Pears

[ffemt128]

I have a co-worker with 5 large pear trees, he offered to bring me in as many as I wanted. Does anyone have any experience with pears and can you suggest a recipe?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Julie]

Freeze the pears, defrost the pears, don't add any water, add tannin, adjust acid and add enough sugar to get sg up to 1.080 - 1.090 and I use 1122 yeast.

 

[ffemt128]

Any idea on lbs per gallon or should I shoot for all juice?

 

[Julie]

shoot for all juice.

 

[Julie]

I found a couple of bags of pears that I didn't know I had so I have about a 2 gallon batch going, I'm thinking of playing around with this and try to replicate the flavor of a pear chess pie.

 

[ffemt128]

Co-worker said he can probably get 2-3 bushel baskets. I think I should be able to work with that.

 

[Deezil]

I just put 35lbs of pears into fermentation about a week ago

These are Bartletts & i let them sit around until the skins went from green to yellow (riper than ripe ) they're practically mush inside & the juice runs to your elbow

Just cut up everything but the cores.. I left the skins on - they're floating at the top still

Pectic enzyme only does so much to pears though, from what i can tell... 2 out of the 3 gallons in my carboy appear to be sediment (and i added 2 gallons of water because it was apple-sauce-thick).. i even overshot the pectic enzyme some

I tried what Julie suggested, basically, but had to thin it out a little bit... I imagine i'll have a more delicate wine but its my first shot with pear & the sediment was nuts

Hope it helps a bit


Edit - i didnt have freezer space so that wasnt an option for me this time, but it might have helped

 

[Rodnboro]

I just made 2 gallons of pear with straight juice. I sliced and froze mine and noticed after about a week they started turning brown. I soaked them as I sliced in water with lemon juice. When I thawed them, they browned a little more. I think I got to them in time though. The wine looks ok and smelled good at first racking.

 

[Julie]

I just made 2 gallons of pear with straight juice. I sliced and froze mine and noticed after about a week they started turning brown. I soaked them as I sliced in water with lemon juice. When I thawed them, they browned a little more. I think I got to them in time though. The wine looks ok and smelled good at first racking.

Mine turned brown pretty fast as well but I am going to add ginger, vanilla and backsweeten with brown sugar so I'm not worried about the juice being brown.

 

[Deezil]

I fermented in a carboy under airlock, and didnt have any browning.

 

[Julie]

Deezil, I pressed my pears so I didn't have any of the mush to worry about like you did. Just pure juice so I didn't need to thin out anything.

 

[Turock]

We just finished 200# of pears. Freezing really works well---makes a ton of juice.

The only thing we do different is to bentonite the primary and use 71B culture because it metabolizes the malic and makes a smoother wine. Pear can be a little harsh and take up to 2 years in the bottle to soften when using all juice. 71B does a great job on malic fruit.

 

[ffemt128]

Deezil, I pressed my pears so I didn't have any of the mush to worry about like you did. Just pure juice so I didn't need to thin out anything.

This was my thought as well. Freeze the fruit, let it thaw then press.

 

[Deezil]

Deezil, I pressed my pears so I didn't have any of the mush to worry about like you did. Just pure juice so I didn't need to thin out anything.

I bet it worked, but if i had went that route i'd only have 1 gallon + top-up-change out of 30lbs woulda been good stuff but...

Next year will be easier.. No moving - we gave away my winemaking freezer in the move so that'll get replaced & i'll have a decent press by then...
(Read: I didnt get to do what i wanted with the pears, but had to do something so they didnt go bad... Hence the clusterfudge i made of this and my peach batch )

Anywho, im racking off the sediment today, i'll take a picture.. Maybe y'all can tell me if i lost any color from the water addition.. I dont think it hurt me much (still 10+lbs/gal)

 

[dralarms]

I made a pear wine from dwarf pears this year, its very nice, but looks like motor oil in the car boy (color only).

I added water to mine. Yours will probably be fine.

Oh, took forever to clear.

 

[saramc]

I will be picking pears from 2 different varietals on Tues or Wednesday. Put a listing on an area Facebook page a month ago & was contacted and told that I could have all the pears I wanted. (Found out too late about having white peaches--will get those next year).
Just notified yesterday that I can come pick pears any time. The woman did not know what type of pears these were, so I will try and figure that out when I get there. Turns out one of my friends lives down the road from this woman, so she is going to meet me and help me pick. Excited!! I have planted my own pear trees in the meantime, but you know how that goes.

I will likely grab some Asian Pears from a nearby nursery and add those to the blend.

Their is an enzyme that is geared for high pectin fruits, I believe it is called "Pearex Adex". And I know others have used "amylase" and report that it works well.

You can also dose with regular dose of enzyme preferment and again when you transfer to carboy/airlock, or as long as you still have ferment going. Whatever is not utilized will settle out with no ill effect.

 

[Arne]

I found enough pears this year to grind them some and run them thru the apple press. Seemed like it took a lot of pears, but would up with a bit over 5 gal. They are in the secondary now, havn't made up my mind but mite add a spice or two. We will see after it calms down some and clears a bit. Then it will be ready for the first taste and maybe a seal of approval. Arne.

 

[Deezil]

After already straining out a basketball-sized bowl of pear sauce (like apple sauce, but pear), this is where i stand... I still cant believe it... There's 2 gallons of water in there, somewhere...

 

[Deezil]

The top half is crystal clear.. The bottom half is pulp..

Now what?

 

[Julie]

The top half is crystal clear.. The bottom half is pulp..

Now what?

Well you are going to have to rack it, keep the pulp and if you can put it in the frig, this should give you some more juice and this is going to take a couple of months. And keep workin at it, you know what to do,