# My first peach wine



## seth8530 (May 14, 2012)

Today, as I was browsing through the discount store I noticed that they had frozen cut up peaches on sell 1$ for 3/4 lb. Needless to say I left the store with 58 bags of frozen peaches as well as a gawking sales lady.

So here is what I have done thus far.

Stuffed all the peaches into pantyhose and added 7 gallons of water.

I hear most people say for a fruit wine use 4-6 lb per gallon. Im using 43.5 lbs of peaches.

So assuming the peaches release no juice I would end up with 6.21 lb per gallon.
Assume the peaches release a half gallon of juice I would end up with 5.8 lb per gallon.
Assume the peaches release a gallon of juice I would end up with 5.43 lb per gallon.

So the questions are...

1) which of these scenarios is most likely.
2) do you think 12-13% abv is too high?
3) have any of yall had experience with peach wine?
4) do you think im gona be good with my fruit to water ratio?


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## Deezil (May 14, 2012)

Honestly i wish you had posted this before you added the water.. Peach is one flavor that would make a better wine with no water added at all. 

I used 150lbs of fresh peaches + 4 gallons of water + 5lbs of golden raisins.. I ended up with about 10 gallons of wine in the end, meaning i got 6 - 6.5 gallons of juice from the 150lbs. And for the first 12-15 months, i worried that it was too watered down, but at the 18 month mark it came around and is an excellent wine. 

Personally, i'll be leaning towards less water on my next batch - you can find all 12+ pages of my peach wine endeavor in my Wine Log link in my signature... It was my first wine, so the thread starts off with it.. Just bottled it 2 months ago.

As for your questions..

1- I'm sure you'll get more than a gallon of juice, but because they were canned i cant really say how much more. 

2 - My peach wine is in the 10-11% range, but it could handle a splash more i think. Much more than that, would probably unbalance the delicate flavors

3 - Read my wine log 

4 - I........... dunno. Live and learn - its what i did with my peach wine. My philosophy in hindsight is 'more fruit, less water'


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## Duster (May 14, 2012)

I think your on the right track. I have made peach wine several times before but usually with fresh peaches. I never really took not of how much juice they released, may I should do that someday. I generally get 50lbs of peaches, wash them, destone them, slice them up small and dump 6 gallon of water over them with some pectic enzyme.
Let that work for 24 to 48 hours then add K-Meta and let sit for another 24 to 48 hours. Then adjust sugar and acid.
If you want to give it some real character add about 4 lbs of chopped golden raisins and half a dozens mangoes.

Let us know how it goes, some photos would be nice.


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## Duster (May 14, 2012)

Deezil, your just too fast. I never thought about no water however I would agree that it is a flavor that needs to be heavy on the fruit.


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## Deezil (May 14, 2012)

Duster said:


> Deezil, your just too fast.



I try 

Also.... If you add the golden raisins, dont scare the stones outta yourself when you crack the airlock in about 8 months and all you smell is raisins. My wine went through a phase where it was a "golden raisin wine with hints of peach", but its completely faded now & im pretty positive thats where the body/roundness came from in this wine as i added no additional tannins.. 

Do your canned peaches have the skins on still, seth? Probably not, huh?.. I left the skins on my fresh ones, its supposed to help but im sure the full effect in my wine is due to the golden raisins. Keep in mind the raisins will add more sugar too. I tried chopping mine up at first, but they're too hard to get out afterward.. I find leaving them whole & pressing them well afterwards, is easier & you still get all the goodness out of them in the end.


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## g8keeper (May 14, 2012)

Deezil said:


> Do your canned peaches have the skins on still, seth? Probably not, huh?.. I left the skins on my fresh ones, its supposed to help but im sure the full effect in my wine is due to the golden raisins. Keep in mind the raisins will add more sugar too. I tried chopping mine up at first, but they're too hard to get out afterward.. I find leaving them whole & pressing them well afterwards, is easier & you still get all the goodness out of them in the end.


