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Debating Making Peach Melomel

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maxmurder

maxmurder

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 23, 2012
63
0
0
Bethlehem, Pa.
Hi,
I've been on this forum for awhile, but this is my first post.
I've made a few batches in the past, but I recently started brewing more, trying to get better batches.

Anyhoo, I was debating making my most recent batch, which I brewed today into a peach melomel, but I have a few questions:

First, if I'm looking to get a 5 gallon batch of sweet melomel, how much honey/fruit would you recommend. I'm looking for a medium fruit flavor and most sources seems to point to 8-10 lbs of fruit. I was going to add the fruit to the secondary fermenter. I started the batch with 17 lbs of orange blossom honey. I wasn't sure when making a melomel, if I should use less honey. If This is too much honey, I can just go with traditional sweet for this batch and use peaches in the next.

Also, how do you feel about using frozen fruits as opposed to fresh. Sometimes fresh is hard to come by out of season and I know people have varied opinions about frozen vs fresh. I would go with fresh if available.

As I said, I used 17 lbs of orange blossom honey, 1 pack of Lalvin 71B, 5 tsp of nutrient, 2.5 tsp of energizer and used the boil method.

Any opinions are welcome, cause I'm still a newbie trying to get it right!
Thanks.
 
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never tried peach but now want to try a gallon batch of peach/cinnamon JAOV to see how it would come out. I love the flavor of peach so I'm thinking good things.
 
I agree with Medsen Fey. Peaches have a very delicate flavor/aroma that is hard to convey by the time you get to the glass. Ostensibly, adding in secondary helps to preserve that (the peaches don't get fermented, and the yeast don't fart off the aroma). I have also heard that freezing helps break down the cell walls of the fruit so it melds into the brew (I don't know the science or veracity of that statement, but it makes sense to me).

I just made a Belgian peach beer last year with white peaches I collected from a neighbor. I froze peaches and racked the beer onto them in secondary. I did add some citric acid when I froze the peaches since peaches start to brown the second you cut them. It turned out very good! The peach is however VERY subtle, even though I used quite a bit...

You may want to look at "Pectic Enzyme". Supposedly, adding it can clear out the pectins from fruit, resulting in a clearer mead. I think you can add it at any time.

I hope it goes well for you.
 
Thanks, I will keep the pectic enzymes in mind. The peach mead I did try did have a good peach flavor. I wish I was still in contact with that brewer to find out how he did it. I'm thinking ten pounds might be plenty. I don't want it overpowering but that don't seem like it would be an issue.
 
I say go for it! If you need more peaches later on down the road, nothing is stopping you from adding more. I was actually going to make a peach melomel with cinnamon (Whoda thunk it?!) But the 2 grocery stores I went to only had 1 peach between them.

You may not need the pectic enzyme if you're not boiling the fruit. Also Pectic enzyme may or may not be inhibited during active fermentation, I cant remember. But adding it after if you need it is fine in my experience.
 
I wasn't planning on boiling the fruit. I was just going to use frozen due to availability and simply thaw it first. I was going to wait until fermentation ceases before adding it. Good advice though, I will sample it down the line and add more if I feel it could use more.
 
Bee Serious said:
You may want to look at "Pectic Enzyme". Supposedly, adding it can clear out the pectins from fruit, resulting in a clearer mead. I think you can add it at any time.
Click to expand...

It does help a lot. If you look at my JAO thread I made a strawberry JAOV where I added pectic enzyme long after fermentation and you can see the difference. I have before and after shots.
 
Yeah, I see! I decided to make an older batch (3 months old) into a peach melomel instead due to head space in the carboy. I used peach puree. I will definitely need some pectic enzymes to clear it up, cause it looks like cider now. I just added the puree early today, so I will wait for a bit to add it.
 
Just racked a peach mead last night.

1. 16 lbs of orange blossom honey, 71B-1122 yeast.
2. Let it ferment out, then racked the mead onto 8-9 lbs of peaches that I purchased last summer and froze.
3. Let it sit on the fruit for about one month, which brings me to last night. Racked it off the fruit, and am letting it clear before kegging.

I made a peach mead 2 years ago, and it turned out to be fabulous.
 
Nice :)
Since I decided to go with puree, I see there is, of cause, a difference between S.G.'s of the mead and the puree (the puree is sitting at the bottom of the carboy). Any recommendations for this? Should I mix it a few times, rack more, or maybe the pectic enzymes will take care of it??
 
maxmurder said:
Nice :)
Since I decided to go with puree, I see there is, of cause, a difference between S.G.'s of the mead and the puree (the puree is sitting at the bottom of the carboy). Any recommendations for this? Should I mix it a few times, rack more, or maybe the pectic enzymes will take care of it??
Click to expand...

I would just leave it. Fermentation might start up again. If so, it will finish. I would not mix it
 
When I mixed it with the puree, I added 2.5 tsp of potassium sorbate in too. It was pretty strong already and at three months of age, I didn't want to restart fermentation.
I was figuring it should be fine without mixing it too.

Thanks!
 
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