Peach wine (and Brandy)

Alcoholic beverages which are not classified as spirits.

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EricTheRed
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Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by EricTheRed »

Peach season is upon us here, and i got 40kg of yellow peaches from a neighbour for free! :)

We cut up the peaches into smallish pieces.
* Note: the pips we also simmered for about 2 hours, stripped the flesh off, added some sugar to the flesh and made 6 pots of Jam! :)

30kg of cut up peaches (skin on)
14L of hot water
2 TBSP Calcium Chloride

Bring to a boil then let simmer for 30 - 45 minutes or until the fruit is soft
Once transferred to the mash tun, use a paint stick in a drill to break up the fruit fully.
Let cool (or force cool) to 48°C in the mash tun.
add Pectolaze to convert the pectin
Cover with blankets and leave for 2 - 3 hours (we left it overnight)
Mix well again with the paint stirrer

2 TBSP of yeast nutrient
1 TBSP of Lalvin DV10

Stir 3 or 4 times daily to break up the raft and keep it hydrated.

Should be done in a week

Once cleared for wine, 1/2 will be bottled as wine and 1/2 of it will go into the boiler for Brandy and Liqueur
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Ben
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by Ben »

Nice, I need to get on the peaches next year!
:)
NormandieStill
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by NormandieStill »

I made a peach win a few years back from what the french call pêche de vigne. I think they're more commonly called blood peaches in English-speaking countries, but I'd never seen them before. A neighbour had a glut and didn't like them so she gifted us a bag of something like 8kg. We made jam from a few and the rest I turned into wine. I didn't have any pectinase so it developed a nice haze. I let it stand for about 6 months all in, and then bottled it, and at bottling time it was undrinkable, but I stuck it under the house and left it. A year later it had developed into a fantastic dry white wine. Good for cocktails and for drinking as is.

After her bumper harvest, the neighbour "pruned" her tree almost back to the trunk. Really hoping for a decent fruit year in 2022 and that I might manage to get my hands on some more.
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EricTheRed
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by EricTheRed »

An update on the wine and brandy

After letting it ferment out (dry at .990 @ 14% ABV) and then settling etc., we bottled it just after christmas. Very dry - but that is how SWAMBO likes it. It will develop properly over the next 6 months or so (if she can keep her mitts off it)

Took 15 liters of it, and did a strip and spirit run on it. Currently have 1.8 Litres at 62% in a jar with 2 medium char toasted staves. Will let that sit for i recon 5 - 8 months before i touch it. :)
Strange thing when i ran it - almost NO bad heads and very very little ucky tails - i ended up using just about everything that came out of the still (5L Alembic) - no harshness at all - so looking forward to what this develops into.
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by Fwapsk »

I have two peach trees and recently made my second batch of peach wine. I de-pitted the peaches and blanched them to remove the skins and then froze them in bags as I didnt know what i wanted to do with it at the time. I found the defrosted peaches didnt need to be cooked - i bagged them in mesh bags and mushed it up in the bucket fermenter. I also added water and adjusted pH with acid blend, added a little potassium metabisulfite, waited 12 hours and added pectic enzyme and let sit another 12 hours. Pitched EC-1118 yeast and stirred well. I squeezed the peach bag twice daily for 5 days during fermentation, then removed the bag dripping over a bowl, squeezing every 15 minutes for an hour and putting that juice back into the fermenter. When the SG reached 1.02, I racked into another fermenter with another airlock and its now sitting in a coolish dark basement. I'll re-rack every 30 days until clear, using pectinase and fining if needed. Just getting into distilling so I think I'll wait until next years batch to make peach brandy as I want to make UJSSM first! But the peach wine is remarkable good, and its still pretty freshly bottled so should improve more. Mine was hazy too, but pectinase and 2 part finings let the wine develop beautiful clarity.
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EricTheRed
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by EricTheRed »

Good stuff
Ours is starting clear up very nicely. By the 6 month mark it should be crystal clear.
Opened the brandy yesterday. Smells nice. Didn't taste yet.
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by CoogeeBoy »

EricTheRed wrote: Mon Jan 03, 2022 12:03 am
Took 15 liters of it, and did a strip and spirit run on it. Currently have 1.8 Litres at 62% in a jar with 2 medium char toasted staves. Will let that sit for i recon 5 - 8 months before i touch it. :)
That is a good yield from 30kg of fruit, i did 50kg of pears and got less than that.
Taking a break while I get a new still completed....
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by EricTheRed »

The pectolaze helps a lot to get more fermentable sugars which in turn gives more liquid
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Wildcats
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by Wildcats »

I know this is an old thread. But I just cut up my peaches and put em in to freeze. Ordered ec 1118 yeast. It'll be here this week. Ready to try my hand at some wine
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by Wildcats »

My peach wine has been fermenting since Saturday. Smells so good. Can't wait to try it.
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by distillingwisdom »

EricTheRed wrote: Mon Jan 03, 2022 12:03 am An update on the wine and brandy

After letting it ferment out (dry at .990 @ 14% ABV) and then settling etc., we bottled it just after christmas. Very dry - but that is how SWAMBO likes it. It will develop properly over the next 6 months or so (if she can keep her mitts off it)

Took 15 liters of it, and did a strip and spirit run on it. Currently have 1.8 Litres at 62% in a jar with 2 medium char toasted staves. Will let that sit for i recon 5 - 8 months before i touch it. :)
Strange thing when i ran it - almost NO bad heads and very very little ucky tails - i ended up using just about everything that came out of the still (5L Alembic) - no harshness at all - so looking forward to what this develops into.
You got 14% Abv without adding any sugar in it?
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Re: Peach wine (and Brandy)

Post by EricTheRed »

distillingwisdom wrote: Sat Nov 04, 2023 3:06 am
EricTheRed wrote: Mon Jan 03, 2022 12:03 am An update on the wine and brandy

After letting it ferment out (dry at .990 @ 14% ABV) and then settling etc., we bottled it just after christmas. Very dry - but that is how SWAMBO likes it. It will develop properly over the next 6 months or so (if she can keep her mitts off it)

Took 15 liters of it, and did a strip and spirit run on it. Currently have 1.8 Litres at 62% in a jar with 2 medium char toasted staves. Will let that sit for i recon 5 - 8 months before i touch it. :)
Strange thing when i ran it - almost NO bad heads and very very little ucky tails - i ended up using just about everything that came out of the still (5L Alembic) - no harshness at all - so looking forward to what this develops into.
You got 14% Abv without adding any sugar in it?
Yup - but added very little water - it was just mostly peach
My fekking eyes are bleeding! Installed BS Filters - better! :D
Life has gotten interesting!
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