 

deeze...i hate to correct you, but i think you missed one little detail, and i think it actually does mean something in this case....you keep referring to the peaches as canned, but if you go back and read the original post, you will see they are frozen peaches, and as those of us know, fruit that has been frozen does wind up giving it's juice quite a bit more freely, so it definitely is possible that quite a bit of juice will be released....like i said, i'm not correcting you, just pointing out a slight point that you just might have overlooked.....


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## Deezil (May 14, 2012)

1 point to g8keeper 

Dunno what made me assume they were canned.. Habit, possibly. Anywho, if they're frozen bags, theres a chance the skins are still on, which would be a plus...

Frozen produce is also usually a little later in the harvest cycle.. The reason its frozen or canned (in either case, i believe) is because its too ripe to make it to the market and maintain freshness..

58lbs of frozen peaches might give ya 2 - 2.5 gallons of juice, i'd think..

... Stupid cans...


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## seth8530 (May 14, 2012)

I seriously hope it does not give me that much water, if it does it means that im gona have a relatively weak wine as far as flavour goes...... I guess I could buy about 20 more lb of peaches and put that in.. BTW, thank all of you for posting. I added a couple table spoons of wine tanin and acid blend, you think that would mean it will be ok if i do not add raisins? I actually added a full ounce of pectic enzyme a few hours ago. Im hoping that this will help break down the peaches for me..

I will post some pics later...

BTW which yeast would yall recommend?

I will post some pics


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## Deezil (May 15, 2012)

The pectic enzyme should eat most of the peaches up, the rest will just look like gross lees. As far as a yeast, i'd lean toward a cotes de blanc


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## FTC Wines (May 15, 2012)

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the ABV subject. I've made peach wine from 10.5 to 13 % abv. Lately I've settled in on 11.5% as the magic #. We think any above 12% is TOO much for this wine. Roy


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## g8keeper (May 15, 2012)

seth8530 said:


> I seriously hope it does not give me that much water, if it does it means that im gona have a relatively weak wine as far as flavour goes...... I guess I could buy about 20 more lb of peaches and put that in.. BTW, thank all of you for posting. I added a couple table spoons of wine tanin and acid blend, you think that would mean it will be ok if i do not add raisins? I actually added a full ounce of pectic enzyme a few hours ago. Im hoping that this will help break down the peaches for me..
> 
> I will post some pics later...
> 
> ...


 
seth, the peaches won't give you water.....what they give you is the "good stuff"....they give you the juice, hence the reason deezil actually mentioned wishing you had posted before you added the water....the peaches give you the natual flavoring and the sugar so you don't have to ADD as much water, or sugar to get your gravity up to where you want it....the more fruit you have, releasing their juices, the more goodies your must has in it and the less "manufactured" adjustments you have to make...good luck seth, and remember this info for next time...


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## seth8530 (May 15, 2012)

Ok, I will do my best not to have the potential go over 12 percent.


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## seth8530 (May 15, 2012)

Ok these peaches suck, after letting them sit overnight with pectic enzyme the must only had a 1 percent potential. I just got done adding enough sugar to hit 11% abv.
I have also added nutrient, tannin, acid blend as well as energizer. 

I will not pitch until the must warms up because it currently uncomfortably cold to have my arm stuck in it ( the preferred method of ensuring the must is well stirred with no sugar on the bottom).


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## Deezil (May 15, 2012)

seth8530 said:


> Ok these peaches suck, after letting them sit overnight with pectic enzyme the must only had a 1 percent potential. I just got done adding enough sugar to hit 11% abv.
> I have also added nutrient, tannin, acid blend as well as energizer.
> 
> I will not pitch until the must warms up because it currently uncomfortably cold to have my arm stuck in it ( the preferred method of ensuring the must is well stirred with no sugar on the bottom).



I would bet that the reason they didnt seem to give up much sugar is because of the amount of water added - its just dilluted. Sounds like you're on your way though


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## seth8530 (May 15, 2012)

yeah, most likely./.

Ok, so I got a little worried about my wine not having enough body so I went to the store and bought 6 cans of apple juice concentrate. It says one can will make 48 oz's of apple juice. Im hoping the addition of the concentrate will help boost the fruit/water ratio up some... 

