Pear Mead

[Jericurl]

Ok, I'm starting this thread, looking for guidance as well as keeping notes of all my ideas. I'm shooting for finishing with a full 5 gallon batch

Here's what I have so far:

92 oz pineapple juice (I've read it finishes out similar to a chardonney)
96 oz can of Vintner's Harvest Pear fruit base (rated to make 3-5 gallons)
1/2 gallon of Home Winery Pear concentrate (rated to make 5 gallons)
12-15 lbs of wildflower honey
water to 6 gallons

3 grams FT Blanc Soft
7 grams Booster Blanc
6 grams Opti White

Mix the above and let sit for 12 hours.

Add:
4 tsp of pectic enzyme

Let sit for 24 hours.

Pitch QA23 yeast.


Now...questions..
Do I need all 3 Blanc additions?
Does this still need nutrients/energizer with all the fruit base?


When SG hits 1.01, rack into secondary onto 3 lbs of frozen, thawed pears.

I probably will want to take this one fully to 16%, so I'm guessing a finishing sweetness of 1.02 is acceptable if I want sweetness to offset the high alcohol.

 

[Deezil]

FT Blanc Soft is a tannin, so it's different from the other two.
'Blanc' just means 'white', where 'Rouge' is 'red', basically..

Opti-White & Booster Blanc are in the same ballpark, they help round out the profile in various ways and can be used with different timing - they each have slightly different impacts when added pre- or post-fermentation. So I like to add one pre-fermentation, and one when I rack to secondary vessel.

I use all three.

And you'll still need nutrient, yes ma'am.

Sounds like you put some thought into this, although you might want to consider putting the frozen pears in from the beginning, just to leave the pulp/sauce in the primary vessel

 

[Jericurl]

Ok...I'm wanting to add some pear flavor in secondary when most of the fermentation has already occurred.

I could mix juice from the concentrate and pear base and set it aside, then add at secondary. Maybe a pints worth?

And yeah, I figured I would probably still need the nutrients additions.

Also...what do you think about the pineapple juice?
I've had someone say they think it may ferment out musty/bbq-ish?

 

[Deezil]

The pineapple would put your own flair on it, i think... What's your reasoning for it?
If it's acidity, maybe go with some granny smith or crab apples - just a couple.
If it's flavor.. try it?

I made a pineapple mead, it's pretty good stuff; I need to make a larger batch.
It might be better fermented separately and blended post-fermentation but you wont know if you dont try.

Between the Vinter's Harvest, Home Winery concentrate, and honey, I dont think you'll be wanting for more flavor in secondary.
But, if you really want to, I would still use the pears.

When you're thinking you're like ~2 days from racking to a secondary vessel, pull the pears out of the freezer. When they thaw, they'll basically be pear sauce. You can k-meta them, 12 hours later pectic enzyme them, and then rack the batch on-top of it when it's ready. I've done it, you just have to deal with the pulp in the carboy. It's not fun with a bad back, but not the end of the world.

I'd ferment the concentrates out and use real fruit for the post-fermentation flavor, if you're set on it.

 

[Jericurl]

Well, the pineapple is pretty much moot at this point. I just broke my can opener.

I think you are right about all the concentrate, etc.
I'm just going to go ahead and thaw the pears now so I don't have to deal with them in my carboy.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Adding pears is not going to add much flavor but will add a lot of sediment later on. There are juices like from Lonza that dont have preservatives. I think it would add much more flavor to backsweeten with pear nectar vs pieces of pears. Also, pears have a pectin that is not degraded by regular pectinases, cidersupply.com sells a pectinase for pears worth getting for this batch to ensure it clears easily. Like Deezil we use those same additives, our pears and the pears in your concentrates come from dessert pears, not proper "perry" pears that have tannins and even higher sugar levels. Pears also have sorbitol so they end up sweeter tasting than your hydrometer will tell you. I might add that a little oak, not enough to taste oaky can help add a little extra something a light wine like pear needs to fill out.

We planted the crab apple version of pears hoping we can get them to fruit to add to our pears and add some tannins naturally.

WVMJ

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

And what about something like Fermaid to help with all that sugar and honey? WVMJ

 

[Jericurl]

Yes...
I've got Fermaid K, Fermaid O, and Go Ferm.

I'll do the "standard" starter and SNA. Add additions on either days 2, 4, and 6 and stir on days 1, 3, 5.

Or do them on the 1/3 breaks...even researching, I'm really just not sure if one method is better over the other.

