Pear Wine

[silverbullet07]

I am going to attempt to make my first batch of wine. I have a seckel pear tree that I did my first picking last night. I have 30lbs so far, with probable 20 lbs or so more on the tree. seckel pears are super sweet and juicy when ripe. I have read many recipes on the internet. Most of them add water to the pear juice. I have read to get mostly pear juice and very little if any water. I was hoping to get 3 gals at the end.

How should I go about processing the pears? My plans were to let ripen. Core and cut up pears. Add to primary fermenter and mash them as much as possible with potato masher. Collect as much pulp as possible in mesh bags. Ferment everything for a week, Steering each day.

Are there better ways to process the pears?




Thanks

 

[salcoco]

I crushed them and put them thru a bladder press. if really ripe they will be soft cut up and press them in the mesh bags by hand should get juice.

 

[silverbullet07]

I found this recipe that looks pretty good. However it adds 10lb sugar before knowing what the Specific Gravity is before adding it. Should we take a reading first and see how much sugar the seckel pear produced?

https://eckraus.com/content/pearwine.pdf?_ga=2.188900075.170972832.1598454755-1840056799.1598454755

 

[silverbullet07]

I crushed them and put them thru a bladder press. if really ripe they will be soft cut up and press them in the mesh bags by hand should get juice.

Thanks. I have read some people freeze the fruit after cutting them up. Is this a better process to extract the juice?

 

[Johnd]

Thanks. I have read some people freeze the fruit after cutting them up. Is this a better process to extract the juice?

It's probably not better than a press, but it will certainly help the fruit break down much more easily. If you don't have a press, cut the pears up into small chunks with no seeds, put them into bags and freeze them. Thaw them back out in a few days and mush them up with anything that you can find that works well. Even your (sanitized) feet in in a bucket will work, wine grapes are still stomped to this day in some places.

 

[silverbullet07]

It's probably not better than a press, but it will certainly help the fruit break down much more easily. If you don't have a press, cut the pears up into small chunks with no seeds, put them into bags and freeze them. Thaw them back out in a few days and mush them up with anything that you can find that works well. Even your (sanitized) feet in in a bucket will work, wine grapes are still stomped to this day in some places.

Thanks. Seckel pears when ripe are so soft, sweet and juicy. Hoping to get a lot of juice out of them and should be pretty easy to mash them.

 

[silverbullet07]

Does freezing the pears after cutting them up work good and does not effect the outcome any? I thought it may be a good option as some get ripe while waiting on others to get ripe. Plus it may make juice easier as some suggested.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Peary can be processed like apples, some folks will freeze (for a week) and then press (me) and volume producers will typically grind and press.
The freezing process results in a cleaner juice. For me the process roughly goes - collect, wash (optional sweat them to ripen more) and freeze, - thaw a day in an ice chest, - score the skin a few times and toss in a nylon press bag, - press tightening the pressure roughly every 15 minutes, when juice slows remove pressure and fluff/ mix contents in bag, - press again, -
the finished cake is skins with a not sweet, white fiberous flattened material

 

[silverbullet07]

Finished picking the pears off the tree. I was able to get 45 lbs of pears. I have them siting in the basement To ripen. Temperature is 69F and 59% humidity. Been Checking them for the last couple days pulling any bad ones that come up. Maybe ripen next week.

I saw this recipe that adds 50/50 sugar and honey along with 2 lemons a gal. Not sure what the honey and lemon adds to it. May be good? I will use a lot more pears and less water. Thinking about using all the pears for a 3 gal batch. After coring and removing seeds I hope to have at least 30 lbs to make a 3 gal batch.

would honey and lemon help the wine?

 

[Rice_Guy]

First ??? do you like the flavor of straight perry ??? I would add lemon zest to round out the finish on the wine, "ZEST" is a more agressive, bitter, longer flavor note. As a test try pulling a cup of juice, add powdered zest from your spice shelf, ,,, also try real lime and real lemon (acid without the bitter) drop by drop to see if it is more interesting. note ,,, After the ferment the sugars will be gone and effect will be greater.

would honey and lemon help the wine?

,, honey, I consider myself a novice since it is an expensive ingredient to put in. Honey adds more aroma notes however if you use Cosco $2/ pound filtered it will mainly add residual sweetness. All honey is harder to clear and it is supposed to have more pronounced flavor after 2 years, ,,,, don't have any 2 year old so can't argue that one though.
I am a big fan of testing out a cup of juice or dry white wine with novel ingredients, ex playing with ginger I basically always said YUCK even though I like it in oriental mixes

 

[silverbullet07]

First ??? do you like the flavor of straight perry ???

I am researching this pear and a blackberry. So depends on which goes on first that will be my first I guess.

I have the pears so I thought I would give it a shot. I’ve had a light pear before And enjoyed it in the summer Not sure if it was blended with anything or pear straight. We have a great fruit winery near by that has a great selection.

so I will skip the honey For my first try. don’t want to cause any issues.