BTW what is the longest yall think I can wait before pitching.. The must is still really cold


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## g8keeper (May 15, 2012)

the chances of it spoiling if it's still that cold are pretty slim, so i think you should be good to go to waig...you have to wait anyways as it sounds like your must is way too cold for your yeast to even begin to populate...have to get that temp up...


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## Duster (May 15, 2012)

If it were mine I would let the Pectic enzyme work for 24 to 48 hours, then add K-meta, and let that sit for another 24 to 48 hours before pitching. 4 days before pitching should be more than enough time for the must to warm.
Just a thought, could the cold temps cause the pectic enzyme not to work???
I would agree with Deezil with the cotes de blanc or even a Premier Curve` yeast.


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## seth8530 (May 15, 2012)

Well the pectic enzyme has had 24 hours already, and it looks like it will get to have at least another night as it warms up. I manged to put a space heater next to the must so im hoping that will warm it on up. As far as yeast goes I have d-47, ec -1118 and 71B-1122 obviously the ec-1118 is not our prime candidate.

Also, since pectic enzyme is not alive, I dont feel like the cool temperatures will have hampered it way too badly.


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## Deezil (May 15, 2012)

Lets just hope the apple juice concentrates dont compete with the flavor of the peaches, in the long run. Personally, i would have went with some golden raisins or bananas

I'd go with 1122 over the D-47, just check your acid levels post-fermentation. There isnt much/any malic acid in peaches, and 1122 will chew up 20-30% of any present, so it may change your levels slightly.. May..

Pics, when/if ya can?


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## seth8530 (May 15, 2012)

Yeah, I thought about the apple overpowering the peach too, but then again apple peach wine does not sound too bad either. Why do you recommend the 1112? Also, I plan to have pictures posted relatively soon.


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## seth8530 (May 15, 2012)

Ok here are the photo's, I also went ahead and pitched the yeast.


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## Sammyk (May 15, 2012)

What brand of hydrometer are you using? I like that it is easy to read!


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## seth8530 (May 15, 2012)

Im not quite sure, and it is not exactly new and the package is long gone by now. But it reads all the way up to %20 abv lol 
However, many things are easier to read if ya take a picture in and zoom on in at it.


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## Deezil (May 16, 2012)

Lalvin 1122 info
1122 pdf

In the pdf:

"71B is known for making blush and semi-sweet wines and owes its success to
its abilities to produce amyl ester (isoamyl acetate), reinforcing the aromatic profile of
wines. 71B also softens high acid musts by partially metabolizing malic acid (20-30%)"

The malic acid metabolizing isnt as important here as the semi-sweet wine & enhancing the aromatic profile.

Lalvin D47 info
D47 pdf

D-47 on the other hand, from the info page: 

"This strain tolerates fermentation temperatures ranging from 15° to 20°C (59° to 68°F) and enhances mouthfeel due to complex carbohydrates"

The enhancing of mouthfeel wouldnt be a bad idea either.. I dunno if you could split the batch, run both yeasts & blend in the end for both characteristics.. Or if thats too much for you.. Just ideas.. D47, if left on the lees will develop spicy notes though - not something you want in a peach wine..

Edit: Posted before i realized you pitched the yeast  .. Which did you go with?


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## seth8530 (May 16, 2012)

Thanks for posting those links! I went ahead and used the 1112 last night. Im hoping that their might be some signs of fermentation by the end of the day.. This just might end up being one of those MEGA batches lol


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## seth8530 (May 19, 2012)

Ok, im still afraid that the wine will be a little light on body, You thin if I added 5 cups of raisins it would ruin any peach flavor?


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## Deezil (May 19, 2012)

If i remember right, you're looking at like... 8-10 gallons in the end? 7 gallons of water right? Pretty sure you could get away with 2-3lbs of golden raisins, no problem. 

I had 5lbs of golden raisins in my 12 gallons of peach

There's gonna be a phase where it stands out, like i mentioned earlier, but it will fade into the background wonderfully with time.


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## seth8530 (May 19, 2012)

Yes, you are correct. I dont know for sure what the volume is, but your guess is as good as mine. How long you think this will need to age? any idea how to guess at the sugar contribution from the raisins?


