High Fructose Corn Syrup...what about it?

[Intheswamp]

I bought a couple of cans of peaches the other day figuring on using them to make some wine. It was an impulse buy. I was in a hurry picking up something else, saw the peaches, blah, blah, blah. Anyhow, I'm the proud owner of them and just read that ingredients include HFCS.

1. HFCS is bad for you.

2. I've read that HFCS is completely fermented just as refined sugar is and that there is no longer any HFCS in the must after the fermentation.

So, in regards to making wine, should I be concerned about the High Fructose Corn Syrup in the cans of peaches?

 

[cmason1957]

Fructose is fructose it ferments. Don't worry.

 

[Intheswamp]

Thanks @cmason1957 . That makes life much simpler!!!

 

[Scooter68]

My first batch of peach wine was a mish-mash 4 lbs Fresh (not fully ripe peache - meh) A large can of canned peaches, and a bag of frozen peaches. It got me started but now I go to the local peach orchard and purchase a bushel or more of "Overripe/Bruised/Scarred) peaches and use those. Still have about 4-6 lbs I saved for none wine use. Started out as 50 lbs.

 

[Intheswamp]

Sounds good, Scooter68, just gotta get my ducks in a row. We do have peach growers north of me about 100 miles...Chilton County Peaches. I might just have to make a road trip one day and snag some...gotta get some freezer space available beforehand though so as to make the trip worthwhile.

 

[Scooter68]

See if you can call ahead and tell them what you are looking for. Those peaches that might not be so pretty and maybe be almost ready to spoil. THOSE are the best. I usually end up with about 60% of scarred (Not pretty to the eye and not yet fully ripe) and 40% bruised/over-ripe peaches. The overripe I process right away and the other I set out to ripen fully. I just have to keep the wife from eating too many of those latter ones before I can process them. I always take along a bottle of wine, just in case they are curious and if they are, I offer them a free bottle, no consideration expected but knowing that IF they like it I might just get a better selection next time around.

 

[winemanden]

I have used Fructose to sweeten up my wine. The finished wine seemed to have a smoother taste than wine sweetened with granulated white sugar.
It's more expensive than sugar but OK by me as I'm a small scale winemaker.

 

[Intheswamp]

See if you can call ahead and tell them what you are looking for. Those peaches that might not be so pretty and maybe be almost ready to spoil. THOSE are the best. I usually end up with about 60% of scarred (Not pretty to the eye and not yet fully ripe) and 40% bruised/over-ripe peaches. The overripe I process right away and the other I set out to ripen fully. I just have to keep the wife from eating too many of those latter ones before I can process them. I always take along a bottle of wine, just in case they are curious and if they are, I offer them a free bottle, no consideration expected but knowing that IF they like it I might just get a better selection next time around.

I like the way you think. Thanks for the info and pointers!

 

[Intheswamp]

I have used Fructose to sweeten up my wine. The finished wine seemed to have a smoother taste than wine sweetened with granulated white sugar.
It's more expensive than sugar but OK by me as I'm a small scale winemaker.

Good to hear, @winemanden !!! I won't be adding pure HFCS but rather canned peaches that include it. Sounds like there might be a good characteristic that comes with it!!!

 

[Rice_Guy]

* fructose will ferment, HFCS is one of the magic ingredients used to make lite beer lower in calories.
* given an equal ratio of fructose and glucose (ie table sugar) there is a slight preference for glucose by the yeast. In early fermentation this doesn’t mean much, say till 14 or 16 % alcohol.
* fructose is sweeter than table sugar and we get more sweetness at any specific gravity.