# Peachy?



## Old Philosopher (Jun 23, 2010)

Long time no key!
I came upon some fresh peaches, and reviewed the recipes here. Only have two questions:

What is the advantage over pulping, as opposed to dicing (leaving small pieces, and less 'goo')?
I read 'stoned and quartered'. Even in the recipe using pulp, there was no mention of removing the skins. Is it necessary to get rid of the skins?

Thanks for any info.


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## Midwest Vintner (Jun 24, 2010)

IIRC, we leave the skins on. 

watch the acid on this one. it can high in acid. also, it is a slow clearer.


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## Old Philosopher (Jun 24, 2010)

Midwest Vintner said:


> IIRC, we leave the skins on.
> 
> watch the acid on this one. it can high in acid. also, it is a slow clearer.


Thanks, MV! Any suggestions on how to control the acid content?


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## Wade E (Jun 24, 2010)

Skins add to body with also a little bit of tannin, no need to remove the skin but I will suggest using a fermenting bag with peaches as they are a big mess later.


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## Old Philosopher (Jun 24, 2010)

Skins on...enzimes are doing nicely...everything's in a bag. Adding yeast/sugars tonight.


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## Wade E (Jun 24, 2010)

How may lbs per gallon?


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## Julie (Jun 24, 2010)

Nice to see you back, OP


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## Old Philosopher (Jun 24, 2010)

*Sugar/gal*



Wade E said:


> How may lbs per gallon?



Well.... I'm doing 7# of peaches for a 1 gal batch. A little more than a gallon to start with, allowing for racking down the road.

A little unconventional, but I let the hydrometer tell me how much sugar. I'll get the batch set, and take an SG reading, then calculate how many gr/l of sugar to add to get up around 1.08-1.09. I pull off some liquid from the batch to make a syrup, so all I'm adding to the volume is the sugar itself, and not diluting if further. I usually come out slightly on the low side, and might have to adjust up a bit. The last time I tried to adjust a 5 gallon recipe that called for 10# of sugar, my SG was all over the place.


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## Old Philosopher (Jun 24, 2010)

Julie said:


> Nice to see you back, OP



Nice to be back! I'll always drop in when having a "senior moment", or have a puzzlement you guys can help me with.


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## Wade E (Jun 24, 2010)

Sounds like a good one there buddy! Thats the way I always adjust my sg. Never just follow a recipe even if its yours as sugar in fruit can change drastically from year to year or even from place to place.


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## Old Philosopher (Jun 24, 2010)

Wade E said:


> Sounds like a good one there buddy! Thats the way I always adjust my sg. Never just follow a recipe even if its yours as sugar in fruit can change drastically from year to year or even from place to place.



LOL! <whew - afraid I was straying from the Path.>

My wife told my daughter, after the young'un moved out of the house:
"Recipe? I don't have a recipe for that. Recipes are for people who don't know what a 'dash' or a 'pinch' is."


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## Tom (Jun 24, 2010)

I will CONFIRM if for one gallon you are set for some fine wine. Add a f-pac for Great wine


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## Old Philosopher (Jun 24, 2010)

Tom said:


> I will CONFIRM if for one gallon you are set for some fine wine. Add a f-pac for Great wine


What would you recommenf for an f-pak, beyond a simple syrup?


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## Tom (Jun 24, 2010)

25-30% of the #'s used for the primary.


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## Old Philosopher (Jun 24, 2010)

Tom said:


> 25-30% of the #'s used for the primary.



....And if I don't have any fruit left? ?


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## Tom (Jun 24, 2010)

well either let it go dry and maybe back sweeten OR buy the extra fruit, make a f-pac and back sweeten


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## Old Philosopher (Jun 24, 2010)

Tom said:


> well either let it go dry and maybe back sweeten OR buy the extra fruit, make a f-pac and back sweeten



Okay.. Like everything else, I just go with the flow. I have a few days to think about it, and then play with it. 

Thanks for the advise, gang!


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 3, 2010)

Holy, crap! My peach went from SG 1.085 to .997 in *seven days* in the primary!
Gotta rack it and watch the SG closer. Since I have so many 1 gal jugs, I'll probably just bulk age it while it clears. Tastes fairly peachy, so a little syrup may be all it needs.


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## Wade E (Jul 3, 2010)

1 gallon batches ferment out very fast!


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 3, 2010)

Wade E said:


> 1 gallon batches ferment out very fast!



Only makes sense, since I used a whole packet of yeast in the thing. 

BTW: Love your avatar!


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## Tom (Jul 3, 2010)

I have 18 gallons of Peach (fresh) going. SG went from 1.086 to 1.010 in 3 days. Pulled pulp then and will rack tomorrow to secondary. Have f-pac all ready.. (steamed)


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 3, 2010)

Tom said:


> I have 18 gallons of Peach (fresh) going. SG went from 1.086 to 1.010 in 3 days. Pulled pulp then and will rack tomorrow to secondary. Have f-pac all ready.. (steamed)


Somehow I ended up with 2 full gallons in the secondary today.
Tom, save me some research here. You are doing the f-pak at the same time you rack to the secondary? Then you'll back sweeten later if necessary?