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## Deezil (May 19, 2012)

I didnt worry about the sugar found in the raisins much - kinda like i didnt really worry about the dilution from the f-pack. Probably somewhere within the 1% +/- threshold that we cant really measure accurately anywho.

Mines at 18+ months, and its amazing... It still had some of the green/tart profile before that. I would give yours a year, then taste it but dont be scared of another 6 months.


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## seth8530 (May 19, 2012)

hmm sounds fair enough. I think im gona be able to get the alcohol gain from the raisins. I added 5lb raisins and if the yeast eats it all that means a 1.595 kg of sugar added into the must. When I finnaly take out all the fruit bags from the wine I can measure the volume of the wine and from that figure out how must 1.595 kg of sugar would effect my given volume of wine.. Seem solid?

Im just really worried that my peaches sucked hard and I wont be getting much peach taste out of my wine.


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## seth8530 (May 19, 2012)

using this chart http://www.honeycreek.us/specfic_gravity_table.phpand knowing that Im adding 3.52 lb of sugar into the must.

If I assume im going to have 8 gallons of wine I divide 3.52/8= .44lb or 7.04 oz sugar/gal to make it work with the chart. interpolation gives the potential increase to be 2 percent. final alcohol about 14 percent

If I assume 10 gallons of wine I have .352 lb or 5.632 oz of sugar/gal addition
here using interpolation potential alcohol is 1.54 percent final alcohol 13.54 percent.


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## Deezil (May 19, 2012)

The logic of it seems solid, but the math just has to be right.

If you wanna "game the system" a bit... Let this rip and roar like it is... Then wait until about late july when fresh peaches go to 49-99 cents/pound... Pick up some of those juicy ones for a MEAN f-pack..

25lbs for 8 gallons
30lbs for 10 gallons

The two figures are based off of 25% of a 12lbs/gallon recipe, which is about what i did in my recipe. 

Some people put their f-pack on the stove and simmer it down but i had heard about a lot of problems people have with getting their peach wine to clear.. 

So what i did, was froze the peaches for the f-pack... Took them out, and squeezed the life out of them while they were still partially frozen. This gave me a juice with a simple-syrup consistency.. Even when it hit room temp, it was still thick... The water was left behind mostly as ice. 

Granted, my fingers were numb, but the wines great


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## seth8530 (May 19, 2012)

I trust the math, but the math is only as good as the numbers you give it.

I like your idea of an fpack, The good thing about fpacking this wine is it would bring the alcohol content back down within reason. When you got done with the peaches how much syrup did you end up with?


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## Deezil (May 19, 2012)

Had a gallon and a half when i was done squeezing out 30lbs. I had given the 1/2 gallon a swirl, and you can see how thick it was.. Had 11 gallons of wine at the time (started with 12, lost a gallon in sediment, wine was almost clear when i f-packed) and added this 1.5 gallons.. 

After sediment, i had 12 gallons finished.. So i lost 1/4-1/2 gallon of this f-pack as sediment.






My peach wine had worked itself into the 12% area, so i was using the f-pack to thin the alcohol out some too.. If i remember right, all said and done, it came out at about 10.5 - 11% ABV


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## seth8530 (May 19, 2012)

That does not sound too bad, however, I would not want to add a gallon and a half of peach juice to my wine because if I start at 13.54%at 10 gallons then dilute it to 11.5 gallons I would end up with a 9.33% wine which would be on the weak side and thus vulnerable to infection.. Perhaps, squeezing the juice out as you said and then concentrating down some other way might be the way to go. I would like to end up with a wine that is close to 12% abv.

Perhaps the addition of pectic enzyme would help the issues with clearing?


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## Deezil (May 19, 2012)

I havent done the math yet, getting ready to.. But for some reason, adding 1.5 gallons to 10 gallons & thinning out the alcohol by about 25-33% (13.5 to 9.33 = 4+)... Just doesnt ring true.

