Peach/Mago Melomel

[Newsman]

Has anyone made a peach/mango/apple melomel? I tried a peach/mango hard cider the other day at a beer festival. I thought I'd try it with actual fruit. I was looking at Wal-Mart and saw they have frozen mangoes and peach slices with nothing added, not even sugar.

 

[Dan O]

I have made a peach/mango, but not with apples. Peaches are a rather delicate flavor that requires a fairly large amount of fruit for the flavor to come through strong (I like to use no less than 6 lbs/gallon of must) . I have revised my fruit additions so 1/3 of the total weight of the fruit goes into primary & the other 2/3 goes into secondary, 24-48 hrs after stabilizing. This gives me the wine complexities from the primary addition, but more of the fruity burst I look for in my melomels.
That said, I'm sure apple would add a nice flavor to it, but my thought is the balance of which fruit you really want to shine through will be in the secondary additions. Also, I recommend using a food grade bucket for primary, and secondary, if using large fruit additions....I also highly recommend a brew bag for fruit additions. It makes clean-up way easier & racking losses can be significantly less than no bag.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

 

[Newsman]

Thanks for the tip. My thought was to use apple juice as the base liquid, add 3-4 lbs of honey and frozen peach & mango. I'll try your suggestion of adding more fruit to secondary and see how it goes.

 

[Dan O]

Thanks for the tip. My thought was to use apple juice as the base liquid, add 3-4 lbs of honey and frozen peach & mango. I'll try your suggestion of adding more fruit to secondary and see how it goes.

How big is your batch size?
Remember, juice typically has a gravity of 1.050ish. Take a reading of the juice you intend to use & adjust your honey additions from there. Most honey typically gives .035 points/lb/gallon of must. If you're starting with a gravity of 1.050, 3-4 lbs of honey will stress your yeast hard-core, which will contribute to off flavors in the end product. Also, remember any fruit additions will be contributing to your gravity as well
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

 

[Newsman]

Well, I just kicked it off. My OG, honey and juice only, was approximately 1.110. Then I added 10 Oz frozen mango chunks (mostly thawed,) 1# sliced peaches (mostly thawed,) 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme and approximately 2/3 tsp organic yeast nutrient. Then I pitched liquid WLP518. It arrived a few days ago and despite 4 freezer packs and an insulated pouch, it was very warm to the touch. I made a starter with it, and apparently it had enough cells as it created a bit of CO2 in the mason jar.

 

[Newsman]

Can someone please remind me how to approximate the SG of fruit? I have the carbs from the packaging, but I can't remember how to convert that to approximate SG to add to my OG.
Thanks

 

[Lampy]

My two cents: I've done a peach "cider" a couple of times using 50% Great Value white cranberry-peach and 50% Jumex peach nectar. I have liked the result, especially still and with a touch of backsweetening. Maybe try making a small batch of that to see if it would be close to what you want.