Ginger Pear Wine, Day One & Two

Started a ginger pear wine with a bunch of canned pears and a few fresh ones last night. I don't know what variety the canned ones were, but Aradia got me four pounds of golden pears for the fresh ones. So, here's the recipe.

8 lbs canned pears.
4 lbs golden pears, cores & stems removed
5.5 lbs sugar
~1 lb chopped raisins
2.4 oz ground ginger
~3 gal water, including water the pears were canned in (and yes,it was water, these were home-canned w\no preservatives or sugar added)
1.5 tsp Pectic enzyme
4.5 tsp acid blend
0.5 tsp tannin
3 tsp yeast nutrient
3 crushed Campden tablets
1 packet champagne yeast

The pears, raisins and ginger went into a must bag. The canned pears were mashed and the fresh ones were sliced very thinly using a mandolin. The sugar was dissolved in the water and poured over the must bag. Then everything but the Pectic enzyme and the yeast was added. I waited twelve hours, and just added them about an hour ago. I'll wait about twelve hours and check the density. If it's not ~1.085, then I'll have to adjust with sugar or water to get it right.

Because I'm using canned pears, the must water is really, really brown. I hope it clears up some. I know it's going to have a dark cast to it, no matter what.

This recipe has been adapted from one I found here: Pear Wine Recipe

Wish me luck!

Carrot Wine, Day Something-or-other

We back-sweetened the wine with a cup of sugar and a quart of carrot juice last night. (Little tip, btw. Strain the carrot juice before you use it!)

Then we added two Campden tablets, sorbate and a shellfish finig agent. You'd be amazed at how much orange crud settled out over night.

Anywho, we bottled it this morning, and got seven and a part bottles out of it. We put the part in a recapping beer bottle and stuck it in the fridge.

Will it be any good? I think so. I was going to scrap it when I tasted it a couple of weeks ago, but now I have high hopes. We'll know in a year.