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At least one pear tree must grow and bear fruit abundantly in each plot. Sweet juicy fruits are very refreshing and contain many vitamins, iron, potassium, zinc, and copper. Winter varieties usually have a rich taste and diversify our diet when prices for fruit in stores become obscenely high.
Summer ones simply disappear - unfortunately, pears are rarely processed into juice or other preparations. It’s a pity, of course, and also wasteful. Meanwhile, from these fruits you can prepare many delicious foods, and even alcoholic drinks. Today we will offer you a simple recipe for homemade pear wine.
Pear as a raw material for wine
Pear is not the most suitable material for wine production. Alcoholic drinks from it can turn out sweet, aromatic and strong, but they can spoil during preparation or turn out cloudy and musty. This is due to the fact that varieties have different densities and ability to ferment, and contain sugar, acid and tannins in different quantities.
Of course, experienced winemakers take all this into account and do not make mistakes, but this or other similar articles are not intended for them. You will have to use trial and error to find the best recipe for homemade wine from pears growing in your garden.We will tell you what you need to pay attention to and how to avoid the most common mistakes.
Oddly enough, the best raw material for pear wine at home would be game meat - it contains enough acid and tannins. But the drink will turn out “flat”, practically devoid of aroma. Dessert varieties in their pure form are absolutely not suitable for the production of pear wine. They need to be mixed with game or sour apples or acid added.
Subtleties of making wine
In order for the wine to be tasty and have a delicate aroma, several points must be taken into account during its production. If you ignore them, you will end up with a cloudy, tasteless alcoholic drink, or it will spoil during the fermentation stage.
- The acidity of dessert pears is approximately 2 times lower than that of apples or grapes, and in wine production it should range from 6 to 15 g per liter. Deviation from the norm makes fermentation impossible or very weak. Don't forget that even the sweetest pears still contain acid. For example, the variety Naryadnaya Efimova includes about 0.13%, and Noyabrskaya - 0.9%.
- The sugar content of most varieties is low. They seem sweet only because of their low acidity. It is impossible to make wine from pears without adding sugar.
- You can only distill moonshine from overripe fruits - they are absolutely unsuitable for the production of light alcoholic drinks.
- Tannins, found in abundance in some varieties of pears, make wine cloudy.
- You must add water to the wort. From 10 kg of even the juiciest pears you can get no more than 4 liters of juice.
- Before you make pear wine, think about what kind of starter you will use (and you will definitely need it). Regular, the preparation method of which is described in the article Grape wine at home: a simple recipe will not add flavor to an already “flat” drink. You can make sourdough in the same way as grape sourdough, using raspberries, strawberries or the lees left after making blackcurrant wine, sea buckthorn.
- The pear flesh quickly darkens. To avoid getting a putrefactive drink at the end, immediately after grinding the fruits, add 1/3 teaspoon of ascorbic acid to 10 liters of wort.
- Tannin, found in large quantities in some varieties of pears, differs from that of apples. It does not help clarify the wine, but makes it cloudy and tart. To reduce the content of this substance, crushed pears are left in a wide open container for 1-2 days before adding sugar and water. During this time, most of the tannins will oxidize under the influence of oxygen.
Raw materials and containers for wine
It is unlikely that you will make wine from pears in barrels. Before use, glass containers are washed with hot soda solution and rinsed well. Jars with a volume of 3-5 liters can be sterilized.
Pears for wine production must be collected at the stage of technical ripeness (when the seeds have just begun to color), spread out in a thin layer in a cool room and left for 2-7 days. Wild meat should ripen for 1-2 weeks. If the fruits sit for a short time, the drink will be devoid of aroma.
You should not wash pears - this will destroy “wild” yeast, of which there is already little on the surface of this fruit. There is no need to wipe them with a cloth either - the fruits of technical ripeness are picked from the tree and not collected on the ground.
Pear wine
It is easier for inexperienced winemakers to make dessert wine from pears than dry wine. This is due to the fact that a lot of water and sugar will be added to the wort. We will give you a few simple recipes that should serve as a guide in making wine, because there are so many varieties of this wonderful fruit.
Dessert wine
We will assume that your pears are moderately sweet, juicy, and have a pleasant aroma.
You will need:
- dessert pears – 9 kg;
- sugar – 3 kg;
- malic acid – 25 g;
- starter – 3% of the wort volume;
- water – 4 l.