 

[Jericurl]

Adding pears is not going to add much flavor but will add a lot of sediment later on. There are juices like from Lonza that dont have preservatives. I think it would add much more flavor to backsweeten with pear nectar vs pieces of pears. Also, pears have a pectin that is not degraded by regular pectinases, cidersupply.com sells a pectinase for pears worth getting for this batch to ensure it clears easily. Like Deezil we use those same additives, our pears and the pears in your concentrates come from dessert pears, not proper "perry" pears that have tannins and even higher sugar levels. Pears also have sorbitol so they end up sweeter tasting than your hydrometer will tell you. I might add that a little oak, not enough to taste oaky can help add a little extra something a light wine like pear needs to fill out.

We planted the crab apple version of pears hoping we can get them to fruit to add to our pears and add some tannins naturally.

WVMJ

Well heck, I would see this after I've thrown everything into the primary.

I did not know that about pears. I'll check out the other pectic enzyme from cidersupply.com. Do you know if it is something I can add after the fact?

Also, I actually hadn't planned on adding any oak, but I can see your point and where you are going with this.
What would you recommend that wouldn't cover up the pear taste?

Also...hmmm...

 

[Deezil]

So you're short a little water, lol

The way I've been able to dodge the pectin issue that Jack mentions, is by letting the pears get ripe.. How ripe?.. If your Manthing can (he'll love this) squish the pear in his hand, so it oozes through his fingers.. I'm talking like, 'juice to your elbows' were you to eat it, ripe... You gotta let 'em sit, usually, because they're harvested green. When they're ripe, ripe... They clear right up in secondary

Sounds like you're off to the races though!

 

[Jericurl]

I let these get super ripe and then I put them in the freezer. I remember them being quite soft!

I guess I will see what it looks like after I rack it a couple of times.

And I guess I'll have to split this primary into two different containers so I can get that gravity back down to something reasonable. Darn it! I hope that doesn't take away too much from the richness/mouthfeel/fullness I was going for.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

I have a great big bag of med toasted American oak, so I think some med toasted American oak would work well WVMJ

 

[Jericurl]

Don't deal with winemaking when you are tired and in a bad mood.

Came home from a tough day of training (trainee is sharp, just a rough day) and just made a monster starter of EC-1118 and pitched it.

*sigh* I am about to leave and won't be back until late tonight. I really hope I don't regret this moment of insanity.

 

[Jericurl]

SG down to 1.05.

If I can get this down below 1.02 I'll be happy.

 

[ceeaton]

If I can get this down below 1.02 I'll be happy.

Well? Are you happy (less than 1.020) or sad (greater than 1.020)?

A friend at work gave me 3 bottles of various meads and a cyser. A couple of them are well over a year old in the bottle, so if they are good I think I'm coming back to this thread for a little experiment.

 

[Jericurl]

I'm thrilled so far.

SG got down pretty low. I racked it, then added more honey to bring it back up to 1.02. I'm going to leave it alone now until something after February. Then I will check SG and decide if I want to add more honey or stabilize it.

 

[Jericurl]

Got this one bottled today. It finished at 1.012.
I added some ginger to it and oaked it a bit.
Check out the legs in that second photo.

 

[BernardSmith]

wow! Are those legs because of the sweetness? They suggest incredible mouthfeel...

 

[Jericurl]

wow! Are those legs because of the sweetness? They suggest incredible mouthfeel...

It finished at 1.012, so it's not overly sweet. I think it may be a combination of that and just the pear material that I used for the base.
And yeah, I think those legs are dead sexy.

 

[Jericurl]

Cleaned this one up a bit so it was easier to read the recipe.

96 oz can of Vintner's Harvest Pear fruit base (rated to make 3-5 gallons)
1/2 gallon of Home Winery Pear concentrate (rated to make 5 gallons)
5 lbs frozen then thawed pears
12-15 lbs of wildflower honey
water to 6 gallons

3 grams FT Blanc Soft
7 grams Booster Blanc
6 grams Opti White

Mix the above and let sit for 12 hours.

Add:
4 tsp of pectic enzyme

Let sit for 24 hours.

I pitched 2 packets of EC-1118 yeast on this.

At 10 months, I added 2 oz of chopped fresh ginger and 2 oz heavy toasted oak.

eta: I added the cardamom pods here and there...usually around five at a time. I crushed them lightly.
In total, about 10 to 15 were probably added