Peach Melomel (mead) experiments

[madscientist451]

I just scored 60+ lbs of white peaches (seconds $16)
And 45 lbs Red haven yellow peaches (also seconds $16)
So I'm going to start some peach mead/melomel experiments.
Why use honey and make mead? All of the peach wine recipes I've seen use 3lbs or so of peaches per gallon and lots of white sugar. I can't stand the flavor of fermented white sugar unless its a minor alcohol note in some high ABV beer. Most comments I've seen indicate that at 3 lbs/gallon the peach flavor is quite delicate, and most flavor/aroma is lost during fermentation.
So I'm going to make a 14% base mead and then add peaches in secondary. 71-B is supposed to crap out at 14% alcohol, so I'm hoping the peach additions only partially ferment.
All volumes 3 gallons, using 71-B yeast, go ferm protect, and staggered yeast nutrient additions:
Batch #1: 8 lbs white peaches per gallon in secondary
Batch #2: 6 lbs white peaches per gallon in secondary
Batch #3 3 lbs of white peaches per gallon added at the beginning, additional 3 lbs/gallons in secondary.
Batch #4 & #5, don't know yet, open to suggestions...haven't accounted for the red haven peaches yet.

Comments and suggestions welcomed...thanks in advance

 

[AkTom]

Sounds a plan. Nice score.

 

[NeverDie]

I just scored 60+ lbs of white peaches (seconds $16)
And 45 lbs Red haven yellow peaches (also seconds $16)
So I'm going to start some peach mead/melomel experiments.
Why use honey and make mead? All of the peach wine recipes I've seen use 3lbs or so of peaches per gallon and lots of white sugar. I can't stand the flavor of fermented white sugar unless its a minor alcohol note in some high ABV beer. Most comments I've seen indicate that at 3 lbs/gallon the peach flavor is quite delicate, and most flavor/aroma is lost during fermentation.
So I'm going to make a 14% base mead and then add peaches in secondary. 71-B is supposed to crap out at 14% alcohol, so I'm hoping the peach additions only partially ferment.
All volumes 3 gallons, using 71-B yeast, go ferm protect, and staggered yeast nutrient additions:
Batch #1: 8 lbs white peaches per gallon in secondary
Batch #2: 6 lbs white peaches per gallon in secondary
Batch #3 3 lbs of white peaches per gallon added at the beginning, additional 3 lbs/gallons in secondary.
Batch #4 & #5, don't know yet, open to suggestions...haven't accounted for the red haven peaches yet.

Comments and suggestions welcomed...thanks in advance

How did it turn out?

 

[madscientist451]

I recently racked one version that had sugar, "simply peach juice" and the peaches; its ok, but has an odd backtaste and it doesn't want to clear on its own. I'm going to try to add some fining agents and see if the backtaste drops out along with the cloudy appearance. I have two other 5 gallon batches in the basement that I haven't messed with in 4-5 months. I'll see if I can get time this weekend to pull some samples for a taste test.

 

[MiBeerMan]

Out of all the stuff I've made so far, my peach mango cider is my 2nd favorite. I just bought some looza peach juice concentrate that I'm going to add some honey to. I'm hoping this stuff is really good

 

[NeverDie]

Out of all the stuff I've made so far, my peach mango cider is my 2nd favorite. I just bought some looza peach juice concentrate that I'm going to add some honey to. I'm hoping this stuff is really good

Where were you able to find looza peach juice concentrate?

 

[MiBeerMan]

I found it on a 50% off rack at a local grocery store where I live.i asked if they normally carry it and she said no. There were 3 so I picked all 3 up. I'm going to make this next weekend along with a cherry mead made from local cherry concentrate and local honey. Be a busy bee this 3 day weekend

 

[mbrown121500]

So how did they turn out, and if you were gonna do it again how many lbs of peaches would you go with?

 

[madscientist451]

Its been about a year, and the wine is still in carboys, I tasted one, which I really didn't like very much.
I'll try to pull samples from the other two this week and post an update.

 

[Blacksmith1]

That's the sad part of this hobby. Investing time and money in something only to have it not meet expectations. Hopefully your other two will be more to your liking.
And there is always the hope that this one will age into something better.