We have given the average amount of additives, since dessert pears contain varying amounts of acid and sugar.
After the pears have rested for the required time, cut them into 4 parts and remove the core. Puree the fruits, add ascorbic acid (1/3 teaspoon per 10 liters), stir and let stand in an open container for 24 to 48 hours to oxidize tannins.
Add water, 1/4 part sugar, starter and acid to the wort. Mix well, cover with a clean cloth and leave in a warm (20-26 degrees) place. With oxygen available, fermentation will begin in about 1-2 days. If this does not happen, try the wort; if it is sweet to the point of cloying, add a little water, if it is sour, add sugar.
After 3-4 days of active fermentation, strain off the pulp, trying not to disturb the sediment, pour into a glass bottle, filling it no more than 3/4.Install a water seal or put on a rubber glove that has been pierced in one finger. Remove the wine for fermentation at a temperature of 18-24 degrees, protecting the cylinders from direct sunlight.
Sugar is added in parts, having previously dissolved it with a small amount of wort. The first time we added it before the start of fermentation, the second time after straining the pulp when pouring the wine into a glass container. Next, sugar is added after 3-4 days, after tasting the wort.
After about a month and a half, when the water seal stops releasing carbon dioxide bubbles or the glove falls, drain the pear wine from the sediment, bottle it and take it to a cool place (10-12 degrees) for ripening. It will be sour-bitter and cloudy.
First, every two weeks, and then less often, remove the prepared wine from the sediment, pouring it into a clean container. It will take 3 to 6 months to fully mature.
Before sealing wine bottles, you can add sugar, honey or alcohol. To obtain a light drink, leave it as is, add syrup to the semi-sweet one, and add alcohol to increase the strength.
Store bottles horizontally, preferably the temperature does not exceed 12 degrees.
Wine from dessert varieties and game
Although this recipe is simple, homemade pear wine will be very tasty.
Take:
- dessert pears – 6 kg;
- wild pears – 2 kg;
- sugar – 3 kg;
- malic acid – 20 g;
- starter – 2% of the wort volume;
- water – 4.5 l.
This wine is prepared in the same way as described in the previous recipe, just adding wild game puree to the wort.
It must be remembered that wild pears must be picked at the stage of technical maturity and left for 1-2 weeks.
The wine is expected to be light, sweet and aromatic.
Pear-apple wine
Homemade wine from pears and sour apples is the easiest to make. In addition, it does not require the addition of acid and is easier to clarify. Apples of the Antonovka or Simirenko varieties go well with pears when making wine.
You will need:
- dessert pears – 5 kg;
- sour apples – 3 kg;
- sugar – 3 kg;
- starter – 2-3% of the wort volume;
- water – 4 l.
Cut the unwashed sour apples into 4 parts and remove the seeds. Grind them together with the pears into a puree. Add ascorbic acid.
Apple wine and pears are prepared in the same way as described in the first recipe. Do not forget to taste the wort at all stages of preparation so that if necessary, add sugar or water in time.
Clarification of wine
Clarification of wine called pasting. The drink made from pears alone is especially cloudy. Usually it turns out so unattractive that it is a shame to put the wine on the table.
To correct the situation, special substances are added to alcohol that bind unwanted microparticles, causing them to form flakes and fall to the bottom of the container as sediment. The fining does not affect the taste of the drink, it only makes it transparent and can slightly extend the shelf life. To clarify wine use:
- gelatin;
- isinglass;
- egg white;
- casein (milk);
- bentonite (white purified clay);
- tannin.
Gelatin is most often used for fining alcoholic drinks made from pears. It is consumed approximately 0.5-2 g per 10 liters. Gelatin is soaked with water 1:1 for a period of several hours to a day.Then pour in the same volume of boiling water and stir until the lumps disappear. The wine is twisted into the bottle with a funnel and gelatin is poured in a thin stream. The container is shaken, sealed and left to settle in the cold for 2-3 weeks. Then the sediment is removed, bottled, and sealed.
Before you start gluing, pour some wine into small identical bottles and dissolve different amounts of gelatin in it. After 3-4 days it will be clear which result is the best.
Conclusion
Let making wine from pears not the easiest process. But you can get a wonderful drink that you can hardly buy in a store. In addition, you will save the harvest of early and middle varieties, because only late pears are stored for a long time.