Pectic enzyme would help, i used more than recommended but i was dealing with fresh fruit. I think most peoples peach problem either come from a lack of pectic enzyme, a lack of patience, inadequate degassing (these first 3 could be true for most wines).. but i think the big kicker with peach specifically, is using heat to reduce the liquid. I think the heat causes the haze that people cant shake.. Just my theory, but thats why i went around it.


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## Deezil (May 19, 2012)

My math says you'd be about 11.77 ABV in the end.

10 (gallons) * 13.54 (ABV) = 135.54 - a figure of the total alcohol in the wine, pre- f-pack
135.54 (total alcohol) / 11.5 (new volume) = 11.77% ABV


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## seth8530 (May 19, 2012)

Deezil said:


> My math says you'd be about 11.77 ABV in the end.
> 
> 10 (gallons) * 13.54 (ABV) = 135.54 - a figure of the total alcohol in the wine, pre- f-pack
> 
> 135.54 (total alcohol) / 11.5 (new volume) = 11.77% ABV



Yep, I just redid the math.. Fat fingers ya see ) : and I come up with 11.74% after adding 1.5 gallons, so close enough to being the same.. Im not afraid to give it some time. Most wine needs it.

I will try and do some research of the haze people talk about with the peach wine.. One time I made an fpack and bottled right after I did that. I ended up with sediment in the bottom of the wine. So, I think it will help to let it sit afterwords before I bottle and see if anything decides to drop out.


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## Deezil (May 19, 2012)

Oh there should be lots to drop... Theres an abundance of fine sediment - although this could be the yeast i used, as well as the peaches themselves. 

The fact that it was so easy to disturb might have been my inability to find patience / didnt give it any time to compact at all (was my first batch ever).

I let mine sit in a carboy until it was 18 months old.. but that last 6 months, maybe longer, it sat there clear as spring water.

Hope all my rambling has helped, cant wait to see how you like your finished product.


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## seth8530 (May 19, 2012)

Well, perhaps in about a year I will have a gentle, peachy wine that smells of raisins worth sharing eh?


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## Deezil (May 19, 2012)

When the wine comes 'of age', you should be able to sneak the raisins past any but the most discerning palettes... I cant taste nor smell raisin in any amount, although i have read that some people are more sensitive to it - just like sorbate, k-meta, sweetness, abv, etc 

But yeah, should be a wine you can be satisfied with


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## tonyandkory (May 19, 2012)

Pectin is a water-soluble fiber that is divided into very fine particles. When heated with a sugar solution, it takes up position, bonds with the sugar molecules and expands in a way that makes it nearly impossible to separate out from the rest of the product. From what I understand this causes a lot of problems with clearing.


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## seth8530 (May 19, 2012)

@ Deezil, good to hear about the raisins not stealing the show. When she comes of age I will be sure to make good use of her, and tell you all about it.

@tonyandory Ah, so what is why it happens, Do you thing that something like superklear could take care of this?


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## tonyandkory (May 20, 2012)

That is what I use. That and time. I had a pepper wine that took 5 months to clear.


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## seth8530 (May 25, 2012)

5/25/12

Checked the specific gravity, It was around .991 so it is pretty much as dry as it can get. I found the volume of the must to be 12.048 gallons using the volume of a cylinder formula. pi*r^2*h

Using the math expressed on page 4 that means if I assume that the raisins released ALL of their sugar they would of contributed 4.69oz sugar/gallon which means that the raisins raised the sg by 1.26 percent. Putting the final gravity at approximately 13.26. Possibly a little lower depending on how much sugar from the raisins were actually used.


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## seth8530 (May 26, 2012)

Racked the wine into carboys, turns out the mathematical estimate was pretty much right on. I filled 1-6 gallon, 1-5 gallon and 1-1 gallon carboy. I plan on getting some peaches sometime and pressing them for their juice and concentrating it down. I plan on adding the f-pac after the next racking.


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## Deezil (May 27, 2012)

Just make sure you stabilize with k-meta&sorbate first or you'll just send the ABV through the roof


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## saramc (May 27, 2012)

tonyandkory said:


> Pectin is a water-soluble fiber that is divided into very fine particles. When heated with a sugar solution, it takes up position, bonds with the sugar molecules and expands in a way that makes it nearly impossible to separate out from the rest of the product. From what I understand this causes a lot of problems with clearing.


