pear wine which may have a delicate pear flavor to begin with, added sugar might compete or drown out the pear. You were already talking about adding pear flavor to the wine. By adding grape juice, you get sugars added and the grape competes less with the pear plus you will dilute that final % ABV of yours into a better range for a pear wine. Everyone sort of expects a wine to have some grape in it and in my opinion, grape taste is subordinated to the pear in this case. All I'm saying is consider aging longer before stabilizing and when you do back sweeten, add sugars in the form of grape juice to suit your taste and bottle a great wine! Hope that helps.

 

[user 31015]

Thanks for the thoughts! I added a flavor pack a week ago as I wanted to add more pear - and so I stabilized it then. Tried a few days ago and although I think it needs more time to blend together it's flavors I think it is tasting quite good.

Thanks for the SG tip of 1.05 - I will slowly work a sample up (when the time is right) to that level and see how I like it.

As for grape juice: I confess to being a bit of a snob - I only want to put fruit into the job that I have sourced and processed myself (the exception being grapes). I am not sure why, guess it is a hangup (although I know that if I started fermenting packeted juice my folks would consider me well on the way to a red nose!).

I would not, however, be adverse to getting some white table grapes and crushing them for their flavor and juice. I could see that working quite well.

As it stands I think I will try and ignore the pear (and plum, see my "wine diary" post) for some time and then review them in a couple or three months for final adjustments before bottling.

I am learning a big lesson about the quantity of fruit you need to make a tasty fruit wine - it is a lot more than most recipes suggest! Eg, I am looking at Jack Keller's feijoa wine recipe and he suggests 7kg (15lb) of pulped fruit for a 23lt (6 gallon) carboy. I am not convince this would be enough. I am aiming for at least 10kg, maybe more. I would love to do an all-fruit-no-water wine but can't imagine I can make that cost effective.

 

[buzzerj]

For my pear wine I used 36 lbs. of overripe Bartletts in the 6 gallons. A buddy did the same wine and he used on the order of 45 lbs. for his 6 gallons. The pear juice is subtle so f-packing it is completely understandable. I used grape juice or concentrate as I'm a renter and it's just way more convenient than getting white grapes in quantity and crushing them. The other alternative you'd have is adding sliced golden raisins in the secondary like 24 raisins per gallon (and you can certainly bump that number up as you see fit). The golden raisins are just dried Thompson's seedless table grapes and by placing in the secondary you are just rehydrating them to give flavor and body. Consider it on maybe your next batch.

 

[user 31015]

That is a good idea. Pretty sure j had a good quantity of raisins in the primary - and I think they have contributed - but secondary is fine too!

 

[Hokapsig]

Tiny, just to be sure.... the final SG after backsweetening should be 1.005. If you went to 1.05, the wine would be mostly undrinkable....

 

[user 31015]

Erk! Yes, indeed. I am still terrible with the decimal places in my SG reading - suffice to say - I got what you were on about and would have aimed for the correct figure. I will get it extra right now =)

 

[Runningwolf]

Tiny, just to be sure.... the final SG after backsweetening should be 1.005. If you went to 1.05, the wine would be mostly undrinkable....

Ok Bill can you explain this to me please since you took college credits in this.

It is my understanding that 1.005 is considered dry. Many wineries in California are add this amount of sweetness even to their red's. When it is that low in sugar you do not have to declare it.

I have made a good deal of wines 1.05 or higher in sweetness, depending on the acid or type of blend I was making.

 

[Charlesthewino]

buzzerj - I have a very similar 5 gallon batch of pear wine in progress to what you described. I'm 6 weeks into the fermentation. I used the last of my pears from the fall about 10 lbs, mixed with some apple juice, golden raisins and 10 tea bags. I'm experimenting with the mix and final ABV. I started the batch at 1.140 sg. It's down to 1.046 and I just added a new packet of yeast to try and jumpstart the fermentation again. Not sure how this will turn out but I am looking for a final ABV near 20%. Smells great!


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[klausd]

Latecomer to this thread

Hi, Tiny,
I'm also from Wellington and have made a beautiful pear wine with a 3kg can of Watties pears from Moor Wilson's.Have bottled it after 6 months having stabelised it. Now it has been in the bottle for 3 months, it's drinking beautifully. I'm also a newbie having only started making wine about 30 months ago. To date I love my new hobby, especially the consumption of the fruits of my labour!
I'm happy to get in touch to exchange ideas. I live in Karori. Regards, Klaus

 

[user 31015]

Hey Klaus! Awesome. Yeah, should definitely get in touch. I will send you a message on here.

 

[buzzerj]

buzzerj - I have a very similar 5 gallon batch of pear wine in progress to what you described. I'm 6 weeks into the fermentation. I used the last of my pears from the fall about 10 lbs, mixed with some apple juice, golden raisins and 10 tea bags. I'm experimenting with the mix and final ABV. I started the batch at 1.140 sg. It's down to 1.046 and I just added a new packet of yeast to try and jumpstart the fermentation again. Not sure how this will turn out but I am looking for a final ABV near 20%. Smells great!


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Charles with being six weeks out and still a 1.046 S.G. sounds like your fermentation got stuck at about 12% alcohol already. With that current %ABV I think pitching additional yeast is likely not to be successful. In my batch, starting with a 1.090 O.G. it was down to 1.040 in several days using a much less vigorous D-47 yeast. What's the current acidity of your wine and what type of yeast did you pitch in your batch? You may want to check the pH and if it's below 3.0, I'd try to buffer it using calcium carbonate (not sodium carbonate) 1/2 teaspoon at a time with stirring to raise the pH to at least 3.8. You may need to get an active ferment going in another small batch (1 gallon) of another must (e.g., using a White Grape Concentrate) and blend it in like a big starter to further take down the gravity of both wines to dry the blend out (assuming you have a 6 gallon carboy). I would think otherwise getting a strong fermenting K1-V1116 yeast to start in a highly alcoholic environment will be tough.

 

[Hokapsig]

Ok Bill can you explain this to me please since you took college credits in this.

It is my understanding that 1.005 is considered dry. Many wineries in California are add this amount of sweetness even to their red's. When it is that low in sugar you do not have to declare it.

I have made a good deal of wines 1.05 or higher in sweetness, depending on the acid or type of blend I was making.

Dan, I'm not understanding the question. I was trying to point out that if you backsweetened to 1.050, that would be uber sweet as a wine. I just took a Pinot grigio to 1.005 and its semi-sweet to sweet for me. I've had a tart Niagara that was backsweetened to 1.020 that made my teeth hurt.