# pear mead



## BeeCurious

Lalvin EC-1118 is what I use for my cyser.


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## squarepeg

thanks bc, i'll try to locate some. i had to look up "cyser". i also found a recipe.

my only experience is a one time shot at making muscadine wine. all i did was crush up the grapes, let it ferment for a week or two, strain, and added sugar until the alcohol content was right.

that's pretty much what i have done so far with the pears. the recipe involves boiling and adding yeast after.

it's been about three weeks since i started this batch. i wonder if it is too late to get it right. should i wait for the honey, add it, boil, and then add yeast?


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## BeeCurious

Costco had some really good plums... I'm going to make something with plums and some white grape juice.


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## squarepeg

that sounds like it would be really good. can you share your recipe?


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## BeeCurious

squarepeg said:


> that sounds like it would be really good. can you share your recipe?


I'll try to measure things. For now, as the plums become very ripe they'll be washed, pitted, and pressed into a freezer container, and frozen until sometime in October or November when I'll put everything together to slowly ferment. I'm a believer in slow fermentation.


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## squarepeg

many thanks bc, i found a source for the ec-1118 nearby.


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## Vance G

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


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## squarepeg

many thanks vg. this one kinda fell in my lap when i saw how much pear juice was left with those peelings.

i don't know sqat about this, sooo..., yeah i got some catching up to do.

i'll look for the book, thanks again.


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## Vance G

I am enjoying making mead and how I envy you the pear harvest! I just drove back home thru Washington fruit county and got a couple boxes of peaches and it occurs to me now that I could have got pears too! I always seem to find someone to drink the five gallon batches I make.


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## squarepeg

vg, got my yeast ordered this am. i like the one you recommended because it is supposed to reduce the acid, and this pear juice is very acid right now.

since i didn't boil the juice to start with, do you think there is any danger of it being unhealthy to drink by the time i get the alcohol content up?


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## Vance G

Is it refrigerated now or is it fermenting? If it is just setting out, something is going to grow in it! Or is this the batch that is already fermented? If so, the 71b may not be able to get started. Alcohol is poisonous to yeast and that is why this yeast stops at about 14% alcohol by volume. Does your pear juice if fermented still taste sweet? If so, make a starter that is half your pear juice and half water and put the new yeast in it and let it get started before putting it in your main container. That is what you could try, but you really need to do some reading!


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## squarepeg

thanks again vance. i have been doing some reading, but need to do more. the 71b and energizer did start the fermentation back, but it is a lot slower than it was at first. there was some undisolved sugar still in the batch. i have it in my garage, that is air conditioned at about 74 degrees. i have it in a food grade five gallon bucket with the cover on loosely. i think i need to rack it, and get the cork and tube to make it air tight.


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## squarepeg

ok, so i got my carboys, fermentation locks, hydrometer, yeast, energizer, and added honey. ended up with three 6 gallon carboys full from the pear juice, (did not add water), and they appear to be working well at this point.


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## Vance G

Did you get a hydrometer and take a reading? What a harvest of juice! How much honey did you add per each and what yeast did you use. I can go to gotmead.com or you can and use the calculator to find out what your alcohol by volume potential is just from the ingredients but a hydrometer is six bucks and you can know when it is done. Oh , see a hydrometer! What is your original specific gravity? I am starting an adventure with my capping wax tonight. I am soaking and will heat the wax up a little to get a must for a batch of mead. Getting late, I best go play. Keep me posted your your pear juice. A neighbor just told me to pick his pears! How do you know when they are ripe enough to pick? They are really starting to drop but are grass green and still tart.


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## squarepeg

vg, ours were green and tart also when they started falling off. we set them in the garage on newspaper, being careful not to let them touch each other. they got softer by the day.

i had already had some fermentation when i checked the sg, but it was 1.085.

i only had a couple of quarts of honey to use, but will be harvesting more today.

i did use the 71b and energizer, but there seems to be a lot of natural yeast in the pears, as they were fermenting vigorously to start with.

i like your idea about soaking the cappings. i think i will try that and use it to top with after the first racking, adding honey to get 1.085.

again, what i used were the peelings left over after canning. mashed them up in a bucket and let them get started good. then squeezed through a 5 gallon paint filter.

after reading up, i think i have already broken every rule in the book. like adding stuff after the fermentation has started. i am still adding new must from the last batches of pears to top off the carboys. it seems to act like a starter, (booster?).


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## Vance G

Be careful about adding too much honey to secondary or you may overwhelm the alcohol tolerance of the yeast and end up with a really sweet mead. That may be what you want but I prefer fermenting it dry, stabilizing it with sorbate and sulfites and then adding honey to sweeten to my taste. Maximizing alcohol content is often done at the expense of taste. There is always next year.


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## squarepeg

if it would have been for the pears dropped in my lap, i don't think i would have even tried this. i read about making mead on here back in the summer, and i chickened out after i found out how involved it was. especially after i discovered it might be a year before you know if you did it right.

i only have a little sugar and a little honey added so far to the 16 gallons of pear juice. it fermenting steadily right now, and hopefully it will clear in a few weeks and i can rack it.

there's only going to be a about a gallon of room in each of of the three carboys after racking. i'll dilute some honey to 1.085 and to top with. i actually prefer a semi-sweet wine over dry.

if it ends up tasting like crap, i will distill it once or twice to make rakia.


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## Vance G

Have patience with it I am told by the experts. My first batch was foul and powerful and I was about to abandon it when a brew shop owner tasted it and said give it another year and you will be amazed. It has had one year already and I guess the carboy helps hold down the basement floor by the water heater because it ain't anything I would give away or share yet. I have seven gallons of pears I need to make a space to spread out as you suggested. I have two batches of mead going now, here goes another 15 pounds of honey!


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## BeeCurious

Squarepeg,

You might be interested in this Google Group:
http://groups.google.com/group/cider-workshop?lnk=srg&hl=en

There is information on making "perry".


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## 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.


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## 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.


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## 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


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## 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.


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## 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.


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## Intheswamp

How's the mead making going, squarepeg?

Ed


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## 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.


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## 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.


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## squarepeg

Vance G said:


> 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.


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## 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.


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## 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!


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## 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!


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## 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


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## squarepeg

WVMJ said:


> 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?


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## 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


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## squarepeg

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


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## sandieg

Vance G said:


> 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.


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## 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).


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## 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


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## 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.


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## squarepeg

on the pear mead, i've got three carboys in the garage from 2012 that i should probably get around to bottling. two of the three are really nice, and the other one is ok but a little cidery.


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## GregSkip

Sounds great......I need all the instruction I can get! With each change of the weather I see something different with my bees!


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