Pear wine help

[silverbullet07]

I just squeezed out 3 gal of seckel pear juice. It is really thick like apple sauce. So thick my hydrometer will not sink and take a reading. What should I do?

Thanks

 

[Krasdale]

Run it thru a Centrifugal Juicer.
Next question.
What should you have done?

 

[rsquared]

If you dilute some with equal parts juice and water, you can take a reading of that and scale it. If you're trying to get SG, it scales linearly (e.g. a 1:1 dilution at 1.030 is 1.060 undiluted). If you're measuring in Brix, this calculator will do the conversion for you.

 

[silverbullet07]

Run it thru a Centrifugal Juicer.
Next question.
What should you have done?

I do not know. chopped and froze the pears and added to a mesh bag. It is real liquidity. There are no chunks. Just real thick. I left the hydrometer and it stays. i push the hydrometer down and it stays.

 

[silverbullet07]

If you dilute some with equal parts juice and water, you can take a reading of that and scale it. If you're trying to get SG, it scales linearly (e.g. a 1:1 dilution at 1.030 is 1.060 undiluted). If you're measuring in Brix, this calculator will do the conversion for you.

So if I get a 50ml of juice and mix 50ml of water then take a reading?

 

[rsquared]

So if I get a 50ml of juice and mix 50ml of water then take a reading?

Exactly. Then just double the reading if you're doing SG. If you need to thin a little more, add another 50ml water and triple the reading instead, etc.

 

[silverbullet07]

Exactly. Then just double the reading if you're doing SG. If you need to thin a little more, add another 50ml water and triple the reading instead, etc.

I added 100 ml each of juice and water. Still a little hard to float it. So I added another 100 ml of water. So now I measure a good reading of SG 1.010. So triple it, does that make it 1.030 undiluted?

 

[silverbullet07]

If I add the pectin enzyme and let it sit overnight will it start breaking the heavy stuff up and settle some? I’ve already added the Campden tabs and can add the pectin later tonight.

 

[rsquared]

The calculation looks correct, but that does sound a little lower than I would expect.

Yes, add pectin now and let it sit for a day or two to clear, and you should be able to get a reading from the undiluted juice.

 

[silverbullet07]

I’ve added campden taps and the pectin to the juice. Is it ok to let it sit for a few days and let the pulp break down more? Will the juice go bad by not pitching yeast soon?

 

[Yooper]

I’ve added campden taps and the pectin to the juice. Is it ok to let it sit for a few days and let the pulp break down more? Will the juice go bad by not pitching yeast soon?

It might not go "bad" for a while, but I'd add yeast. What I do when I make wine with fruits with low sugar, I add some sugar to increase the alcohol level, and some water to dilute the acidity of the juice. That's really typical.

 

[silverbullet07]

I was able to adjust SG by holding a strainer down and spooning our liquid. SG is 1.090

I trebled the pectin. So I have about 15 teaspoons.
adjusted the ph. It was 3.93 and adjusted it to 3.56
The juice is really tasty Right now.

getting ready to pitch yeast now. going to use EC-1118

 

[silverbullet07]

I notice there is a big cake of pulp every time I steer it. When it finishes fermentation, should I scrape that off before racking?