Freezing Peaches for wine

[winesleeper]

Friends stop by with 25 lbs of fresh Georgia peaches. But, I do not have time to start a 6 gallon batch of wine. So I want to freeze them now and make the wine at a later date. What do I need to do to them before putting them in the freezer? Also, I’m thinking I will only need 16 lbs for 6 gallons of wine. Is this correct? Will I need to make an f-pack? If so how many lbs for it?

 

[bkisel]

My wife wants me to make a Peach version of Dragon Blood. I'm thinking of using ~8 pounds of peaces vs. the 6 pounds of mixed berries that the DB recipe calls for. I'm guessing that for a standard peach wine recipe your 16 pounds for 6 gallons will probably work.

I'm waiting for August to get fresh peaches. I think that before freezing I'll need to pit, quarter and maybe dip in a lemon or k-meta solution before putting into the freezer. Very interested to hear some knowledgeable folks responding to your post.

 

[dralarms]

Just freeze them, and I would use all 25 lbs.

 

[Turock]

Yes, just pit them,slice them if you want, and freeze. No need for meta or lemon.

When we make peach wine, we consider that we need 10# of fruit per gallon. Use no water, or else the flavor will be very diluted. Peach is a delicate flavor and you need lots of fruit to make even 5 gallons of wine. Our peach has big,big flavor. In order to be successful with good flavors on fruit wines, you need to be very heavy on the fruit.

 

[bkisel]

Yes, just pit them,slice them if you want, and freeze. No need for meta or lemon.

When we make peach wine, we consider that we need 10# of fruit per gallon. Use no water, or else the flavor will be very diluted. Peach is a delicate flavor and you need lots of fruit to make even 5 gallons of wine. Our peach has big,big flavor. In order to be successful with good flavors on fruit wines, you need to be very heavy on the fruit.

Good info, thanks.

Can peach extract be used to tweak a peach wine should it come up a bit short on flavor?

 

[Boatboy24]

I'll second what Turock said. With 25 lbs, I'd be going for more like 3 gallons. No water. If you must add water to get the volume up, I've read you should use 4 cans of Welches white grape/peach per gallon of water. Use bentonite to aid in clearing.

 

[jkrug]

You can, but be careful on the amount you use. You can't back out when you add to much.

 

[salcoco]

do bench trials on peach extract. safer than adding it to bulk wine until you know what is the ratio.

 

[dralarms]

That extract leaves a bitter taste. I used it once, never again.

 

[bkisel]

That extract leaves a bitter taste. I used it once, never again.

That's all I need to hear. Thanks.

 

[Turock]

If you freeze the peaches first, it yields so much juice that you don't need any other additions. If you're having trouble buying enough peaches for the amount you want to make, because the cost is too high, hook up with an orchard and ask them to call you when they have seconds or trash fruit that they can't sell. They'll always have fruit with bruises or rotten spots that they can't sell. Our whole batch of peach wine--15 gallons--was made from trash fruit that they were going to feed to the pigs. We paid 25 cents per pound for 150 pounds of peaches and some nectarines. Made a fabulous peach wine with very little loss from cutting out the rotten spots. Stay heavy on the fruit and you'll never need to bulk up the flavor.

I agree with the bentonite. Your wine will be brillantly clear if you use it, and you won't have the pectin haze that peach is notorious for.

 

[terroirdejeroir]

Just freeze them, and I would use all 25 lbs.

If you haven't already frozen them I would recommend putting them into mesh bags or nylons and then putting them into freezer bags. Makes it a lot easier when you thaw them - you can just put them directly into a sanitized fermentation bucket.