 
Has anyone used bentonite pre-ferment with the pectin rich fruits, such as crabapple, apple, peach, or pear? Won't that typically help prevent a protein haze?


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## seth8530 (Jun 4, 2012)

Alright, here is one for the crowd. Their is a good chance I wont be near my wine when the peaches are still being picked. However, I did find this... 

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/peach-vintner-s-harvest-fruit-bases.html

What do you think about using two of these cans in my wine as an fpac? That would give the 1.5 gallon dilution I was hoping for to tone the alcohol down. And it would also mean no buying peaches, juicing them and any of that hassle.


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## Deezil (Jun 4, 2012)

Hell, its worth a shot..
I've never used vintner's harvest, but i know people recommend 2 for 5-6 gallon batches, dilluted as normal..

I'd add 1 at a time, stir, taste & check your SG though.. Hard to tell what those would do to it. But they'd probably give you that peach flavor you were looking for

Although with the 28.99 x 2 + shipping... That could be a lot of peaches @ 49 - 99 cents / pound in a few months..


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## seth8530 (Jun 4, 2012)

Yeah, it could be a lot of peaches... That is the thing im facing. Im afraid I wont have time to drive an hour south to my house and hope to catch a farmers market selling peaches on the way down. Its kinda of an ease of use vs cost thing i reckon.

Then again, if I added those two cans it would be the equivalent of having half enough fruit body to start another 12 gallon batch. So, I think at the very least it would ensure that it had plenty of fruit taste lol


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## seth8530 (Jun 5, 2012)

Ok guys, I did a calculation. Based on a claimed 1.050 sg of the peach concentrate and assuming that I lose nothing when I rack off the lees (when I rack to mix the concentrate in) and contributing in the fact that I would be adding 1.5 gallons of liquid into the must I come up with a sg of 1.005 after adding in the concentrate.


To do this I would need to add 36 oz of sugar along with the concentrate to get me a sg of about 1.010. That does not sound too sweet does it?


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## seth8530 (Jun 29, 2012)

Alright, I bit the bullet and purchased 2 cans of vinters harvest peach concentrate. Im going to go ahead and add it in as an F-pac as well as a little bit of sugar. Im perhaps looking for somewhere on the sweet end of semi sweet.. So 1.008 sound good?


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## FTC Wines (Jun 29, 2012)

Seth, That is a good SG for Peach Wine. I just back sweetened 10 gals. to 1.006 [my taste] and 5 gals. to 1.114 for "sweet gifts" my 15 gals. is now 1 yr. old in the carboys, guess I be bottling real soon. Roy


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## seth8530 (Jun 29, 2012)

Eggcelent.... I most likely wont stick to 1.006 exactly but I will go from their and bring it to my taste. Perhaps when my wine is ready we could do a wine swap?


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## FTC Wines (Jun 29, 2012)

Sure I'd love to do a swap. Almost out of my 2010, but will be bottling 75 bottles of 2011 shortly. Roy


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## seth8530 (Jun 29, 2012)

Excellent, Ill hold ya to it once I got something to trade ya.


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## seth8530 (Jun 30, 2012)

Ok, after the juice from the cans was added ( the cans were half filled with chopped peaches) I added the rest of my sugar syrup to it and that brought the gravity to 1.010. As of now I currently have around 12.5 gallons of peach wine aging. Im hoping this one will turn out down the road.


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## FTC Wines (Jul 1, 2012)

Seth, Did you mean a S.G. of 1.100, if so it's a little high but will work. You may need an F-Pac to increase flavor & reduce the ABV. My Peach Wines are usually 12-12.5 %, I wouldn't go much higher. Roy


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## seth8530 (Jul 1, 2012)

I think you misunderstood where I am at in the process. I added the juice as an f-pac and to dilute the alcohol down. I added the syrup to back sweeten. And I do indeed mean 1.010. 

Right now im gona let it age for atleast a year I reckon and see what we have got on our hands.


