First time pear wine

[Dominic1920]

I cut and cored 18 lbs of Asian pears and mashed them in a nylon strainer bag. I added water and 1/2 gallon apple juice to 3 gallons and sugar to 1.080 starting gravity, I then added 3 crushed campden tablets and added pectin enzyme, yeast nutrients and tannin. After 24 hours I then I pitched Montrachet wine yeast and yeast energizer.

After 24 hours of vigorous bubbling in the airlock, I just took a hydrometer reading and its saying 1.015. Thats 8.3 percent ABV after only 24 hours is that possible? Seems like its a little high already to me. It is still warm here during the day, up to 32 degrees Celsius, but going down to 10-15 at night. It really fluctuates alot in my brew room, but should be less than 30 most of the time.

 

[Gidget]

We are making pear wine the first time also. It's in the carboy and we snuck a taste and while it has a smooth taste and the alcohol seems perfect, it really has no flavor. Kind of disappointed. It is done fermenting. Want to know if it would be okay to add a bottle of pear flavoring now before we bottle it in a couple months to give it some flavor?

 

[WVMJ]

What was the purpose of cutting and coring first before mashing them? If you guys want real pear taste you have to use 100% pear juice and even that can be light tasting depending on the pear variety you use. The taste of Asian pears is so light compared to say apples that its going to be very hard to capture any of its unique taste. If you have to add flavorings to your wine you already lost it, its always going to be fake. It might just need time to come around, pear is not a smack you in the face taste, it usually ends up like a light white wine, its already smooth and balanced, might just need to be patient with it. WVMJ

 

[Dominic1920]

What was the purpose of cutting and coring first before mashing them? If you guys want real pear taste you have to use 100% pear juice and even that can be light tasting depending on the pear variety you use. The taste of Asian pears is so light compared to say apples that its going to be very hard to capture any of its unique taste. If you have to add flavorings to your wine you already lost it, its always going to be fake. It might just need time to come around, pear is not a smack you in the face taste, it usually ends up like a light white wine, its already smooth and balanced, might just need to be patient with it. WVMJ

I cut and cored to remove the seeds and stems since I read here that the seeds and cores can add a bitter taste. Or are you saying to first mash and then remove the seeds and debris? Seems backwards to me. I do not mind adding more juice to the primary for flavor, but 18 pounds of pears only produced maybe 1 gallon of juice after mashing. The recipe here called for 5 lbs of pears per gallon of wine but also called for water for a 3 gallon recipe. It is now at 1.000 final gravity, around 10% ABV after less than 5 days in the primary.

 

[bernardsmith]

I would question the recipe. Why would anyone suggest diluting pear juice with water? Never made pear wine before but I would think that it should be a lot like apple cider. You crush the pears and extract the juice and ferment the juice you pressed. If 18lbs of pears produce a gallon of perry then you have a gallon of perry. Diluting the juice to increase the volume is not a great idea unless you were using concentrated apple juice and were reconstituting the juice back to its normal consistency...
There is no reason why yeast cannot ferment the 1.5 lbs of simple sugars that would be in the apple-pear cider in 24 hours. You may prefer a less violent and vigorous fermentation but the yeast you pitched may care only about the conditions you provided...

 

[Dominic1920]

I would question the recipe. Why would anyone suggest diluting pear juice with water? Never made pear wine before but I would think that it should be a lot like apple cider. You crush the pears and extract the juice and ferment the juice you pressed. If 18lbs of pears produce a gallon of perry then you have a gallon of perry. Diluting the juice to increase the volume is not a great idea unless you were using concentrated apple juice and were reconstituting the juice back to its normal consistency...
There is no reason why yeast cannot ferment the 1.5 lbs of simple sugars that would be in the apple-pear cider in 24 hours. You may prefer a less violent and vigorous fermentation but the yeast you pitched may care only about the conditions you provided...

It was a Jack Keller recipe found here: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request203.asp

I left the pears in the strainer bag for a week, stirring and gently squeezing every day like the recipe says to do, I then and added 2 quarts of knudsens organic bottled pear juice when I racked it to the secondary and now its fermenting again. The airlock is bubbling every two or three seconds now.

 

[Dominic1920]

Still not clearing after six months. I added sparkaloid twice now, and its still dropping sediment. Patience is not my best trait, but I'm still hopeful.

 

[WVMJ]

Regular pectic enzyme doesnt always work on pear as it has an extra kind of pectin in it, you can get a pear specific pectinase from cidersupply.com that might help. Or drink it cloudy. WVMJ

 

[Dominic1920]

Regular pectic enzyme doesnt always work on pear as it has an extra kind of pectin in it, you can get a pear specific pectinase from cidersupply.com that might help. Or drink it cloudy. WVMJ

Thank you. I appreciate it WVMJ.

 

[Dominic1920]

Finally bottled this and my first impression is its very sweet, though the final gravity reads 1.00 it still has alot of sweetness almost to the point of being a desert wine. My wife likes it, I cut it with a little ginger beer, and a lime, and a shot of vodka, and after two or three of those perry versions of a moscow mule, I was feeling fine and did'nt mind the sweetness at all.