Too Many Peaches

I have a peach tree in may back yard. This time of year it produces waaay more peaches than I can eat or give away. I'm thinking about a hard peach cider.

Has anyone tried making it from fresh peaches? Roughly how many pounds of peaches does it take for one gallon of juice? Should I leave the skins on when pressing?

The only real obstacle is a press but I think I could DIY something that would do the job.

Thanks in advance.

I think if you want to press them it might be an idea to pick them while still a bit firm, rather than fully ripe and soft. If you are going to ferment with the pulp and skins let them get really soft to let the pectin break down, though it depends what pests are after your fruit. you would need somewhere between 8 and 15 pounds per gallon of juice, depending how well you press them.

or, do a peach wine. That's a great wine!

I don't have a good supply of peaches, but if I did, I'd do the second wine on this page:

winemaking: requested recipe (Peach Wines)

You have a choice of pressing to get the juice or fermenting on the skins in a cheesecloth bag. I used to prefer on the skins because it is so simple, you just mush it up (add sugar and water if you need) then ferment it, no fancy equipment needed.
Since I made a press I prefer using juice because although it is more work at first it is a lot simpler after that. Basically, if you ferment the juice it is ready to drink straight away if you want, and there is a lot less handling. I recently planted 100 sauvignon blanc vines because you press savvy, then ferment it and it is ready to drink straight away; my idea of perfect.

I was thinking about something similar w/ some of the peaches I have left over from the batch of wine I made.

Here's what I was thinking... Peaches, welches 100% white grape juice, and a champagne or montachet yeast. I'll keep the gravity fairly low (1.060 or 1.070) and carbonate when I'm done. Have no idea if it's going to be good or not, but figure it will be worth a shot.

arturo7 said:

I have a peach tree in may back yard. This time of year it produces waaay more peaches than I can eat or give away. I'm thinking about a hard peach cider.

Has anyone tried making it from fresh peaches? Roughly how many pounds of peaches does it take for one gallon of juice? Should I leave the skins on when pressing?

The only real obstacle is a press but I think I could DIY something that would do the job.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Never fermented peaches, but I have fermented apricots. Apricot skins add a sort of "fuzzy" quality to meads/melomels that I've made. I'm not sure, but I'd guess that peaches might do the same thing. I like that fuzzy-ness, it makes things interesting. BTW, don't pick those peaches green, or even firm; let them get as ripe as possible (without passing their prime) on the tree. Even if you have to pit & freeze them a few at a time. That way you'll get the very best flavour from them. Regards, GF.

gratus fermentatio said:

BTW, don't pick those peaches green, or even firm; let them get as ripe as possible (without passing their prime) on the tree.

Click to expand...

Normally I would agree with you but if you are going to press fruit IMO it is easier if it is still a bit firm. When it gets mushy it gets harder to extract the juice, there are no channels within the mass of fruit for the juice to follow.
The other consideration is local pests. At my place there are fruit fly and birds, the longer I leave the fruit, the less I get.
Peaches for canning are always picked firm.

Thanks everybody! I appreciate the input.

I was talking to one of my German buddies. He said it would be a crime if I didn't make peach schnapps. But we can't talk about that here...