Pear Port Wine Fortifier Suggestions

[Corey Fish]

Hi there! Looking for suggestions for my quick and dirty pear port I'm brewing.

Recipe:
6 pounds of pears, cored and mashed in a mesh bag
Sugar, (1 part white, 2 parts light brown, 1/2 part dark molasses) to kick the initial brix to 23
Campden
Pectic
Red Star Premier Blanc

Plan is to remove the mesh bag and squeeze juice at day 4

Should leave me with about 5 quarts of liquid.

Planning to add fortifier at brix 12, estimated ABV at that point would be ~6.4% abv.

I want to turn this into 2 gallons of port (I have one gallon jugs and don't want too much headroom in the jug after blending/racking).

Based on my calculations, I would then need to use a spirit with a proof of about 80 plus or minus a bit. I'd like to not cover up the flavor of the pears too much, so wondering what ya'lls suggestions are to add. I don't have access to neutral grape spirits or anything, so it'd be something easily found at a liquor store.

My thoughts were:
1. Pear brandy (a little pricey to be blending with and I definitely don't want ANY more sweetness added)
2. Grape based vodka, again a little pricey to be blending with
3. Regular grain vodka


What other suggestions ya'll have? Thanks in advance!

Corey

 

[Corey Fish]

If it's not clear, I chose the fortifier proof of 80 based on what would bring me up to a final volume of 2 gallons.

 

[jgmillr1]

Everclear (190 proof) is an option that allows you to achieve the desired ABV without diluting your fruit flavors as much.

 

[Corey Fish]

Everclear (190 proof) is an option that allows you to achieve the desired ABV without diluting your fruit flavors as much.

For sure! I guess my concern with everclear is that because I won't be using as much, that'll leave me with ~1.5 gallons of finished product. If I split that between two 1 gallon jugs, I'll have an awful lot of headspace and potential oxidation issues. Or do I not care as much due to the sugar/alcohol content (~20%) for the finished product. I guess I can use marbles or something...

 

[jgmillr1]

A 20% abv port will still oxidize and you'll get the fingernail polish aroma after a while. Perhaps you could get a couple quart sized Mason jars for the extra 1/2 gallon?

 

[hamiltonkiler]

I did a burbon fortified strawberry dessert wine earlier this year and it's banging. With port I would stay with Brandy like EJ or Christian brothers. Cheers

 

[Corey Fish]

Thanks for the tips ya'll. Great idea on the mason jars, I think I'll go that route. Brix was down to 15 this AM and I got it off the pears, so decision time soon! Shooting for a blend at 12. Thanks both of you! Will post results in a few months once I get a chance to sample.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I would go with a fairly cheap brandy. You will add a little taste, but I think you will like it better than Vodka or Everclear. I have fortified with vodka before and I just did not like it. It always had a slight reminder of the vodka. And since pears are a delicate taste, you need to be careful.

So for me, fortification is not about NOT tasting the extra alcohol, but rather what added alcohol will blend well with the base.

 

[Corey Fish]

I would go with a fairly cheap brandy. You will add a little taste, but I think you will like it better than Vodka or Everclear. I have fortified with vodka before and I just did not like it. It always had a slight reminder of the vodka. And since pears are a delicate taste, you need to be careful.

So for me, fortification is not about NOT tasting the extra alcohol, but rather what added alcohol will blend well with the base.

Totally agree! I guess the question comes down to adding less of something neutral or more of something that complements the flavor.

Brix down to 11 this AM (yes I know following brix gets problematic due to alcohol content, etc) but I added 5 oz of brown sugar which *should* bump brix up by 3. Plan is to taste, take another reading in 12 hours (it's warm here in portland and fermentation seems to be going pretty quick based on readings) and likely blend at that time, knowing that the yeast will probably chew through a bit more sugar before it dies from the alcohol.

My plan was to add 750mL of everclear to 1.125 gallons (bringing abv up to 18-19%). If I were to go with brandy, it'd be twice 750mL= 1500mL.

Gah, decisions decisions. Maybe I'll split it in half and do half and half... either way, updates coming soon! Thanks for all the great input!

Corey

 

[Corey Fish]

Ok gang. Got home 15 hours post last reading and Brix at 13. Tasted like the right amount of sweetness so I decided to add 750ml of everclear bringing Abv to 19%. Added 1 Campden as well. Interestingly, I tasted after 2/3 of the 750 of everclear and it seemed about right for port. Decided to just be bold and add the last 3rd.

Tasting after, I’d say it was just a little too hot right now. No bad flavors per se. just a little more alcohol taste than what I maybe was going for.

That said, I think we are still ok. Should mellow over time. At this point, plan is to let it sit for a week or so and wait for yeast to fall out, Rack to clean containers, add 1/3 oz per gallon of medium toast American oak chips, let things chill for a month (or two) and bottle.

Again, thanks for all the help! Continued suggestions appreciated.

-cf

 

[Corey Fish]

Update: Pear port has dropped totally clear, no funny floaties or contaminants. I tasted a small bit and it's definitely mellowed in terms of alcohol. Also, pleasantly, no acetone smell or off odors. I will say, the pear is pretty hidden in there, masked by the spice of the alcohol, but huge improvement in 3 weeks. Planning on racking the wine to a clean container in another 1-2 weeks and bulk aging it some more. Proabably bottle at the end of November, adding another campden tablet prior to bottling. Definitely gonna shoot for lower abv next year!

 

[Nooner]

I realize I'm a little late on this, but the best port style fruit wines we've made, we did not fortify; we force fed it sugar to 18% to 20% until the yeast died out. We made a few with cheap brandy, then tried everclear, and both add flavors that over time didn't really gel with the flavor profile we wanted. By just using the yeast to produce more alcohol, we were able to keep the fruit flavor and have a balanced high alcohol port style.

 

[Corey Fish]

I realize I'm a little late on this, but the best port style fruit wines we've made, we did not fortify; we force fed it sugar to 18% to 20% until the yeast died out. We made a few with cheap brandy, then tried everclear, and both add flavors that over time didn't really gel with the flavor profile we wanted. By just using the yeast to produce more alcohol, we were able to keep the fruit flavor and have a balanced high alcohol port style.

Oh that's good advice for sure. That's okay! I'll try again next year, but I appreciate the suggestions.