Help with a peach wine

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brewbush

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Just re-racked my peach wine (walkers juice). It has been 6 months and now in the process of final additions before bottling.

The taste seems slightly flabby, not very much peach flavor. Started with 24.1 brix, Cotes de Blanc yeast. Finished dry <0.998.

Current pH: 3.8, TA 7.5g/L

The TA seems slightly high, but also the pH is on the higher end. I put a bit of sugar in a sample which did help the flavor but not sure if you would recommend any other adjustments?

1. Add any acids or leave alone?

2. For sweetening: sugar syrup, concentrated peach juice (not sure where to get this), or thought about a pint of homewinery.com peach concentrate?

Thanks
 
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It's easier to give assistance if you don't mix your measuterments. SG or Brix not mixed.

Your acidity is on the high side so adding the correct acid (malic is the leading acid in peaches) should bring back a little to the taste as well has help protect if from spoiling.

Is the current SG .998 ? That's not really dry dry but still a little backsweetening as a bench trial, as suggested, should bring back some flavor. Don's see any reference to how many pounds of peaches you used or your peach source. That is of course the primary source of your flavor. So that info would help us help you as well.

My current batch, aging right now, has 7lbs of fresh peaches per gallon. The aroma will bowl you over. The taste is there but not as pronounced as it will be once it's backsweetened. But that is a couple of months away. Right now you need to tend to the acid balance 3.8 is not acidic enough for safe keeping or aging.
 
Last edited:
It's easier to give assistance if you don't mix your measuterments. SG or Brix not mixed.

Your acidity is on the high side so adding the correct acid (malic is the leading acid in peaches) should bring back a little to the taste as well has help protect if from spoiling.

Is the current SG .998 ? That's not really dry dry but still a little backsweetening as a bench trial, as suggested, should bring back some flavor. Don's see any reference to how many pounds of peaches you used or your peach source. That is of course the primary source of your flavor. So that info would help us help you as well.

My current batch, aging right now, has 7lbs of fresh peaches per gallon. The aroma will bowl you over. The taste is there but not as pronounced as it will be once it's backsweetened. But that is a couple of months away. Right now you need to tend to the acid balance 3.8 is not acidic enough for safe keeping or aging.


How do you calculate how much malic acid to add?

The juice was walkers juice pail - 5 gallon.

How do you personally backsweeten?
 
Assuming the batch size is currently 5 gallons I'd start small on the adjustments and allow a few days after addition to re-check. Here's some info from this site (http://www.bcawa.ca/winemaking/acidph.htm)

"Be aware that all the acids - tartaric, malic and citric - will affect the TA values differently. While a one-gram addition of tartaric acid will increase the TA by one gram per litre, malic acid will increase the TA by about 1.12 and citric acid by about 1.17. They also affect the flavour differently. So lab tests are essential."

I would start with adding no more than 1 teaspoon to 5 gallons. (1 teaspoon = approx. 5 grams.) You want to get the pH down to between 3.6 and 3.6

I use a simple syrup to backsweeten. (2 cups white cane sugar to 1 cup hot water. Add in 1/4 cup increments and stir until the syrup clears. ( I normally microwave a cup to something less than boiling then add the sugar) let it set after you get to about 1 cup - you may need to reheat a little.) Along the syrup to cool to warm not hot before adding. If you keep the mix in the fridge too long you may wind up creating rock candy (anyone remember that stuff)
 
use a bench trial for acid. take 10 grams of malic acid and dissolve in 100ml of water. take wine sample of 100ml each three samples to start with. add one ml of acid solution in first sample, 2 ml in second and three ml in third. do taste tests. if desired increase samples and add one more ml of acid solution each sample. one ml of acid equal 1 gram per litter of acid in finished wine.

To back sweeten make a sugar syrup of 2 cups sugar to one cup hot water mixing in a blender. let mixture cool. again use 100ml samples of wine. add 1/4tsp in first, 2 x 1/4 tsp in second etc. due taste tests. once final is detected mix a batch of 500ml wine to proper acid or sweetener or both. wait two to three weeks retaste and see if it meets your initial selection. do not forget to add sorbate to sweetened wine. if all good add calculated additives to finish wine.
 
If you are going to buy Jumex Peach Nectar try Dollar Tree instead. They sell approx 32 oz containers for $1. Also have Guava and Mango. I use the mango a lot.

Pam in cinti
 

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