Feedback on peach wine recipe please

[karrlot]

I am ready to make peach wine. I found the recipe here.

I'm wondering if you could look at my changes and give your opinion on my procedure and maybe answer my questions. Even if you could only answer one thing I would appreciate it.


15 lbs ripe peaches
3 lb ripe bananas
sugar
1 1/2 tsp acid blend (instead of citric acid)
1 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
15 pt boiling water
3 crushed Campden tablet
3 tsp yeast nutrient
Red Star Champagne yeast

Peel bananas, slice, and place in saucepan with three pints boiling water. Simmer 20 minutes, then strain without squeezing. Meanwhile, destone and slice peaches into primary. Cover with 12 pints boiling water. When cool, add banana juice, citric acid, crushed Campden tablets, and enough water to bring total to three gallons. Cover and wait 12 hours. Add pectic enzyme and bentonite, recover and wait another 12 hours. Stir in yeast nutrient and rehydrate yeast in a cup of warm water and pour into must. Recover and ferment 3-4 days, stirring twice daily. Remove mesh bag, squeezing well to extract as much juice as possible. Stir twice daily. When SG drops to 1.020 transfer to secondary and fit airlock without topping up. When active fermentation dies down, top up with water and refit airlock. Rack when there is 1/2" of sediment but no sooner than three weeks. Add meta every other time I rack. Bulk age 3 months or until clear. Bottle.

1) Why does he add sugar at different times?

2) My peaches are frozen whole. I'm going to take them from the freezer, wash them, and lay them out on the counter. As they thaw I'm going to quarter them, destone them, put them in the primary in a mesh bag.

3) I have heard that 3 lbs fruit per gallon is light so I am going to increase to 5 lbs peaches per gallon. (or should I do more?)

4) To make 3 gallons should I add enough water to bring total to 3 gallons or should I add to enough water to bring total to more than that so I wind up with 3 gallons after removing peaches?

4.5) Instead of citric acid, I have acid blend. Can I use that?

5) I am going to add bentonite to the primary before I add the yeast. How much should I add?

6) What is the best way to rehydrate yeast.

7) When it gets below 1.020 I will rack to a carboy.

8) Should I use an F pack? If so when do I use that?

 

[olusteebus]

One thing I think I would do is add some more, maybe not a lot, of peaches and and not squeeze the bag too hard at all. I have learned that for wine making, peaches is a very "pulpy" fruit and can take a long time to clear. Adding the extra peaches will give you the peach flavor without squeezing the pulp out of the bag.

I wish I had added bentonite during fermentation. I am going to have to wait many months before my peach clears. I used acid blend.

I put a cup of water in a cup into the microwave and heat for 15 or 20 seconds. When you stick your finger in it, you should not feel cool or heat - What my buddy calls "blood warm". Sprinkle yeast on it, let sit for a good while,(someone should say how long)

 

[Julie]

add bentonite at the beginning, this will help on clearing the wine also.

 

[wvbrewer]

I agree bentonite will help, and maybe super kleer later on.

 

[cohenhouse77]

I have muscadine peach that I stabilized and added sparkalloid to at the same time as two other batches. Needless to say, the peach is still settling and the others are already back sweetened and in bottles. Next peach I do I am using bentonite for sure.

 

[andy123]

#1 Staged sugar additions are if your making a high ABV wine instead of doing SG 1.150 and stressing your yeast you let it work a few days then re-sugar and let it work more. #2 Good. #3 more wont hurt.#4 You can have big losses when a fruit sack is pulled. I budget a 1/2 gallon of volume for it.#5 Peach is a cloud prone wine. I'd be willing to add bentonite b4 and after ferment, and if your adding extra fruit add extra pectic enzyme too. #6 it is hard to mess up champagne yeast. #7 Welches frozen white grape/peach might work after stabilizing. Or with all that fruit maybe just sugar syrup.

 

[Turock]

We made this year's peach with no water. If you freeze the fruit, there is no need to add water. I don't like water in fruit wines--makes something like peach too dilute. Depending on the peach variety, the flavor can be kind of delicate to begin with and water additions can make a tasteless result. Our poundage amounted to about 10 pounds per gallon.

Always bentonite peach in the primary,as others said. You'll thank yourself later when you don't have to struggle to clear it.

 

[Boatboy24]

I agree with Turock about adding the water. I've only done one peach so far. After removing the pits, I had about 7 pounds per gallon. I needed about a gallon of liquid and was told to use Welches white grape/peach at 4 cans per gallon of water. It's still clearing (started in July and haven't used any clearing agents), but I expect in another month or two it'll be ready to bottle.

The other thing I learned is to make more than you think you could want. I started with four gallons, hoping to get three out of it. I'll probably end up with two and a half when it's all said and done, and I've gone through a full bottle finished peach wine topping off. Next time, I'll start with five.

 

[karrlot]

Okay - so far so good (I think).


Pitched yeast on 11/4/12
SG 1.094


11/9
SG 1.024
added 2 C H2O + 6 C sugar
SG 1.060


11/13
Removed mesh bag with fruit
SG 1.030


11/17/12
66°
SG 1.010
Racked from bucket to 3 gallon carboy, 1/2 gallon jug, and two pint jars.

I added Bentonite in the primary.

Do I need to add more Bentonite to the carboy?

How often should I rack this?

 

[Turock]

No---don't add more bentonite to the secondary. Use only the amount in the directions on the package because you can get off flavors if you use too much.

When you get a good amount of debris in the bottom of the carboy, rack it off. You always have to do several rackings when you bentonite the primary.

 

[karrlot]

There was only a dusting of sediment on the bottom of the bucket.
There is already about 1/2" of sediment in the bottom of the 3 gallon carboy.
So is the bentonite suspended in the wine or did I leave it in the sludge of the bucket?

 

[Turock]

The bulk of it is in the wine--that's why a bentonited wine can almost look like milk when you come off the primary. Be patient with it while it does it's job. When you get an inch of lees, rack it off. Your next rackings may only have 1/2" of lees.