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How to get a really "peachy" flavor?

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memento

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I've been trying to make a peach-cinnamon mead. My brewlog is here:

http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=103&topic=1701.0

The problem I have is that I can't get that really peachy taste. Is that because it's dry? I recently added a second can of oregon peach and 2 cups of honey. Preliminary tastes don't show much improvement, but I will wait for the peach solids to settle and then take an SG reading. It seemed that the oregon puree was a bit flat tasting to begin with.
 

Lugh

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I've found the same thing with the Oregon Fruit Purees and Vintner's Harvest canned stuff - they just don't give that nice flavor you get from fresh fruit. I don't know their canning process, but the marionberry, raspberry and peach I've used have all been mild flavored and a little metallic tasting.

You could try adding a some peach flavoring: http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16737
I've never used it, but a little might help intensify the flavor.
 

memento

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I thought about that, but I'm worried about those being too thin tasting. "A little" might be the key to bringing out the peach taste, but not depending on the extract.
 

SteveT

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Perhaps you could stabilize and add a liitle more honey... I've found with most melomels, when it's too dry the fruit flavor does not come through real well... I made a Ginger/Tangerine Mead with that same yeast you used and thought it came out too dry. I don't know if I'd use that yeast again.

Steve
 

JoeM

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PeachTree peach schnaps perhaps? That stuff has about as peachy a taste as i could imagine, and it is about 15% alcohol meaning that it wont alter the ABV of your must much.
 

memento

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Joe! I think you hit it!

First I'll get the sweetness where I want it. Then if that doesn't work, I'll do a small test batch with the schnapps.
 

byathread

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I've read that "peach" is one of the hardest fruit flavors to capture and that apricot makes a better peach brew than peach alone.
I'm planning a peach mel with 4 lbs/gal of fruit in secondary and aging on the fruit for several months. We'll see how much that helps.

Joe's suggestion sounds like a great one. Let us know how it turns out.
 

seeGarzz

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I recently made a Peach/Apricot melomel with one can each of Oregon Peach puree and Oregon Apricot Puree. I moved this mead to the secondary a few weeks back and when I taseted it I would give it a "moderate peachy" character, not strong by any means.

seeGarzz
 

pain

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I get massive 'peachy' flavor using peach cider as my base. I purchase peach cider from a farmer's stand in South Carolina (Abbots, just over the border from NC on I-85), and use 4:1 cider to honey
 

seeGarzz

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memento said:
seeGarzz - what was your SG?

I used a total of 16lbs of Honey for a five gallon batch. I split off one gallon for something else and added the fruit to the remaining four gallons. The recipe started with 13lbs and I added the remainig 3lbs after a couple of days.

seeGarzz
 

memento

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Vicky - I've never even heard of peach cider! I guess that's one advantage to being down south. :D I'll have to look for that online for a future mead.

seeGarzz - thanks for the info.
 

pain

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Oh, it gets better. I'm going to pick up muscadine cider when next I go down there. Gonna make me a muscadine pyment.....then I'm gonna do it with scuppernong too!
 

mouko_yamamoto

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Hey Vicky, have you ever seen the peach watertower? Can't remember if it's SC or GA, but I always loved seeing it on roadtrips.
 

pain

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Yeah, the peach watertower is in Gaffney, SC. Looks a lot like a really big moon hanging over the freeway these days.

Memento: Scuppernong and muscadine are grape varieties that can only be grown in the south. They are *super* sweet, and about 1.5 times larger than traditional grapes. They are green, with thick bitter skins. The proper technique to eating them is to hold the grape, stem mark towards your mouth, and squeeze.

There is a winery here in NC, Duplin, that makes an *excellent* muscadine and a *fab* scuppernong wine. Very sweet, dessert level, but very full flavored, with wonderful mouth feel, and a sweet-tart taste that is out of this world. For around $7/bottle (gotta love *that*). I'm going down to visit them at the beginning of Feb to pick up a couple cases.

Because of their wines, I want to do that with a mead, so I'm going to pick up some juice from Abbotts, but I'm also going to see if I can affort to pick up some grapes, though I'll need around 100 lbs to make a 5 gal batch.....LOL The juice is only $3.50/half gallon, plus no squeezing required.

Vicky - off to bed after a bottle of Cascade Winery mead (nummy, nummy)
 

davarm

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Vicki:

I'm trying to figure out where I-85 goes into South Carolina. Is it around Charlotte?

Does Abbots sell online?
 

pain

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I-85 goes south through Charlotte. Gaffney is around 40 miles south of Charlotte. I don't know if Abbotts sells online. I kind of doubt it. A quick Google didn't show anything....
 

davarm

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I found a vendor on ebay that sells Peach Cider for $4 per 32 oz. bottle (w/o shipping). They are out of GA, and also offer a variety of flavors (including Muscadine), as well as a variety of fruit nectars. I sent an email asking if they contain any preservatives. I'll post later when I get a response. If interested, just search "Peach Cider" or "Grape Cider" on ebay.
 
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