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## FTC Wines (Jul 1, 2012)

OK, that's great, I did miss understand. It should be great in a year. Roy


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## seth8530 (Jul 1, 2012)

Yeah, Im pretty excited about it. My greatest fear is still that it will come out too lite on the peach taste.


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## andy123 (Jul 1, 2012)

I'm canning some peaches today.


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## seth8530 (Jul 1, 2012)

Lookin good, nice and dark colour.


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## seth8530 (Apr 29, 2013)

The peach wine is nearly a year old right now. I feel a tasting coming on....


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## seth8530 (May 9, 2013)

Just tried a bottle of the peach wine yesterday. It taste pretty good and the peach flavour comes through but I think it is kind of flat tasting. I am thinking perhaps some acid blend would do it good? Thoughts and opinions?


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## wineon4 (May 9, 2013)

Did you test the acid? My peach is great, and it is setting at a TA of 0.70 and SG of 1.003. I try and balance around .65 to .75 I like mine in that range my wife likes a sweet wine so I try and stay around SG of 1.001 to 1.004 for any of my fruit wine and raise the acid to the higher side. I would not add acid without first measuring where it is before adding and also need to know the sugar amount since acid needs to balance with the sweetness of the wine. A high SG for a sweet wine needs a high TA, dessert wine above 1.005 needs TA approaching 1.0% the sweeter the wine the higher the acid needs to be. Peach is a delicate flavor to work with but it is a great tasting wine, one of my favorites.


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## seth8530 (May 9, 2013)

Yeah, i am ashamed to admit i do not have the equipmemt to test acid so i am going to.have to so it by taste... i do plan om getting the needed equipment this summer though... but you do recomend acid additions to peach wine?


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## seth8530 (May 9, 2013)

Nvm i lied... i got a test kit i think the sugar is aroind 1.01 so i will use. 65 as a starting point


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## wineon4 (May 9, 2013)

If your reading of 1.01 for SG is correct and you did not add acid blend at the start of the ferment I would start with 2 teaspoons of acid blend in 6 gallon, 1.01 is on the low side of sweet, then taste and work up .5 teaspoons at a time until you like the taste.


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## seth8530 (May 9, 2013)

Yeah, its at 1.008 just checked.. the acid was at .2 so i added untill i thought it was good.. around .7 .. i ended up adding around 18 tsp to my 11 gallons


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## Deezil (May 9, 2013)

That oughta liven things up a bit


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## seth8530 (May 9, 2013)

Yeah that is the hope... Today has been a big wine day for me. Bottled 4.5 cases of peach. And i am currently in the proccess of racking what i beleive to be the most flotal mead in the world


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## wineon4 (May 10, 2013)

Yeah 0.20 is very low acid, that wine would be FLAT especially for a wine that is at the low end of sweet. If the taste is to your satifaction I would leave it at 0.07 I would think that is on the high end for a sugar of 1.008 but if you like it that is the main thing. Might want to bench test a little higher sugar. Fruit wine flavors vary so much and the right acid/sugar balance is very important, when the balance is right the taste of the fruit flavor burst out as you have seen.


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## seth8530 (Jul 30, 2013)

Acid was adjusted to around .70 ish. SG 1.008. Age 441 days old. ie 14 months and 15 days. I have not had a bottle of it in a couple months so I am curious to see if it has changed any. Hopefully I will be visiting this old friend again soon.


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## seth8530 (Aug 25, 2013)

Ok, wow! talk about what time can do for a wine. It is not jump out and lick you in the face peach flavour but it is defiantly fruity and tasting of peaches. The acidity from my acid adjustment has calmed down a lot. I was originally afraid I overdid it a bit. All in all, the wine is ready to drink and I have no trouble at all presenting it to friends.

I can only imagine what it would taste like if I would of used fresh peaches, but for coming from the freezer section of the discount store, this guy did alright.


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## wineon4 (Aug 26, 2013)

Glad to hear that seth, I just got 3 large boxes of fresh Chambersburg peaches and made 12 gallon yesterday can't wait.


