Pears: Press them or just cut them up?

[Norton]

I am wondering if there would be a difference in the taste of pear wine if one uses a press to just get juice vs. just cutting them up and putting any resulting juice and the cut up pears (and maybe a bit of water) into a fermentation bag? I am assuming that sugar would be added as needed to end up with the same SG for both methods.



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[drumlinridgewinery]

I have done it both ways. Taste was very similar. The one I pressed I thought cleared faster

 

[salcoco]

juice will have a better body. if just cut up 6 lbs per gallon of water is recommended. also add one can of Welch's frozen white grape juice for body.

 

[Deezil]

I would cut the pears up, then put them in 1-gallon ziplocks and freeze them. After they're frozen thoroughly, I would take them out, and let them thaw in the primary fermenter with some k-meta. As they thaw, they'll turn into the pear equivalent of apple sauce.

12 hours after K-meta, add a pectinase.

12 hours after that, check the acidity & sugar levels; adjust. Get your yeast starter going; pitch it. Pitch yeast nutrient after the lag phase, when fermentation is rolling.


I haven't had the pleasure of aging a pear wine made this way, myself - I started to once, but then combined it with an apple wine.. And the 2nd time I had pears, I combined it with apple from the beginning... But the time I started it, I had the pears frozen, wine fermented and degassed it with my vacuum pump post-fermentation - it cleared in 2 days. Aroma, color, clarity, it was gorgeous.

 

[spaniel]

I run them through my fruit chopper, which results in them being better torn up than cutting (and much faster). I then let them soak overnight before adjusting the SG so sugar has time to get from fruit to solution.

I do, however, press when racking from primary into secondary.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

You can crush the pears, add pectinase and let them digest overnight and press in the morning, more like making apple cider. After pressing you will have pure just to work with, you can take a gravity measure and be sure of it and then add honey, much better than sugar, and let it ferment. Dont add any water, pear is not so flavorful that it can be diluted. If you can get your hands on some crab apples to add some tannin to the peears drop a few of them in to. WVMJ

 

[Norton]

The very first time I made pear I didn't have a press and followed Jack Keller's recipe. I used a bit of apple juice and I went to the store and got a couple of mangos primarily to add some tannin. I still think that was my best batch so far.


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