Pear eau de vie

[partybus]

Summer coming to an end here in France , but have just been given the fallers off two big pear trees, so have top and tailed, then cut up the fruit. into a 300 litr bin, added 30 litr hot water and a few spoons of Pectolase to aid the break down of the pears. Broke all fruit up with a metal whisk attatched to an electric drill...works a treat... 25 grams of plain old bakers yeast, and 10 kg sugar, been running fast now for 10 days. I have to break the top crust twice a day to aid the fermentation....the locals keep passing and having a sniff.....told them to wait...thats the hard part.

steve

[Kifi]

Very cool. Next time I'd really consider avoiding bakers yeast. Either don't use yeast at all (make a natural yeast starter from pear skin and innoculate with that), or a nice fruity wine or cider yeast.

[blanikdog]

I always use bakers yeast and find it OK for eau de Vie. Using pectin enzyme is always a good idea with pears. IMHO.

[Bushman]

Very cool. Next time I'd really consider avoiding bakers yeast. Either don't use yeast at all (make a natural yeast starter from pear skin and innoculate with that), or a nice fruity wine or cider yeast.

I've always used a bakers yeast, hmm have you had good success with natural yeast starters?

[Kifi]

It's a personal thing, I guess. I find with a Cotes de Blanc or a Young's Cider Yeast, you really taste the fruit in the end product, and not so much with Bakers' yeast (or maybe it's just the strains you get here in Canada).

Sometimes I'll make a natural yeast starter by taking some thin strips of apple peel and putting them in a mix of 1/3rd apple juice, 2/3rds water, then putting it all in a plastic water bottle, sealing it with the cap, and leaving it in a warm place for a few days), and that seems to work really well too. All the old french farmers' Eau De Vie recipes I've seen do it Popcorn Sutton style and skip the commercial yeast....

[partybus]

As im lost in France , its not easy to find wine yeast can you believe!! so bakers yeast is a good bet.. yeh next time will make the effort and get my own strain going by hand.
Yesterday i put the 300lts thru a bouble bucket strainer to get rid of al the main solids, took a few hours but now i have six 30 litr buckets ready to filter again thru mesh, once the fermentate has stopped, or is it better for the flavour to run in my pot still with out straining again to get rid of the fine purey that pears hold???

First frost last night so dont think the ferment will go on much longer as i cant control the temp in my garage, well covered with insulation tho.

partybus

[blind drunk]

Hey partybus, how lost are you in France?

[Bushman]

First frost last night so dont think the ferment will go on much longer as i cant control the temp in my garage, well covered with insulation tho.

Partybus, we have several links here showing how to control fermentation temps, check this one out!
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... g#p6882154

[partybus]

Ta for the link, but having half a dozen to keep at a regular temp is a bit much, will be looking out for a few more 300ltr so can control one of those at a time.



and to Blind drunk.... im some where in the middle of it all !!!!

[Bushman]

Ta for the link, but having half a dozen to keep at a regular temp is a bit much, will be looking out for a few more 300ltr so can control one of those at a time.



and to Blind drunk.... im some where in the middle of it all !!!!

I use the temp controller that maheel shows, I was a little nervous about it made in China but it works great. I have two fermenting vessels in a small bathroom and could easily have six going at one time as I am not heating one vessel at a time. Good luck with what ever solution you come up with.

[Buteo]

I just finished my second batch of pear brandy. Yummy stuff. I've included a link to a video I thought was interesting.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgiydt ... _lifestyle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Dnderhead]

if you can't fiend wine yeast,go to a vineyard git a few grapes with the "blush" (the white powder on out side)
propagate your yeast from that.this will be established yeast.

[blind drunk]

and to Blind drunk.... im some where in the middle of it all !!!!

Good place to be. Sounds like fun.

[partybus]

Dunderhead,
Yes more grapes than you can shake a stick at around here in the summer.

Could you give a break down of the easy way to propergate some yeast from the grapes.?...will have to be next year now as most crops have finished

The first frost we had the other day was a one off, and now we have the temps back up again, not normal for this time of year in France.So my ferment is back up to speed again.

[Dnderhead]

just to hit the high spots,,,a "mini mash",, and aerate the hell out of it..o2 makes the little buggers horny..
thats basic,,much on net about yeast "farming" ,,you can take it as far as you want.many use molasses or DME
as a medium,mixed to a PG of 1.05? ,boil to kill whatever.add to quart/litter jar .use a aquarium air pump and stone to aerate with ..though iv done it with just shaking the hell out of it.add a few grapes (the white powder on out side is what you want so dont wash/wipe it off)
after you git this going give it a swirl to mix let it settle about 1/2 hour in cool place some will settle out pour off the cloudy part leaving the bottom,this cloudy stuff is what you want .then you can make another and another and....