pear mead

[squarepeg]

thanks again vg and bc. i know it's going to take a very long time, and that's ok.

i check out that link.

[Vance G]

Well Mr Square Peg! How does your fermentation roll? All this brewing talk has got me spoiling batches of honey left and right! I have pears ripening or rotting on the garage floor now! Can't wait to get back home to find out. My cappings wax salvage honey brew should be ready to rack off the lees and some beeswax. I bet the pollen I added will produce a bright yellow honey clear to the bottle. I am planning on adding peaches and freezing the pears for later.

[Bee Bliss]

Pears are picked when they turn from the dark green to a lighter green. Also, press the thumb firmly at the stem end and feel a little give. Many varieties of pears are actually past ripe when allowed to ripen on the tree as they are past ripe in the center. That is why they are picked prior to that. You will also know when pears are ready to pick by lifting the fruit to 45 degrees upward (horizontal to the ground). It should break off the branch nicely. If it doesn't, it isn't quite ready.

Pears need to be refrigerated right away for a few weeks after picking to develop their full flavor. Each pear variety seems to have varying needs of refrigeration time. They are then taken out of the fridge and left at room temperature on the counter to ripen. Our Bartletts turn a nice yellow and become soft and oh, oh, oh so sweet! We gave many of our 300 pears (one tree) to others after the refrigeration time. They were also told to finish ripening the pears on the counter. We get rave reviews of our homegrown pears. Store bought is just not the same. We have 4 varieties of pears and only the older Bartlett fruited heavily. We had poor weather, freezing temps at blossom time, wind, etc. The Highland pear grew 12 pears on it. We also have Rescue and Comice. They should come into bearing next year.

It is possible that your pear meads will taste better if you follow the refrigeration method and subsequent ripening at room temperature.

We planted the edges of our yard with many kinds of fruit trees and berry bushes.......... apples, crab apple (1-1/2" fruit), pears, sour cherries, plums, peach, pluot, mulberry, currants, Jupiter grapes, gooseberries (thornless) and blackberries (thornless). Our fruit trees are kept short by summer pruning for ease of picking and space constraints.

Will have to keep this thread in mind for next year with all the fruit we hopefully will harvest. My son brews beer and I have been encouraging him to try mead.

"Knock-your-socks-off" varieties: Emerald Beaut plum, Jupiter grape, Pink Champagne currants, Illinois Everbearing mulberry, Bartlett pear.

Hope this all helps.

~ Bee Bliss

[Bee Bliss]

Also, forgot to mention that you take just the pears you want to ripen out of the fridge. So, no need to take them ALL out of the fridge unless you want them to ripen at the same time. This helps extend your enjoyment of eating fresh pears for a longer period of time. Some pears can be stored longer in the fridge than others. Some seem to ripen in the fridge anyway.

[squarepeg]

vg, thanks for asking. the fermentation appears to be rolling along nicely. honey from the extractor and decapping tub was diluted with bottled water and used to top off the carboys. i guess i'll wait for the fermentation to slow and for the solids to settle at the bottom, and then rack it. i was thinking about trying some apple juice to top off with after racking, what do you think?

bb, very interesting about refrigerating the pears. we had way too many pears and not enough refrig space to be able to do that. actually, all i used for this cyser/mead was the peelings left over after canning. i'm not sure what variety these are, but they were very sweet.

[Intheswamp]

How's the mead making going, squarepeg?

Ed

[squarepeg]

well, after breaking every rule in the book before i bought the book......

ok i guess. the fermentation is all but done.

i racked it a few weeks ago, and within 10 minutes the color changed from 'apricot', to a dark reddish brown. oxidation i suspect.

taste is not bad, not great, but getting better with time. alcohol content is up there.

i've been meaning to research my options if any. any feedback here would be greatly appreciated.

my back up plan is to distill it into brandy if it doesn't mellow out a little more.

thanks for asking.

[Vance G]

When you racked it did you fill it from the bottom to avoid splashing? That color change is freaky and I have no idea if oxidation caused it. I had a racking disaster my first batch and got a lot of 02 mixed in. It was a traditional though and maybe there was nothing to change color.

