Peach Wine...

[DizzyIzzy]

I made extract myself with vodka and vanilla beans. You can do that while it's aging (2-3 months) and have it ready to use when you're ready to bench test before bottling.

I also make my own extract with vodka and vanilla beans and have been aging now for 5-7 years. Every couple of years I just add another bean......good stuff!

 

[mainshipfred]

I found something interesting with my peach. There are 5 fermenters all with the same additives except for the yeast. The pulp and juice in all 5 fermenters are a different color from yellow to orangish. They have been fermenting in my cooler since Sunday afternoon and I noticed the color difference when I punched down Tuesday morning. Normally after pressing I combine all of them but this time I think I'll age them separately. I'm really interested seeing what the different yeast have to offer other than color.

 

[Aiserock]

@mainshipfred, are you fermenting in a cooler to keep the temperature lower? If so, what temp range are you trying to maintain?

Thanks!

 

[mainshipfred]

The cooler is set a 57 otherwise it would be fermenting at around 90 which is way too hot. Even if the temps were cooler I would still ferment it in the cooler which is also what I do with all the fruit and white wines. I believe extending the ferment with a cooler temp helps maintain the fruit forwardness.

 

[mainshipfred]

Just skimmed the cap off of one of the fermenters that had 6.5 gallons or so of must and ended up with 5 gallons of wine without pressing the pulp. If the yield holds true for the other 4 fermenters I'll end up with over 25 gallons. I would have never guessed the yield would be that high and that's with no water added.

 

[franc1969]

I expect to have very low loss as well. VERY juicy peaches, even before dead ripe. I'm going to call and ask what variety of peach, they have been amazing to eat all week. I let them go until they were almost melting. I got 6 gallons of must in four fermenters, 1.050 SG, 3.3 or 3.4 pH. I really need to get my meters agreeing.

 

[mainshipfred]

I expect to have very low loss as well. VERY juicy peaches, even before dead ripe. I'm going to call and ask what variety of peach, they have been amazing to eat all week. I let them go until they were almost melting. I got 6 gallons of must in four fermenters, 1.050 SG, 3.3 or 3.4 pH. I really need to get my meters agreeing.

Our SG is about the same however my pH of 3.87 was a bit higher. I had to add acid blend to get it to 3.50

 

[franc1969]

An update- I tried 4 different yeasts, since they were all recommended for peach or whites. Two I have used before, two not, my first peach wine.
QA23 - Very fast fermentation, very good color. Also very fast to flocculate, and I can see through the wine now. I used this on Albarino and Malvasia, similar fast experience and great aromas.
D47 - About two days behind in fermenting, lees and yeast dropped after a few days, but cannot see through it. Lots of body, seems darker than Premier Rouge.
Cote des blancs- slowest fermenter by several days, it was still going when I pulled all the pulp. Color is almost the same as QA23, might be the same after the haze finally goes, it is clear halfway down the carboy then you can see the thickness. Took a long time to finally drop yeast. Did well before on apple.
Premier Rouge- Fermentation went same as D47, pulp remainder and most yeast has fallen. In no way clear, can't see though even the top of the carboy.
I plan on moving these batches to other carboys in a few days, and trying to ignore them until December. They all smell amazing, so can't really have gone wrong.

 

[mainshipfred]

An update- I tried 4 different yeasts, since they were all recommended for peach or whites. Two I have used before, two not, my first peach wine.
QA23 - Very fast fermentation, very good color. Also very fast to flocculate, and I can see through the wine now. I used this on Albarino and Malvasia, similar fast experience and great aromas.
D47 - About two days behind in fermenting, lees and yeast dropped after a few days, but cannot see through it. Lots of body, seems darker than Premier Rouge.
Cote des blancs- slowest fermenter by several days, it was still going when I pulled all the pulp. Color is almost the same as QA23, might be the same after the haze finally goes, it is clear halfway down the carboy then you can see the thickness. Took a long time to finally drop yeast. Did well before on apple.
Premier Rouge- Fermentation went same as D47, pulp remainder and most yeast has fallen. In no way clear, can't see though even the top of the carboy.
I plan on moving these batches to other carboys in a few days, and trying to ignore them until December. They all smell amazing, so can't really have gone wrong.

Interesting since we used 3 of the same yeasts but I experienced different results. The Cotes des Blanc finished in 3 days and the QA23 took the longest, a good week longer. I only had 2 grams of an old D47 and it finished in the middle of the pack. They are all surprisingly clear except for the QA23 which hasn't really started to clear. I used about 3.5 grams/gallon of pectic enzyme in all of them. The yeasts in order of their finish was Cotes des Blanc 3 days, BA11 5 days, D47 7 days, 58W3 10-11 days and QA23 over 14 days probably closer to 20 days.

Again, I find the differing results interesting, as well as the color difference of the different wines.

