PC Pear Wine is born

First we washed, cut and measured out 30 pounds of pears from our local produce store.



Stirring as we went, we added all the necessary ingredients.

basic recipe

That's 30 pounds of chopped pears...



...10 pounds sugar, and 3 gallons of distilled water (refer to Beer Essentials wine-making process handout for details on the nutrients)...



Stir!

How sweet it is.....

After one week in the primary fermenter, this is the mash we created.



Using a funnel, a strainer, and a pyrex measuring cup, we transferred the mash from the primary to the secondary fermenter, or carboy.

We soon realized our error in not using a cheese cloth strainer. (Having made pear wine before, not to mention gallons of strawberry and blackberry wine, we had not experienced this much pulp in the transferal process). A great solution may be to use a cheese cloth sack for the initial fermentation. Then you could simply squeeze out the excess juice, keeping the bulk of the mash separate from the precious drops of wine.



There's more than one reason to make your own wine!

When the dust finally settled

Well, this is a good example of why one should strain or bag his or her fruit in the primary fermenter. Still, no worries. There is a solution.
Annie holds the racking tube WELL above the sediment as we rack for the second time.
We added (quite a bit) of 100% apple juice. It is essential that the batch be topped off before sealing with the airlock. Notice there is a one or two inch gap of air at the top, but no more than that. Had we given some forethought to the pulpiness of fermented pears, we could have avoided this scenario.

As it turns out, just a week before we were set to bottle this batch, we ran into bigger problems.... the airlock was removed from the carboy. Though likely an accident, it was very disheartening.

After some internet research (and a couple of taste tests) the group decided the wine had not been destroyed or soured beyond repair. We added the potassium sorbate to inhibit the small amount of fermentation that was still occurring. The potassium sorbate also would act to kill any renegade yeast or bacteria that may have entered the carboy during the 24-36 hours it was exposed to air.

Keep those doggies Rackin'

We chose to add potasium sorbate to inhibit the fermentaiton that was still occurring. (It's best to do this 3-5 days before you want to bottle). When we have made batches at home, we have found that by racking additional times, until the fermentation has stopped completly, we get a clear wine that does not require the addition of additional perservatives.

Making fruit wine is so simple....and it can be a nice excuse to get together with others.

The whole process of racking 5 gallons into 24 wine bottles took less than 30 minutes. Of course, then there's the corking.....

Get Specific!

Ed measures the specific gravity of our batch as others begin racking the wine into bottles. This batch is at 15% alcohol.
It is important to hold the end of the racking tube up off the bottom of the carboy. In this way, you can avoid any sediment that may remain. (In the interest of showing the entire process in the course of 11 weeks, we only racked this wine twice before bottling. Another session or two of racking would have resulted in a clearer product with no sediment.)

No, I don't mean cork boots

Bottles, brought from home, were sanatized by either smashing camden tablets (about 13 tablets) and dissolving them in one pint of water OR by soaking the bottles in a mild bleach solution for 20 minutes. If one chooses to use a bleach solution, it is important to rinse the vessels with HOT water after soaking.
A hand-corking tool makes the job so much simpler!
I get by with a little help from my friends....

Once the wine is bottled, store it in a cool place(less than 60F is best) with no direct sunlight. The wine should be stored on its side to keep the cork from drying or shrinking.

So the last step is really to let the wine sit for up to six months, then enjoy!

Thanks for a great class and happy wine-making.