My first non kit wine: Pear... pictures

[bilbo-in-maine]

Ryan - see Jack Keller's site for his chart covering amount of sugar to be
used per gallon of juice (chart at the bottom of the page):

<a href="http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/hydrom.asp" target="_blank">http://
winemaking.jackkeller.net/hydrom.asp</a>

Assuming you have a 3-gallon batch started? If you are shooting for an OG
of 1.090, I'd say Angell is just about there

Edited by: bilbo-in-maine

 

[rshosted]

It's a 6 gallon batch. with the fruit. I'm hoping to have 5 gal of finished product....

I did add 3.5 lbs of brown sugar. I'll retest it tomorrow.

Anyone think I should add more sulphites? (it's currently at 22 ppm)

Also, I tested my PH and it is at 3.7... anyone know what is normal for a fruit wine?

 

[masta]

Do you have a acid test kit? I would try to target a TA of .60%.


http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/acid.asp


What yeast do you plan on using?

 

[rshosted]

Ok, I tested my TA and found it has .40% of TA....

And my SG is now 1.071 with 3.5 lbs of brown sugar.

I've added my yeast. Now can I add more sugar and Acid blend?

If so, how much?

Thanks much.

 

[Angell Wine]

I'm sorry i Thought you we're making a 3-gallon batch. For a 6 gallon batch you need another 3 1/2 lbs of sugar &amp; add another 1 1/2 teaspoons of acid blend. Mix it up with the must real good.

 

[rshosted]

Ok, here's where I'm at...
I did a TA test and found it was at .40, so per the instructions on the acid test kit I added 6tsp of acid blend. (which according to thier directions should only put me at .55 but I figure that's safer than going over.)

Next I added 2lbs of brown and 3lbs of white sugar. Bringing my SG to 1.092. I wanted it a little higher, but figure that will have to do since the only sugar left in my house is in my coffee... and I do have my limits.

The only problem I can see is that I filled my fermentation bucket up so high it's about 2 inches from the lip.... I decided to set it in the isnk for spill over. If it gets too bad, I'll move some into a separate gallon jug.

As far as I can tell now, it's just sitting back and waiting to see how it turns out (keeping my fingers crossed)

 

[PolishWineP]

I have wonderful mental images coming along. Keep the bucket in your sink and dine out the next few days. Do keep us posted.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Ryan - don't know how warm/cold you keep your house, or at least the sink
part of it. To get your fermentation going well, it would be good to have the
must stay in the low 70's at least until the yeast take control and produce
heat on their own. Besides watching your hydrometer, keep an eye on your
thermometer too! And as PWP says, do keep us posted.

 

[rshosted]

OK, Here's some pics...

Testing for titrates they only show about 20ppm (i hit the buble a bit too much). I'll have to add some more when fermentation is done. (probably should have added some earlier anyway, but the grape concentrate already had some)
(turn head sideways

)

Finished testing: (turn head back to normal)

(if this start to become too much info, or too big of a post someone please let me know; I promise it won't hurt my feelings)

 

[rshosted]

Ok, Next was the first day of testing. It looks even fuller the second day. I think the top of the bucket kept a lot of it in, or I would have had a HUGE mess. Here is the first day and the second day.

BTW: it was bubbled well, and seemed to be going good SG 1.084 (From 1.092)

Next Day (day two) It may be hard to see but that is right up to the rim. It only had a couple of centimeters before it would have gone over:

 

[rshosted]

Oh yeah, Some of you are concerned about fruit flys. Well I found a bigger problem. You see, I had to set my fruit in the bay window of my home to ripen quick so I could get started this weekend. It seemed that the fruit was diapearing...

I admit I had one or two becuase they were soooo good. But it seemed more were gone. Here's a pic of them sitting on the table.

Here's the reason that they were gone!!!!

My girlfriend walked into the kitchet to find this 'little mouse' on her back legs, front legs tucked up in a gopher position while she delicately took a ripe pear from the table. We were sitting in the other room and didn't hear a thing!

Luckily, I still had 29.5lbs to use.

 

[pkcook]

She sure looks like a health speciman! She even looks guilty

.

 

[Maui Joe]

The Temptations of Eve"..

 

[rshosted]

Update:

I moved the pear wine to a six gallon carboy. Here are some of the numbers:
S.G. 1.020
.65 TA
3.57 PH
20ppm titrates

It tastes sweet still. Very 'fizzy' from the yeast activity. It has a bit of a fruit tast but still has a harsh end. I'm hoping its from the carbonation. It has a good start but pretty harsh finish. I'm worried about it. I figure I'll give it another three or four days and recheck it. Then I'll throw in some Campden tablets and see what I get.

Anyone know if that 'harshness' like sparkling water will go away?

Oh yeah, and a pic of course

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

It ain't wine yet!

Give it time. It is great, though, that you are tasting it at various steps along
the way. This will be informative going forward. Good job.

 

[pkcook]

Time is a wine's best friend. I made a cherry that I really wanted to pour out because it was so harsh. I waited a few months and popped a cork and WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Give it some time and you will likely be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Waldo]

Just sing the ole Stones classic, "Time Is On My Side"

 

[MedPretzel]

You could always give it to me if you think it's too harsh.

 

[rshosted]

Thanks for all the suggestions:

Wine update. Day 13. Wine has settled about 3 inches in bottom of carboy. Still very cloudy. I haven't tested it for a number of days, but it's still bubbling. Figure it will end soon.

In the meantime, I've found something else to do with my time. I got the Brunello starters 'possibly' smuggled from Italy that my fruit supplier 'may' have gotten.

They are sitting on a heat pad with a floresent. So now I run between the pear wine and the vines trying to make sure they are both happy and hoping for the best for them both.

 

[Curt]

I hate to burst your bubble but the pear juice will become wine even without you.

Wines are so nice that way. Minimum maintenance, maximum yield.