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## thinman56 (Aug 26, 2013)

Hey, Seth, how did that wine turn out? We just cut 53 lbs of fresh peaches into 44 lbs of slices and put 'em in the freezer. Will generally follow Deezil and Duster's path, sounds like we'll only get 2, 2.5 gallons of juice, so we'll make it up to 6 gallons with water, and add raisins and suger to get to about 11%. Also accumulating 15 lbs of blackberries for a 3-gal batch of the dark side....


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## thinman56 (Aug 26, 2013)

Oops, didn't read all the way to the end...


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## seth8530 (Aug 26, 2013)

Thanks, I am superglad it turned out alright as well. I will leave some to sit longer of course just to see what it does over time. I am jealous of your fresh peaches.



thinman56 said:


> Hey, Seth, how did that wine turn out? We just cut 53 lbs of fresh peaches into 44 lbs of slices and put 'em in the freezer. Will generally follow Deezil and Duster's path, sounds like we'll only get 2, 2.5 gallons of juice, so we'll make it up to 6 gallons with water, and add raisins and suger to get to about 11%. Also accumulating 15 lbs of blackberries for a 3-gal batch of the dark side....



The wine turned out as you just read ( ; . I would not add any water to your must, just use the peach juice. That is my only regret about my wine. Mine turned out alright with an abv higher than 11% However, nothing wrong with aiming for 11% abv either. 

I like your idea of a blackberry batch as well, do you intend on making a black peach?



thinman56 said:


> Oops, didn't read all the way to the end...


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## thinman56 (Aug 26, 2013)

Nope, the blackberry will be a separate red wine batch. I made it a couple years ago and made the same initial mistake you did - added too much water before I added the berries. I was going for a 3-gal batch and it ended up a 4+ gal batch of rose, not my favorite but we didn't throw it out. I wish I had this awesome long post to read two years ago, I could've salvaged something more interesting from it. 

So, I guess I should be either looking for more peaches or making a smaller batch than 6 gallons from the peaches I have. 

I do have a procedural question - I saw your must with the peaches all in smaller bags, can I do the first 4 days of K-meta and pectin treatment in one 8 gallon fermenter with peaches just mashed in the bucket and then pour the must into my strainer bag placed inside my other fermenter? I just have the one big 8-gallon bag. 

Awesome post, Seth (and everyone else), really informative, my peach wine will be so much better for it!


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## seth8530 (Aug 26, 2013)

I am glad you have found this thread useful not only from the stuff that I did but also from the other posters who really input top notch advice into this thread.

If I am following you correctly you want to mash and ferment your peaches in one fermenter and then strain that into another? And then put the bag with all the collected peach material in with the other fermenter?

If so, I would avoid that, it sounds messy and perhaps a good way to introduce more oxygen than you might want at that stage... I would recommend that you first freeze the peaches to break them down really well, put the frozen peaches into small bags and then let the pectic enzyme and unfreezing proccess break the fruit down for you.

Those bags I used were simply pantyhose, cheap and surprisingly durable. Did I follow you correctly?


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## vernsgal (Aug 27, 2013)

This has been a great learning post. Thanks everyone who contributed to it and thanks Seth for following through the year with it.


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## thinman56 (Aug 27, 2013)

Seth - yes, that is what I had in mind, freeze, thaw, mash and treat the first four days without bags in one bucket and then put it all in my big bag in the second bucket, but I see your point about the air. I'll do it your way, thanks again. Will post progress....


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## seth8530 (Aug 27, 2013)

Excellent, just go with pantyhose, works like a charm. The yeast, thawing, and pectic enzyme will do all the work for you.


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## thinman56 (Oct 25, 2013)

Seth - you still there? Finally got my peach wine going, one thing in all this that's not clear is when you pressed your bags and when you took them out of the mix. Did you squeeze 'em hard before fermentation, and leave the squeezed bags in the must through fermentation, then press 'em again? Right now the pectic enzyme is doing its thing...


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## seth8530 (Oct 25, 2013)

Of course I am still here, I left my bags inside during fermentation. It is normal to notice that they are getting turned to goop. Yeah, I would press them after the primary is done to get any juice that might be remaining in them.


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