Why does fresh peach smell so bad?

[Sammyk]

Did my first racking on my peach wine. Dang, it smells awful.

Quite awhile ago I did peach, mango, strawberry and pineapple (frozen fruit) and it had the same awful smell. But the latest racking it smelled wonderful. I am so glad I did not pitch it out!

So what is it about peach that makes it smell so bad? A friend said it smelled like a perm - the ladies here would know that smell.....

 

[Boatboy24]

So glad to read this! Not because you have a bad smelling wine, but because I do too and was getting concerned. I pitched yeast for mine on Sunday (Cotes des blanc). Monday and Tuesday, it smelled great. By yesterday morning, there was a bit of a "funk". Definitely still there this morning, though it greatly dissipates after a little stirring.

Edit: Forgot to mention that at 1.020, it tasted pretty darned good. At 1.010 - not so much.

 

[oldwhiskers]

If the smell is leans toward rotten eggs then the yeast may be stressed. I had one batch of apple that smelled terrible that I blame on a particular yeast I tried since my LHBS was out of the normal that I used. Since then I have not used that particular nutrient and have done an open ferment for the first three to four days before putting under an air lock, I have not had a problem since then.

 

[tonyandkory]

I think that may just be the way peach smells during ferment. Ours did the same thing.

 

[UBB]

Most odiferous fermentation I've experienced was my peach.

 

[saramc]

Every member in my home HATES the smell of wine fermenting, while I adore the odor! You learn to sniff out the good, the bad...and once the "rotten egg" whiff rears its ugly head just react calmly, give it a good stir, make sure the yeast are happy.

 

[Sammyk]

Of all the many fruit wines I have made, the peach is just horrible smelling. I almost threw out the peach/mango/strawberry/pineapple, it was that gross. I just don't know what the smell is. We racked the lees off the peach again today and one almost needed a gas mask. A very sickening smell. It was so gross smelling I did not taste it like I do all the other wines I have made. I always taste them at every racking but no way on the peach. It smelled lethal!

 

[Poormanfarm]

I am getting ready to make peach. What kind of yeast did you use for your batch?

 

[Sammyk]

Lalvin 72B I use that for all of my fruit wines and never had a problem. My gut feeling it is something in the peaches themselves that cause the smell

 

[Arne]

Did you guys wash your feet before you started smashing the fruit?? LOL, I have not made peach wine, but have read a lot of posts over the years that people complain about the smell. A friend of mine made it and he never did get rid of the oder. Finally went down the drain. Good luck with it. Arne.

 

[Boatboy24]

I'll be racking mine to secondary tonight or tomorrow. I was sitting at 1.000 this morning. Hard to believe that this might be producing some wonderful peachy wine a year from now.

Poormanfarm: Cotes des blanc is another good yeast for fruit wines. That's what I'm using on mine.

Sammy: we may have to do a trade next summer to compare our batches.

 

[Sammyk]

Arne the peach/mango/strawberry/pineapple had the same smell and I was so tempted to pour it down the drain every time I racked. Two weeks ago at 3 months, I had add kmeta to all the wines in the crawl space. It was wonderful smelling them. I actually gag when I pour the lees down the drain because of the stench. And it is throwing so much lees, I had to rack 2 days in a row. I don't use finings as I prefer to age and let it settle out.

 

[Sammyk]

Boatboy, I did some of mine with vanilla beans for the heck of it. It is really disappointing to see how few gallons I will end up using 50 pounds of peaches. There is a slew of lees and I had to rack 2 days in a row and now on the 3rd day, there are more lees again.

 

[bob1]

Peach is one of my favorites I used my beer fermenter(fridge) set at 60 degree with the 71b and it smells a lot better also did this years apple the same way i Have the same report.

 

[cohenhouse77]

I am glad to find this post. I am three days into a peach SP, and it smells kinda like vomit. I started the SP like usual, but added 1/2 gallon of peach cider. I used half of an apple slurry to kick start it and it is fermenting like crazy, but WHOA!, stink like I have never had yet. I like the smell of fermentation. This smells like the fairgrounds right outside the big spinning tilt-a-wheels. Time will tell.

 

[cohenhouse77]

I ate some canned peaches this evening, and was very surprised to find that bad odor as an underlying odor of the peaches. I guess it was always there with peaches, but you do not notice it until you ferment out all the good peach smells. I hope it fades with time.

 

[Deezil]

It'll fade and blend its way back in to the facets of the peach wine over time... I've heard the "vomit" analogy a few times in this house

Degassing when fermentation is done, helps... Doesnt cure it - time does that - but degassing helps

 

[cohenhouse77]

Interestingly, I was considering pitching the whole 5 gallons of peach, when my new yeast nutrient came in the mail. I had 5 tsp in the 5 gallons already, but chose to add more. I added three more tsp. and the must frothed and bubbled like crazy. Next morning the smell was gone and it smells like peach again. Maybe peach just requires more nutrient?