[squarepeg]

When you racked it did you fill it from the bottom to avoid splashing? That color change is freaky and I have no idea if oxidation caused it. I had a racking disaster my first batch and got a lot of 02 mixed in. It was a traditional though and maybe there was nothing to change color.

nope, add that to the long list of other beginner mistakes.

[Vance G]

I think you are intent on making every mistake possible! Bear in mind I have already made them myself so no disrespect intended. The aging of liquor is largely brought on by slow oxidation as 02 seeps in thru the cork or around whatever closure. You accellerated the process I guess. Store it in the dark and keep it airlocked. This may turn out well yet.

[BMAC]

making mistakes is how we learn. If it over oxidizes then distill it as you planned. I have 12 gallons of a nice 15% BV Pear mead I need to rack to secondary as well. Especially being I am getting 20 gallons of apple cider I am turning into cyser this coming weekend! Woohoo!

[squarepeg]

decided to celebrate the day and took a sample out of one of the carboys.

even though it looks almost black in color while in the carboy, it has a very nice light blush tone in the glass.

taste is definitely acceptable, with just a hint of bitter in the aftertaste, (probably from the peelings).

cheers, and merry Christmas!

[WVMJ]

Next batch, add some potassium metabisulfite at the begining and after every other racking to help keep it from oxidizing. A fining again called polyclear may remove some of that color in your perry and help it clear. WVMJ

[squarepeg]

Next batch, add some potassium metabisulfite at the begining and after every other racking to help keep it from oxidizing. A fining again called polyclear may remove some of that color in your perry and help it clear. WVMJ

many thanks wvmj.

since my earlier post, i took samples from my other two carboys. both of them had too much of the bitter aftertaste to be acceptable.

i had thought about distilling it for brandy, but do you think if i try the polyclear it will help with the bitterness?

[WVMJ]

The bitterness is probably because you fermented the skins instead of crushing the pears and pressing them and fermenting the juice (thats a guess on my part as I have never fermented pear skins before). This info from http://www.bcawa.ca/winemaking/fining.htm may help:

Kieselsol is the commercial name for liquid silicon dioxide and is readily available from R.J. Spagnols. It is used to reduce bitter components from white wines, and used with gelatine is a very effective clarifying agent. While the directions on the label recommend 2.2 cc per litre, addition at the rate of 1.4 cc per litre seems to be effective.

In the strictest sense, carbon and PVPP are not fining agents in that they are not used for clarifying. Rather, they are used to remove or reduce oxidative odours and to reduce browning in white wines and reduce the "pinking" effects of some grape varieties.

Carbon (activated charcoal) is used to remove colour - decolorizing carbon, and to remove off-odours such as oxidation - deodorizing carbon, and is usually used in conjunction with PVPP as oxidized white wines generally show a brown tinge. Use at the rate of 0.025 to 0.6 grams per litre. It is best to make lab tests before adding to the entire batch, as too much carbon will strip the wine of both flavour and colour. Since carbon is a very fine powder, it may be desirable to use bentonite also in order to compact the sediment.

PVPP removes the brown effect from oxidized white wine and is used to prevent the pink colour from some grapes. If used to remove the brown colour, it should be used in conjunction with carbon. Use at the rates between 0.12 to 0.72 grams per litre. As it is also a very fine powder, adding bentonite will compact the sediment.

WVMJ

[squarepeg]

again, many thanks wvmj. i'll take a good look at the link.

[sandieg]

71b-1122 would in my opinion be a better yeast for the fruit. Will not produce as high an alcohol level but will be good to drink much sooner, in months instead of over a year. Whats this adding sugar? Beekeepers add honey! They also get a hydrometer and produce mead instead of random batches of torpedo fuel! Try it you will like it! Go to library and read Schramm's The compleat meadmaker.
s

thanks about your advice regading to Schramm's The compleat meadmaker.

[squarepeg]

after over a year, the pear mead has mellowed out pretty good and the bitterness is gone. (but i did add a few cups of sugar to the carboys just after my last post).

[GregSkip]

Square peg

Off topic but, just googled Jackson County, AL. Like the area may have to take a bike ride up next spring and visit the cave. We have a caverns near us in north Florida, always love going to them.

Greg

[squarepeg]

there are some beautiful scenic routes around here that bikers enjoy pretty much year-round. be sure and let me know if you find yourself in the area and we'll arrange a visit to the bee yard.