Pear Wine Recipe

Clean and sanitise the equipment

Wash away all visible dirt first. Prepare the sanitiser according to its label, then sanitise the fermentation bucket, lid, large coarse straining bag, spoon, hydrometer, trial jar and anything else that will touch the cooled must.

Make and cool the first sugar syrup

Dissolve 500g brewing sugar in about 1.5 litres of boiling water. Stir until clear, then leave the syrup to cool below 25°C before cutting the pears.

Prepare the pears

Wash the fruit, remove the stalks and cores, then chop the pears into rough pieces. Put them straight into the sanitised large coarse straining bag inside the fermentation bucket. Lightly crush a few pieces with the sanitised spoon to release juice, but do not blend or purée them.

Build the must and add Campden promptly

Pour in the cooled sugar syrup, add the 250ml white grape concentrate and enough cool water to bring the liquid to roughly four litres. Stir in 1 teaspoon acid blend. Crush one Campden tablet to a fine powder, stir it in immediately and fit the sanitised lid. Leave for 12 hours.

Add the pectolase

After 12 hours, stir in one teaspoon of pectolase. Replace the lid and leave for another 12 hours. Pears are rich in pectin, so this step is important for juice extraction and later clearing.

Drain the fruit temporarily

Lift the fruit bag with sanitised hands or utensils and let it drain over the bucket for about 10 minutes without wringing it. Set it in a sanitised container while the liquid is adjusted.

Set the initial liquid volume

Stir the liquid thoroughly and add cool water to bring it to approximately 4.2 litres. This leaves room for any small sugar solution that may be needed after the hydrometer reading.

Take the first hydrometer reading

Make sure the must is close to the hydrometer's calibration temperature, normally 20°C. Use a well-mixed, pulp-free sample and read the hydrometer at eye level.

Adjust the sugar only if needed

Aim for a final starting gravity of 1.080–1.090. If the reading is low, dissolve 50g brewing sugar in about 40ml boiling water, cool it below 25°C, add it and stir thoroughly. Retest and repeat only as required, using 25g portions when close to the target.

If the gravity is already on target, add no more sugar. Ripe pears and grape concentrate can contribute a substantial amount of their own fermentable sugar.

Make the final volume 4.5 litres

Add cool water to make the liquid volume exactly 4.5 litres, stir thoroughly and take one final reading. Record it as the original gravity, or OG. Return the pear bag to the bucket once the reading has been recorded.

Add nutrient and yeast

Stir in one teaspoon of yeast nutrient. Prepare the Gervin GV5 according to the sachet instructions and use the full sachet. Aim for around 15–18°C to help preserve the delicate pear aroma.

Manage the fruit each day

Fit the lid and airlock. Once or twice each day, sanitise the spoon, gently push the pear bag beneath the liquid, stir briefly and replace the lid immediately. Press the bag only lightly.

Start checking the gravity from day three

From about the third day, take a hydrometer reading once a day. Use the progress of fermentation rather than the calendar alone to decide when to remove the fruit.

Remove the pears at about 1.040

When the specific gravity reaches around 1.040, usually after four to six days, lift out the fruit bag and let it drain over the fermenter. Press only lightly and do not wring it. Remove the fruit by day seven even if fermentation has progressed more slowly.

Transfer to the demijohn

Syphon the wine into the sanitised 1 gallon glass demijohn, leaving the thickest pulp and sediment behind. Avoid pouring or splashing. While fermentation is still active, fill to around the shoulder and fit the sanitised bung and airlock.

Let secondary fermentation continue

Keep the demijohn at around 15–18°C and out of direct sunlight. Fermentation normally continues for several more weeks after the fruit is removed.

Confirm fermentation with stable readings

Take a hydrometer reading once activity has clearly slowed, then repeat it at least 48 hours later. Fermentation is complete only when the readings are identical. Dry pear wine often finishes around 0.995–1.005, and can occasionally finish a little above 1.000 because pears contain naturally occurring sorbitol that wine yeast does not fully ferment. Stability matters more than one exact finishing number.

Rack the finished wine

Once the gravity is stable, syphon the wine into a clean sanitised demijohn and leave the sediment behind. Minimise splashing and top up so the wine sits into the narrow neck with as little headspace as practical, then replace the airlock.

Allow the wine to clear

Leave the wine somewhere cool, dark and steady for at least six to eight weeks. Pear wine can hold a persistent pectin haze, so allow time and rack again only when a meaningful new layer of sediment has formed.

Check that the wine is ready

Confirm stable hydrometer readings, clear wine with no obvious haze and no meaningful new sediment for at least two weeks. Taste a small sample as well; young pear wine can be quite subtle before maturation.

Bottle without splashing

Sanitise the clear wine bottles, syphon tubing, corks and corker as their instructions require. Syphon gently into each bottle and cork it. Keep the bottles upright for the first 24 hours, then store them somewhere cool and dark.

Mature before drinking

Allow at least six months from brew day before making a final judgement. Around nine months often gives a rounder wine with a clearer pear aroma and better integration.