Here's one that I made almost 2 years ago that is still bulk-aging - it's not perry and it's not pear wine, but it is a Pear Mead!:
10/01/2006 – Pear Mead
I purchased 28 pounds of pears at a local Farmer's Market and decided to make a pear mead from them .....
Here is the ingredient list:
• 28 pounds of peeled and cored Bartlett pears
• 18 pounds of RAW UNPROCESSED Wildflower honey
• 1 ½ teaspoons chestnut tannin
• 1 teaspoon of Fermaid K (+ 1 teaspoon on day 3 – Wednesday)
• 6 teaspoons of Pectin Enzyme
• Juice of 6 lemons
• 25 grams of Lalvin D47 yeast
• Water to 6 gallons
Procedure / process:
1. Used my 15 gallon plastic fermenter for this one.
2. Measured out 18 pounds of honey and about 2 gallons warm water.
3. Added tannin and Fermaid K.
4. Mixed the hell out of the water / honey with my lees stirrer.
5. Peeled and cored the pears.
6. Vita-Mixed them to a puree
7. Added puree to honey / water mix
8. Periodically aerated / stirred with my lees stirrer as more pears were added.
9. Rehydrated yeast with ¼ teaspoon of GoFerm
10. Used my air pump and aeration stone for about 30 minutes.
11. Pitched yeast
Fermentation was noted after about 2 hours. I will punch down the cap and aerate in the AM and PM through Thursday, October 05. Stay tuned. OG = 28 Brix
10/04/2006 – Added another teaspoon of Fermaid K to the must. I have been aerating with my stone and stirring twice a day since Monday morning. This evening will be the last time for doing that, but I will continue to gently shake the fermenter twice a day to keep the yeast in suspension throughout the entire fermentation period – both primary and secondary. Stay tuned. SG = 21 Brix
10/10/2006 – Brix = 16.0
10/15/2006 – Transferred to 6 ½ gallon glass carboy. SG = 12.0 Brix. I will continue to slowly swirl the must twice a day until fermentation is complete. Stay tuned for additional updates.
11/13/2006 – Have continued to swirl periodically, and although fermentation appears to be complete, I’ll hold off a bit before racking. SG = 12 Brix - Stay tuned.
11/26/2006 – Racked into a cheesecloth and then into a 5 gallon carboy. Lost about 1.5 gallons of pureed pears.
12/30/2006 – Racked into a 3 gallon carboy and 1 gallon jug.
04/28/2007 – Racked into a 3 gallon carboy into which was added 1.5 ounces of medium toast Hungarian oak.
11/04/2007 – Racked this one off the oak and into a clean and sanitized 3 gallon carboy. Took a sample – it is starting to develop some complexity and the plan at this point is to continue bulk aging. Stay tuned.
08/19/2008 - Flavor-wise, the pear definitely dominates the palate on this one. The honey is there, but it certainly does not overpower the pear. If anything, the pear dominates the honey, but not to the point that you cannot detect the honey. Infinitely improved since last tasted.
- GL63