Strawberry and peach

[ffemt128]

I'll be taking the strawberries and peaches out of the freezer this weekend with anticipation of starting both batches on Sunday or Monday. I have 62 lbs of strawberries and 72 lbs of peaches. I was planning on a 5 gallon batch of each. I would be using approximately 50 lbs for the strawberry in primary with the remaining reserved for fpac and I was thinking 55 lbs of the peaches with the remaining 15 lbs reserved for fpac. Strawberries will be steam juiced.


I'm looking for recommendations on either steam juicing the peaches or tossing them into 2 primaries in bags. Any thoughts on this.

 

[FTC Wines]

ffemt, I make a lot of Peach wine, 20 gals. this year. I never juice, steam or freeze them, just cut into 1/8 ths or 1/4ths. & put in the straining bag. This year I also made 20 gals. of Apple wine, 15 my normal way, simmering, & 5 by freezing the apple pieces. The frozen apple wine has cleared in 1/2 of the time. Soooo I would just put the frozen peaches in a bag in the primary. Roy

 

[ffemt128]

Thanks Roy, that was my initial plan was to put them in the bag this time around. I'll be able to get peaches this year again if this turns out ok so I want to get it started. Didn't have empty carboys when the peaches originally came. Your recommendation on yeast. I was planning on lavin 1122.

 

[FTC Wines]

Doug, I use ec1118, my all purpose go to yeast, I'm sure others are better. With 55 lbs. of peaches per 5 gal. you will have a very "peachy" wine, & not sure you'll need an F-Pac. I normally use 5 lbs. per gal, & it's a very nice light wine with a peach flavor, This year I also made a 5 gal, batch with 10 lbs. per gal, so far it's 7 mo, old & it' s "very PEACHY" . No mistaking the peach flavor! Roy

 

[ffemt128]

Yes it will be, I was hoping to be able to identify the peaches. Maybe I'll shoot for a 6 gallon final ending batch. It will still be over 8 lbs of fruit per gallon. Just got done cleaning and sanitizing 2 primaries. Will pull fruit from freezer later and place into sanitized bags. Going to weigh each bag so I know where I'm at for each primary. Once fruit thaws, I'll add water, kmeta, pectic enzyme, all the necessary items to each primary then take sg reading the next day. I'm figuring it will be Monday, maybe late Sunday, before I pitch yeast on this.

I pulled out 5 gallon ziploc bags of frozen peaches for each primary. Each bag is between 4-5.5 lbs. I still have 3 left in the freezer. I'll weigh each and get a total for each primary shortly.

 

[ffemt128]

One primary will have 23 lbs 11 oz and the other will have 23 lbs 5 oz for a total of 47 lbs. At 6 gallons that will be just under 8 lbs per gallon. Sounds like a winner.

 

[FTC Wines]

Doug, If your into experimenting you can make what Iv'e made for 5 yrs. now. It's B.S.Peach Wine. I use 1lb. bananas, 2 lb. strawberries, & 8 lbs. peaches. It makes a great summer wine. Or you could try blending the Strawberry & Peach after clearing, before bottling. Roy

 

[ffemt128]

Doug, If your into experimenting you can make what Iv'e made for 5 yrs. now. It's B.S.Peach Wine. I use 1lb. bananas, 2 lb. strawberries, & 8 lbs. peaches. It makes a great summer wine. Or you could try blending the Strawberry & Peach after clearing, before bottling. Roy

I was definately going to experiment with some blending post clearing. I heard strawberry peach is excellent.

 

[ffemt128]

Peaches were just about thawed from yesterday so I dumped into my straining bag and added kmeta and 2 1/2 gallons of water to each primary. Will add the pectic enzyme tomorrow along with sugar to 1.085 or there about and then pitch the yeast on Monday morning.

 

[ffemt128]

Pitched the yeast last night(1122), fermenting nicely this am. Temps in the basement are about 58 degrees so this will be a slow ferment which is fine with me.

 

[Auburn-Bob]

My first batch of wine was peach, and I am currently working on a batch of strawberry started from preserves. But I never made peach-strawberry. That should be interesting.

 

[SarahRides]

MMmmmmm, going to back sweeten and bottle my strawberry peach in the next month or so, just in time for Easter! My first attempt at it, can't wait to see how it came out!

 

[ffemt128]

My peach has been fermenting almost a week. I've been punching down the bags 2x a day. I want to check the sg later today and see where I'm at. Temps have been in the mid 50's but I know fermentation is occuring. Smells wonderful so far.

 

[ffemt128]

Just checked the peach. Both primaries are sitting at 1.000 sg, looks like I may be transferring to secondary today. I'll likely put into a better bottle for now then transfer to a carboy at the next racking. I can splash rack into the BB easier than a carboy with the large funnel. Next racking after primary will be with vacuum pump.

 

[joeswine]

knowning the players

PEACHES,like all other fruit is seasonal and getting the best in sugar content is not always possible,freezing peaches not at their peak isn't the answer either,but if you could hook up with a produce stand in you area and make a deal that you want really ripe peaches and what qualities you need then you will get peaches,at there peak and may be at a good price,here in jersey when our peaches come out its a mad scramble to get them ,but they have been picking them not at their finest but semi-hard and that's not good,read ( cleaning up) and see what happened to my two batches and the end result,next year I will place a standing order for very ripe peaches and even thought I may lose some,they will be full of juice and sugar,for making liquid gold,its a question of timing and sometimes you have to move on the fruits terms.

 

[ffemt128]

I was quite surprised last night when I pulled the Peaches from the juice. I squeezed the bags of peaches gently to extract all the juice possible from them. I ended up with just shy of 10 gallons total. I realize I will lose a considerable amount from sediment due to squeezeing the fruit, but that's ok. I was curious how much juice I would end up with in total. I wasn't expecting that much and was pleasantly surprised. We'll see how it turns out. Maybe if I make this again next year I'll limit the water to 1 1/2 gallons per primary.

Here's the where I got my basic recipe except I used 47 lbs of peaches.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3513

 

[ffemt128]

Figured I'd post an update to the progress. I ended with 6 gallons of strawberry. I back sweetened a gallon of it over the weekend to 1.006 and it is phenomenal. I still need to back sweeten the remaining 5 gallons which I will do next month.

The peach, I added sparkoloid to in order to aid in clearing. Cleared crystal clear. I back sweetened this on Sunday evening to 1.006 as well. It has a very subtle peach flavor, and is a very light peach color. The taste is very refreshing and light tasting. I think this will be a very nice summer wine. I have 9 gallons of this remaining and will likely bottle 3 gallons this week and allow the remaining 6 gallons to age another month or so.

 

[ffemt128]

Here's a picture of the peach.

 

[winemaker_3352]

PEACHES,like all other fruit is seasonal and getting the best in sugar content is not always possible,freezing peaches not at their peak isn't the answer either,but if you could hook up with a produce stand in you area and make a deal that you want really ripe peaches and what qualities you need then you will get peaches,at there peak and may be at a good price,here in jersey when our peaches come out its a mad scramble to get them ,but they have been picking them not at their finest but semi-hard and that's not good,read ( cleaning up) and see what happened to my two batches and the end result,next year I will place a standing order for very ripe peaches and even thought I may lose some,they will be full of juice and sugar,for making liquid gold,its a question of timing and sometimes you have to move on the fruits terms.

That is exactly what i did - they gave me really ripe peaches for $.50 per pound!!