 

[Steve Wargo]

An update- I tried 4 different yeasts, since they were all recommended for peach or whites. Two I have used before, two not, my first peach wine.
QA23 - Very fast fermentation, very good color. Also very fast to flocculate, and I can see through the wine now. I used this on Albarino and Malvasia, similar fast experience and great aromas.
D47 - About two days behind in fermenting, lees and yeast dropped after a few days, but cannot see through it. Lots of body, seems darker than Premier Rouge.
Cote des blancs- slowest fermenter by several days, it was still going when I pulled all the pulp. Color is almost the same as QA23, might be the same after the haze finally goes, it is clear halfway down the carboy then you can see the thickness. Took a long time to finally drop yeast. Did well before on apple.
Premier Rouge- Fermentation went same as D47, pulp remainder and most yeast has fallen. In no way clear, can't see though even the top of the carboy.
I plan on moving these batches to other carboys in a few days, and trying to ignore them until December. They all smell amazing, so can't really have gone wrong.

D47 turned out to be very good for my peach wine. I let it clear naturally in the carboy and racked three maybe 4 times. Eventually it became crystal clear. I did use pectic enzyme and a Tbs of bentonite before fermentation. Mixed it a few times during fermentation. Left in secondary on the lees maybe a little longer than usual. The ferment temps were in the low 60s. The 2019 Peach wine is a winner. When young it was a little thin, and tart, as expected. I've used other yeast in the past like 71b, EC118. So far D47 is the winner. Good body, and mouthfeel, and taste. If I didn't know better I'd say its a white grape wine. Almost forgot, I did add a little lemon zest after the second rack.

 

[franc1969]

Interesting since we used 3 of the same yeasts but I experienced different results. The Cotes des Blanc finished in 3 days and the QA23 took the longest, a good week longer.

That is completely opposite of what I'd expect. Are you sure the batches weren't switched? I am curious if you and I got different batches of yeast, too.
I don't know the weight of pectic enzyme that was added. I couldn't find my scale, and it was late. I threw in what was about 5x recommended rate by tablespoons. I figured the earlier, the more, the better. Once lysozyme has had it's time, my plan is a 12 liter and 4 liter for each, plus bottled leftovers. At the end I will mix them all, but my chance to evaluate yeasts.

 

[mainshipfred]

That is completely opposite of what I'd expect. Are you sure the batches weren't switched? I am curious if you and I got different batches of yeast, too.
I don't know the weight of pectic enzyme that was added. I couldn't find my scale, and it was late. I threw in what was about 5x recommended rate by tablespoons. I figured the earlier, the more, the better. Once lysozyme has had it's time, my plan is a 12 liter and 4 liter for each, plus bottled leftovers. At the end I will mix them all, but my chance to evaluate yeasts.

Jim Gearing also used Cotes des Blanc and told me his finished in 4 days. My pectic was about 3 tablespoons per 6.5 gallon batch and I also used lysozyme.

 

[Aiserock]

So,

I finally got a larger fermenter for Christmas from my wife this year. Saturday, I went to the LBS and got a mesh bag, took the peaches out of the freezer (60-65#) and put them in the bag, in the fermenter to let them thaw out. Last night, checked my pH, was sitting about 3.4, SG was roughly 1.080. Added 5-6 lbs. of sugar and about a half gallon of water, after that I got a SG around 1.100. I'm not certain that all of the sugar dissolved in solution so I don't know if that number is accurate, but for my purposes it will be ok.

I should have taken a little more time to check everything but I started around 8p and my bedtime is 10:30 and I had to run to the store to grab more sugar. I thought I had some, I knew I should have grabbed some from he LBS when I was there. Anyway, room temp is about 63F, using EC-1118 for yeast. This morning it seems like it is working, with the temp being chilly, I expect it to be a slower ferment but we'll see.

Just updating my progress, I will keep you posted and post some pictures later tonight.

 

[Scooter68]

So,

I finally got a larger fermenter for Christmas from my wife this year. Saturday, I went to the LBS and got a mesh bag, took the peaches out of the freezer (60-65#) and put them in the bag, in the fermenter to let them thaw out. Last night, checked my pH, was sitting about 3.4, SG was roughly 1.080. Added 5-6 lbs. of sugar and about a half gallon of water, after that I got a SG around 1.100. I'm not certain that all of the sugar dissolved in solution so I don't know if that number is accurate, but for my purposes it will be ok.

I should have taken a little more time to check everything but I started around 8p and my bedtime is 10:30 and I had to run to the store to grab more sugar. I thought I had some, I knew I should have grabbed some from he LBS when I was there. Anyway, room temp is about 63F, using EC-1118 for yeast. This morning it seems like it is working, with the temp being chilly, I expect it to be a slower ferment but we'll see.

Just updating my progress, I will keep you posted and post some pictures later tonight.

Bit of an old and long thread to post to but... MAKE SURE you add plenty of pectic enzyme, pectinase or whatever product you have to break down the pectin. Pectic Haze is a serious bummer on a peach wine.

 

[Aiserock]

Bit of an old and long thread to post to but... MAKE SURE you add plenty of pectic enzyme, pectinase or whatever product you have to break down the pectin. Pectic Haze is a serious bummer on a peach wine.

Yeah, I started this thread, as you may have noticed I am a procrastinator and this idea has been a long time coming

I did manage to follow the advice that I have learned from this thread (and others) and added a healthy dose of pectinase up front, and that combined with freezing the peaches seems to be helping. There is nothing but mush, skins, and peach juice in the bag now. I had no issues getting juice for testing, smells good too!