 

[salcoco]

I would assume the honey and zest are flavor components. also the honey will increase the specific gravity. I would go all sugar them post fermentation take out a gallon batch once cleared and add lemon zest. keep tasting until reaching flavor desired.

 

[Mead Maker]

I have no idea of the variety of the old pear trees in my area, but the pears go from rock hard to rotten without that “juicy” stage.

You can crush the hard ones if you have a motorized unit, or if you’re the “incredible hulk.”

I gather the pears over a 2 to 3 week period, putting each days harvest in the freezer. When you’re ready to crush let them thaw for about a day and run them through your crusher. They pretty much turn to mush.

Other than a quick rinse, the pears get no special treatment - grind them whole, stems and seeds and everything.

That may seem like sacrilege, but that’s the way it was done when there were large pear orchards around here, and they all produced pear cider (unfermented.)

I use Red Star Premier Couvee yeast. If you want some “perry” just let it ferment for only 2 or 3 days then kill the yeast at that stage with sulfites.

Or let it ferment completely for pear wine. I add sugar to get the must to 23.5 percent sugar content (I have no idea what that is using a “specific gravity” hydrometer). The result is kick-ass wine with a 18%+ ABV.

 

[silverbullet07]

These Seckel pears get super juicy and are super sweet. I’ve been keeping my eye on them as they are ripening. They are starting to turn now. May have to start cutting up some today and freezping them.

 

[Rice_Guy]

A next step question, what other hardware do you have for juicing? A press?

if you are a “toy” fabricator like me, I will be interested in how you finish. 45 pounds will give a decent size batch.

 

[silverbullet07]

I'm hoping after freezing them and with them cut up, I can mash with my masher and hands for now. I'll have to see how many pounds I end up with but I plan to use all for t 3 gal batch.

What is in that container?

 

[Ignatz]

For the yield I use 18#/gal as a rule of thumb. I use a steam juicer similar to this one to get the juice (see below) I just clean and quarter them. It's very efficient and easy and also prevents the oxidation that can make your wine look brown. Be sure to add pectic enzyme from the beginning of the fermentation to reduce the hazing. I had a very stubborn batched of pear wine that would not clear no matter what I did (filter, bentonite, etc.). Of course you should use your yeast nutrient and add sugar to achieve your targeted potential alcohol. I shoot for about 12.5%. I never adjust the sweetness or pH until after fermentation is complete so I check the pH and add acid blend, otherwise the wine will taste pretty thin. To adjust the sweetness I use corn sugar but honey would also work well. I also add about 1/4 tsp tannin to 5 gal but you can adjust to your taste.

https://www.amazon.com/Giantex-Vegetables-Steamers-Stainless-Multipots/dp/B084KNWFZ3/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImeTR_ZbI6wIVkuDICh12sw54EAAYASAAEgJ3u_D_BwE&hvadid=410014238849&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9067609&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=12392690370885708842&hvtargid=kwd-304865316384&hydadcr=4694_11139759&keywords=steam+juicer+victorio&qid=1598970971&sr=8-8&tag=googhydr-20

 

[Rice_Guy]

*Time is a key ingredient in pressing, high pressure will cause soft fruit to flow/ it is possible to push sideways, you can put more pressure on fruit as some of the juice is removed. Hand pressing will be tiring, ,,,, less efficient
* thickness/ diameter is a key ingredient in efficiency, if I had no equipment I would consider ways to do a bag press with 100 lbs of concrete block / butt bucket press (@Ajmassa posted some photos are in one of the WMT threads)
* ”The New Cider Makers Handbook” is interesting if you are doing perry year after year.
* the photo is several weeks of wind fall, HoneyGold which was cleared out of the freezer this weekend, and pressed in a basket press (also in above thread)

 

[silverbullet07]

I just cored and chopped up most of the pears. Added them to a bucket with a little water a couple qts of water and 3 tbls of Lemon juice, Mixing them in the water as I chopped them up. Then poured into vacuum bags and and removed some of the air and placed in freezer. Seckel pears are really soft so I feel I will not have an issue pressing them. Once I thaw, maybe I can mash them some what in the bag. maybe place in pot and then a pot on top. Add a little sugar to help break down. I'll just have to do what I can.

So far I have 21 lbs in the freezer. I'm thinking I'll have at least 30lbs. I have been hearing to use at least #10 per gal I see you use #18. I bet that is some good pear wine. Do you back sweeten it to a semi or sweet wine? We have a fruit winery near by. They make great fruit wines. Their pear is a little to sweet but it is good.

 

[Ignatz]

I meant that I usually get about 1 gallon of juice for each 18# of fruit. I try to get a least 3 gallons of juice and add another 2-3 gallons of water. I like it a little less sweet but my wife likes it sweet so that is usually how it ends up. It sounds like you've got a good start.