I've got 25lbs of ripe bartlett pears - I'm planning to freeze them tonight, thaw and chop them tomorrow, and get my must started for pitching the yeast Sunday. I'm planning on doing something like:
I was planning to buy several of the Welch's grape juice concentrate cans and use those in addition to sugar to raise the SG to around 1.100, figuring it would add a little more complexity and body to the wine than straight table sugar.
I'd like to make a medium to semi-dry wine. I don't want a (strongly) spiced wine, like a holiday wine, but I'd like a faint hint of vanilla and cinammon in it. And I'd prefer around 14% ABV. I'm trying to make this with the rather limited ingredients I have on hand rather than ordering more specifically for this batch. I'm on kind of a shoestring budget, and I don't have room in the freezer to keep the pears while I wait for a shipment to arrive anyway. With that in mind, I had a couple of questions:
Sorry for the long-winded first post. I've been reading the forums for a bit now, but figured I'd better register and get these questions answered before I get too far into this batch.
25lbs pears
2-5 11.5oz cans Welch's Niagara grape juice (or table sugar if I can't find it)
1 oz double-strength vanilla extract (more or less, to taste)
1 cinnamon stick
5 tsp yeast nutrient
Acid blend to ph of ~3.4
Water to 5 gallons
2-5 11.5oz cans Welch's Niagara grape juice (or table sugar if I can't find it)
1 oz double-strength vanilla extract (more or less, to taste)
1 cinnamon stick
5 tsp yeast nutrient
Acid blend to ph of ~3.4
Water to 5 gallons
I was planning to buy several of the Welch's grape juice concentrate cans and use those in addition to sugar to raise the SG to around 1.100, figuring it would add a little more complexity and body to the wine than straight table sugar.
I'd like to make a medium to semi-dry wine. I don't want a (strongly) spiced wine, like a holiday wine, but I'd like a faint hint of vanilla and cinammon in it. And I'd prefer around 14% ABV. I'm trying to make this with the rather limited ingredients I have on hand rather than ordering more specifically for this batch. I'm on kind of a shoestring budget, and I don't have room in the freezer to keep the pears while I wait for a shipment to arrive anyway. With that in mind, I had a couple of questions:
- Is a ph of around 3.4 a good starting point?
- Is my target SG good for the alcohol level I'm looking for?
- Should I add a cup of strong tea to the must for tannin?
- Will adding pectic enzyme at a later date be very effective?
- Should I wait to add the cinnamon and vanilla to the secondary? Or after stabilizing?
Sorry for the long-winded first post. I've been reading the forums for a bit now, but figured I'd better register and get these questions answered before I get too far into this batch.