Pear wine

[Hairtrigger]

I have gotten tired of picking up pears from the tree in my lawn so I decided to make a batch of pear wine.
The airlock in my primary fermentor does not bubble at all even after 5 days.
I did put the yeast into warm water for 15 min as suggested.
Do I add more yeast to try to get this started?

[jvs]

How big is the batch and how much and what kind of yeast did you use ?  Did you add Sugar for the Yeast to feed on?

Generally, I have never had to wait more than 24 hours for fermentation to start on any wine after the yeast was added.  I have never made any Pear Wine, but unless you have a yeast nutrient,  a temperature, a bacteria or a Ph problem, it should have easily started fermenting by now. 

I suggest that you type 'homemade pear wine' in Google, and follow the guidelines there.   It took me about 10 years and numerous failed batches to make Cranberry Wine.  Three years ago, I was finally successful.  Sometimes you have to hunt for the answer, and never give up.

[Hairtrigger]

The batch is enough to fill a 5 gallon bucket. I added just over 5lbs of sugar per the receipe.
The receipe was out of a book purchased with my other supplies. Last evening I stopped by the supply shop and from his advice I added another packet of yeast and some yeast energizer.

Wish me luck!

[jvs]

If nothing else is wrong, the yeast may have been past its effective date.  With all that natural and added sugar in there, there should have been plenty for the yeast to feed on, if the yeast was still good. 

I always check the experiation date on any packet of yeast I buy.  Using out of date yeast happened to me already, it did no harm, but it's a pain in the butt to go running at the last minute to save the batch.  Having to run for fresh yeast is the least of any problems that can pop up, and is easily remedied.  Being a few weeks past the expiration date is usually nothing to worry about, but when you get 2, 3 or 6 months past due, it usually can lead to a failure to ferment.

IF it doesn't work this time, something drastic is wrong. 

Good Luck, hopefully that was the problem.

[Star1pup]

How about a recipe for pear wine.  I have a bunch of pears this year.

[Hairtrigger]

I have good luck with this in past years
 

[jvs]

Did it start fermenting or was it a goner ?

I think Pear Wine may be a little thick if made improperly.  You might end up making a combination wine like apple/pear, with a very little amount of pears in it.

I found this recipe on the internet :

4 lbs Pears - Whole (skins seeds still on)
6 pints water
4 cups sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 package bakers yeast


Instructions:

Use ripe pears wash and drain, remove stems, cut in smaller pices, put into a nylon straining bag and extract the juice.

After the juice is extracted add to the water and add remaining ingredients.

Dissolve the yeast and let it ferment; will take about 3 to 4 weeks if kept at around 70 to 75 degrees.

After it is done fermenting let it sit and settle.

At this point it can be put in the refegerator this will help it settle.

Once that it is clear it can be bottled and is ready for drinking.

Should have about 10 to 12% (alcohol content).

Keep for a long time also keep out of the sun light as it will make it bitter.

[Hairtrigger]

My pear wine this year FAILED. Perhaps the yeast was old. After 3 to 6 days of no fermenting I added another yeast package and yeast energizer. It went crazy for 3 days then nothing.
Gotta dump it. oh well

[jvs]

I would guess that you had a bacteria problem in there somewhere.  Once it starts and then stops within a week, something is wrong.  While it may have been the yeast the first time, a yeast problem was proven not to be the problem after you added more yeast again and it failed.

It usually comes down to either a sanitary or bacteria problem.  I may have considered making Wine from Pears at one time or another, but I never have.  Looking at the Pear,  there is alot of things that can go wrong with all of those brown spots on the peel.  A troubling problem the way I see it.   I have never seen a pear without brown spots on it.

Why dont you try making it out of Canned Pears?  Get yourself a couple cans of Pears with Heavy Syrup, add about 2 1/2 quarts of water (or enough to fill a one gallon jug), Simmer it for about 20 minutes, strain it, stick it in a jug with some yeast and see if it works.  IT SHOULD !  You would want the Syrup sufficiently thin, so diluting it with water would be very important.

Practicing like this might help you figure out what went wrong with your recipe with the Fresh Fruit.  It is a cheap way of making wine, sincve you dont even have to add sugar.  Sometimes I make wine out of Commercial Jelly, just to keep the costs down a little.

[Hairtrigger]

The only reason I make pear wine is the fact that I have pears! I got tired of picking the pears up and throwing them away so I figured I might as well make the best of them. The tree is quite old and in bad shape. My grandfather had grafted a Bartlet limb onto the tree but it has died and fallen off leaving the rest og the tree with the lesser tasting pears. This fall I have picked up enough pears to fill 11 wheel barrows.

[jvs]

I would try making it again with the skins removed.  That is why I suggested making it out of canned pears...for practice for next years crop.  If you like how it turns out with canned pears, you have an idea about how to go about it next year.

You will have to pick up some Pectic Enzyme also.  Pears have a naturally high Pectin content, which could also make your wine thick.

Pectin is what you add to a mix when you make homemade Jelly, usually sold under the brand name "Ball Fruit Jell", among others.  Pectic Enzyme eats Pectin which occurs in Pears.  Apples also have a high pectin content.