Old Philosopher
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- Joined
- Oct 22, 2009
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Hi, gang!!!
After all this time, you'd think I'd run out of dumb questions...but, no!
I just started roughly a 3.5 gallon (?) batch of peach wine. This will be my 3rd adventure with peach. I kinda, sorta followed a recipe I found here, but this question doesn't have to do with the results, just the process.
I started out with 20# of peeled, pitted peaches cut into 1/8ths. That filled about 2/3 of a 5 gallon bucket. Okay, following the recommendations, I split it into two primaries. I put 10# in each of 2 buckets, and added a shy 2 gallons of water, bringing it to approx. the 4 gallon mark.
I did all the normal stuff (k-meta in each primary for 24hrs, etc.) and took the SG. 1.016. Okay, time to add the sugar since I wanted ~1.085 SG to start. 6 pounds of sugar later, I had SG 1.089. Yea! Wait a minnit! That was just one bucket. Another 6# of sugar brought primary #2 up to 1.089, also. Good to go! Next comes the yeast, and nutrient. Hummm.... 2 primaries, so each one needed a dose of nutrient, and yeast starter. Can't skimp on the yeast, so one packet of Lalvin EC-1118 in each primary, plus enough nutrient for 3 gallons of product in each.
Now I'm ready for a break, and just punching down the cap a couple times a day.
As I'm sippin' on my toddy, admiring my work, it hit me. In the past, I've always extracted all the juice possible from the peaches (pectic enzyme, straining, squeezing, etc.), put it in one 5 gallon primary, topped it up to 4 gallons, and added all the other goodies. I know from experience it would take about 7# of sugar, one packet of yeast, and 4 tsp of nutrient. I just built TWO primaries for a total of 12# of sugar, 2 packs of yeast, and 6 tsp of nutrient --- with a projected finished volume equal to using the straight juice. I had to use 2 primaries because of the volume of the fresh peaches.
So...am I just being a cheapskate, or did my reasoning fail me here? Plus, in the past I never had to worry about punching down a cap of floating debris, and it fermented dry in about 3 weeks. Can someone tell me why I would ever want to use fresh fruit in a bag again, and it's associated hassles, compared to starting with fresh juice?
After all this time, you'd think I'd run out of dumb questions...but, no!
I just started roughly a 3.5 gallon (?) batch of peach wine. This will be my 3rd adventure with peach. I kinda, sorta followed a recipe I found here, but this question doesn't have to do with the results, just the process.
I started out with 20# of peeled, pitted peaches cut into 1/8ths. That filled about 2/3 of a 5 gallon bucket. Okay, following the recommendations, I split it into two primaries. I put 10# in each of 2 buckets, and added a shy 2 gallons of water, bringing it to approx. the 4 gallon mark.
I did all the normal stuff (k-meta in each primary for 24hrs, etc.) and took the SG. 1.016. Okay, time to add the sugar since I wanted ~1.085 SG to start. 6 pounds of sugar later, I had SG 1.089. Yea! Wait a minnit! That was just one bucket. Another 6# of sugar brought primary #2 up to 1.089, also. Good to go! Next comes the yeast, and nutrient. Hummm.... 2 primaries, so each one needed a dose of nutrient, and yeast starter. Can't skimp on the yeast, so one packet of Lalvin EC-1118 in each primary, plus enough nutrient for 3 gallons of product in each.
Now I'm ready for a break, and just punching down the cap a couple times a day.
As I'm sippin' on my toddy, admiring my work, it hit me. In the past, I've always extracted all the juice possible from the peaches (pectic enzyme, straining, squeezing, etc.), put it in one 5 gallon primary, topped it up to 4 gallons, and added all the other goodies. I know from experience it would take about 7# of sugar, one packet of yeast, and 4 tsp of nutrient. I just built TWO primaries for a total of 12# of sugar, 2 packs of yeast, and 6 tsp of nutrient --- with a projected finished volume equal to using the straight juice. I had to use 2 primaries because of the volume of the fresh peaches.
So...am I just being a cheapskate, or did my reasoning fail me here? Plus, in the past I never had to worry about punching down a cap of floating debris, and it fermented dry in about 3 weeks. Can someone tell me why I would ever want to use fresh fruit in a bag again, and it's associated hassles, compared to starting with fresh juice?
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