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## Tom (Jul 3, 2010)

er yes/no. Steamed Peach ready for f-pac. Butt, I wait till it settles more in the secondary, rack leaving ^&%&$ behind, add meta and sorbate, mix well, add f-pac. mix well. In your case do the mixing in 1 container then split into different glass containers. I backsweeten later. *Remember 3 :T's"*
*Taste* to see if has enough FLAVOR
*Taste* to see if it sweet enough after you add simple syrup
*Taste* before you bottle when clear.

Remember you will need to add clearing agents and rack a few times


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 3, 2010)

Tom said:


> ...*Taste* before you bottle when clear.
> ...


Trust me.... This stuff will never see a bottle!


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## Tom (Jul 3, 2010)

U "must" know TROY !!


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 9, 2010)

Tom said:


> er yes/no. Steamed Peach ready for f-pac. Butt, I wait till it settles more in the secondary, rack leaving ^&%&$ behind, add meta and sorbate, mix well, add f-pac. mix well. ...



Tom, I'm bugging you because I need details on making this peach f-pak.
You said you had steamed peaches ready for the f-pak, but I can't seem to find the actual process of steaming fruit for an f-pak. I know I read it on the board before, but my searches are coming up empty.
The steps are......?


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## Tom (Jul 9, 2010)

Well 1st you need a steam juicer.






Once you have one of these you can steam fruit. 

Once you have steamed juice I then take at least 2 qts and simmer it to 1/2 (1qt) taht would be my f=pac from steamed juice.
Now I an ready to add a strawberry f-pac and will use 3 qts simmered to ONE qt. Why.. because strawberry is mostly water.


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 9, 2010)

I don't have a steam juicer, but I have an automatic rice cooker with a steaming basket. If I use that to steam the peach pieces to a pulp, and then reduce (simmer) the water to 1/3 original volume, it might work. Humm....


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## Tom (Jul 9, 2010)

No it will not work :-(


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 9, 2010)

After a little research, I may be able to make a jerry-rigged steam juicer using an angel food cake pan and a colander in a double-boiler. :< If I get it to work, I'll post a pic of the mess. I only have about 3-4 pounds of fruit to steam this time, so it's worth a try, just to see if I can pull it off.


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## UglyBhamGuy (Jul 9, 2010)

Even if you don't get it to work, post the pic and maybe tell what happened that you think caused it to not work. Someone else may be able to build on your design and get something usable.


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 9, 2010)

UglyBhamGuy said:


> Even if you don't get it to work, post the pic and maybe tell what happened that you think caused it to not work. Someone else may be able to build on your design and get something usable.


Well, the first stumbling block was that a cake pan is not sealed at the bottom. Nest candidate: a bunt (cake) pan. The next problem is finding a colander that will fit inside my 20 qt stock pot. Ironing out the bugs as I go along. Hahaha! If it works, I won't have to spend $150 on a juice steamer that I might use twice a year.


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## ffemt128 (Jul 9, 2010)

Old Philosopher said:


> Well, the first stumbling block was that a cake pan is not sealed at the bottom. Nest candidate: a bunt (cake) pan. The next problem is finding a colander that will fit inside my 20 qt stock pot. Ironing out the bugs as I go along. Hahaha! If it works, I won't have to spend $150 on a juice steamer that I might use twice a year.



I picked up my steamer for $79 on Amazon. Havent used it yet but Its ready to go.


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 10, 2010)

*Solution*

Well, SWMBO came up with the solution, even though it does take a little specialized equipment.
Her new cookware set has a nice double boiler steamer. She came up with a catch bowl that just fit in the lower pan. Here's the set up:











Here's the juice, ready to be reduced, that I got out of about 3 pounds of peaches:


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 11, 2010)

Tom said:


> ...
> Remember you will need to add clearing agents and rack a few times



Any suggestions on clearing "agents", other than a commercial product? I don't have access to specialty stores. I've heard a lot of different things, but not sure what to believe. Don't want to screw up this batch.


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## Tom (Jul 11, 2010)

If you cant get anything over the net try egg WHITES. One egg white for 6 gallons. OR try some unflavored gelatin (knox). I'm sure you can almost anything wher you live over the net.


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## Old Philosopher (Jul 11, 2010)

Tom said:


> If you cant get anything over the net try egg WHITES. One egg white for 6 gallons. OR try some unflavored gelatin (knox). I'm sure you can almost anything wher you live over the net.


If the Knox will work, I'd rather do that. I try to avoid the cc over the net stuff. 
Thanks!


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## Old Philosopher (Aug 6, 2010)

Old Philosopher said:


> Trust me.... This stuff will never see a bottle!


Quoting myself...how pathetic is that?
Well, I bottled the peach wine after 45 days. Then I shared a bottle with my wife. 3 bottles later in one evening...she dragged me to the store to get more peaches the very next day. 
So there's another 3 gallons in primary right now.


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