Peach wine problems

[pandam]

My boyfriend and I have been learning how to make wine and mead and we’ve successfully made blueberry wine and mead and strawberry mead. We recently tried to make peach wine and followed all the same processes we’ve been using and we’ve had 2 batches of peach wine rot. The first batch we made smelled just awful and tasted even worse and the second one didn’t smell rotten but when we tasted it you could tell it was off. We were so excited for these and are upset we can’t figured out what we’re doing wrong. I’ve tried googling to find out how we’re messing up but no luck. We just started a batch of strawberry watermelon wine and are nervous that it might spoil as well because of the watermelon. I was hoping someone here could help shed some light on what we could possibly be doing wrong with the peaches and maybe our strawberry watermelon won’t go the same direction.

 

[Agent]

That's a bummer to hear! I don't know what it is about peaches, but they are a struggle to not come out sulfury/funky.

Have you tried just fermenting the juice (either steam juicer or freeze+squeeze)? With apples, I find that fermenting on the peel, but not the pulp, ups the flavor without the struggle of all the stuff in the way.

 

[Raptor99]

I make peach wine on a regular basis from whole fruit. If you share the the details of your recipe and process, we might be able to offer suggestions.

Can you describe the bad odor and flavor? Did you add yeast nutrient? Lack of nutrient is one cause of a bad smell and taste.

 

[madscientist451]

I make peach wine on a regular basis from whole fruit.

I’ve cut up peaches, put them in a brew bag in a bucket add sugar and water (boiled and cooled) and the resulting wine is ok, but not great. Have any tips to share?

 

[Raptor99]

Did you add any yeast?

Did you add yeast nutrient? What kind and how much, and how large was the batch?

Yeast need more than just sugar, they need nutrients. Think of them like vitamins for the yeast. Peaches do not have enough nutrients, so you need to add some if you want the yeast to be healthy. Unhealthy yeast produce nasty flavors.

 

[madscientist451]

Yeah, sorry left that out, I used white wine yeast, it been a few years so can’t remember the variety, didn’t get off flavors from the yeast, just the peach flavor was very minimal.

 

[Raptor99]

@madscientist451 Some yeasts are better at preserving the fruit flavor. I use K1-V1116 in my peach wine.

You need to use at least 5 lbs. of peaches per gallon of total volume in the primary fermenter. Less than that, and you won't get much peach flavor. I also add some acid blend to bring the pH to about 3.4.

 

[pandam]

Did you add any yeast?

Did you add yeast nutrient? What kind and how much, and how large was the batch?

Yeast need more than just sugar, they need nutrients. Think of them like vitamins for the yeast. Peaches do not have enough nutrients, so you need to add some if you want the yeast to be healthy. Unhealthy yeast produce nasty flavors.

Yes we added yeast and nutrients. Half a pack of yeast and 1tbsp 2 days after yeast and then another 1 tbsp 2-3 days after the first time.

 

[pandam]

@madscientist451 Some yeasts are better at preserving the fruit flavor. I use K1-V1116 in my peach wine.

You need to use at least 5 lbs. of peaches per gallon of total volume in the primary fermenter. Less than that, and you won't get much peach flavor. I also add some acid blend to bring the pH to about 3.4.

We haven’t used any acid blend

 

[pandam]

I make peach wine on a regular basis from whole fruit. If you share the the details of your recipe and process, we might be able to offer suggestions.

Can you describe the bad odor and flavor? Did you add yeast nutrient? Lack of nutrient is one cause of a bad smell and taste.

It was literally rotten like it didn’t just smell and taste off it was rotten like the peaches went bad during the whole process

 

[Raptor99]

It was literally rotten like it didn’t just smell and taste off it was rotten like the peaches went bad during the whole process

Hm... you could look at your process. Here's what I do:
1. Choose fully ripe peaches, discard any overripe or spoiled ones. Remove the stones, but leave the skin. Cut off any bad spots. Freeze until ready to proceed.
2. Thaw peaches. While they are thawing, add pectic enzyme to help break down the fruit pulp.
3. As soon as they are mostly thawed, put in primary fermenter, add water and sugar, add Kmeta (or a Campden tablet) to kill natural yeast and bacteria.
4. Wait 12-24 hours, then check the pH and add acid blend as needed. I also add a little bit of powdered wine tannin as "sacrificial tannin" (look it up).

What keeps them from spoiling?
* Start with ripe peaches in good condition.
* Add Kmeta as soon as they are mostly thawed (that will kill natural yeast and bacteria, and help prevent oxidation). If you don't freeze them, add the kmeta as soon as they are cut up and in the fermentation bucket.
* Adjust the pH to around 3.4 (that will kill many micro-organisms)
* Added tannin is an anti-oxidant and will help to preserve fruit flavor

Taste at every stage along the way. It should always taste good, not spoiled. During fermentation, I taste a few drops every day to help me monitor progress. If it starts to taste rotten, at what stage does that happen?

Yes we added yeast and nutrients. Half a pack of yeast and 1tbsp 2 days after yeast and then another 1 tbsp 2-3 days after the first time.

What size what your batch? If you add too much wine nutrient, it can give it a bad flavor. It also provides nutrients for spoilage organisms. So you want enough, but not too much. When I first started, I used "Yeast Nutrient," but I have switched Fermaid-O and Fermaid-K. When I was using Yeast Nutrient, I think I used 1-2 tsp. per gallon, so if you were doing a 1 gallon batch you might have used way too much nutrient.