My Next Batch

Last week, I got to sample some of Woodchuck's Pear Hard Cider. It was fragrant and refreshing...quite delicious. And it gave me a great idea for a mead.

See, I like pears. I like them fresh or canned, and I like pear-flavored drinks. Last Thanksgiving, I was singing the praises of this pear-flavored brandy. And I heartily enjoyed the pear cider, also. I thought, "why not make a pear-flavored mead?"

The concept is simple enough: the spices are taken from a recipe for candied pears, and I decided to use Bosch pears because I think they are the most flavorful. I think it would make a great medium-sweet mead, and it would probably go great with fish or dessert. But time will tell.

Hopefully, I will get to start this one next weekend, or the weekend after. It takes several tries to get the recipe right...especially when the recipe is crafted from scratch.

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Trav's Pear Honeywine (Pear Melomel)
(ingredients per gallon)

3 pounds of wildflower honey, warmed in the microwave
3 quarts of cold, filtered water
2 pounds of Bosch pears, very ripe
2 cinnamon sticks, crushed
3 whole cloves, cracked
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, chopped
1 packet of wine yeast
1 teaspoon barley malt
8 ounces of lukewarm water
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
½ teaspoon yeast energizer

Choose pears that are extremely ripe and very sweet. They should be very soft to the touch and easy to crush into a paste. If they are under-ripe, place them in a paper sack with a banana for a couple of days to finish ripening. You can also soften the pears by placing them in the freezer overnight, then allowing them to thaw.

Sterilize all equipment by soaking in a chlorine solution (1 tablespoon unscented chlorine bleach to each gallon of water) for at least 10 minutes. Sterilize the pears also, by soaking them in the same solution. Rinse all equipment well before using, and rinse the pears for 5 minutes under running water before using.

In a sterile pint jar, smack the yeast by mixing it with the lukewarm water and barley malt. Set aside. Place the cinnamon, cloves, and ginger in the center of a coffee filter, roll it up into a bundle, and tie it with string. Set aside.

Bring 3 quarts of cold water to a full rolling boil. Add the bundle of herbs, cover tightly, and simmer for 10 minutes. Discard the bundle of herbs. Stir the honey into the simmering water, and remove from heat. Cover, and allow to cool to 85°F (35°C).

Place the whole pears into a sterilized, food-grade bucket. Using a sterilized potato masher, crush the whole fruits into a paste. Pour the cooled honey-water mixture into the bucket over the fruit, and stir vigorously until frothy. Measure and record the specific gravity of the solution, and adjust it if necessary (the SG should be between 1.15 and 1.20). Wait 5 minutes, then add the activated yeast, the yeast nutrient, and the yeast energizer. Stir vigorously for 5 minutes, then cover tightly and place in a cool, dark place to ferment.

Once per day, gently stir the must with a sterile spoon. After 5 days, strain the fruit pulp out of the must, using a sterilized colander and cheesecloth. Discard the fruit pulp, and place the liquid into a sterilized fermentation tank. Attach a sterilized fermentation lock to the bottle and allow the must to ferment to completion.

Rack, sweeten, stabilize, clarify, and bottle.