View Full Version : How to get a really "peachy" flavor?

01-23-2006, 03:06 PM
I've been trying to make a peach-cinnamon mead. My brewlog is here:


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.

01-23-2006, 03:38 PM
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.

01-23-2006, 03:45 PM
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.

01-23-2006, 06:04 PM
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.


01-24-2006, 01:44 AM
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.

01-24-2006, 09:23 AM
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.

01-24-2006, 03:13 PM
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.

01-24-2006, 03:46 PM
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.


01-24-2006, 04:01 PM
seeGarzz - what was your SG?

01-24-2006, 04:47 PM
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

01-24-2006, 06:35 PM
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.


01-24-2006, 07:15 PM
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.

01-24-2006, 07:23 PM
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!

01-24-2006, 08:50 PM
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.

01-24-2006, 09:55 PM
ok, now you have to explain. muscadine? scuppernong? speak English, girl! :)

01-25-2006, 12:16 AM
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)

01-25-2006, 08:28 AM

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

Does Abbots sell online?

01-25-2006, 10:00 AM
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....

01-25-2006, 11:32 AM

Looks like it's out there, but too expensive to use for a 5 gallon batch of mead!

01-25-2006, 11:52 AM
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.

01-25-2006, 12:18 PM
Sure, its more expensive than say, apple cider. But then, how many peaches do you need to make a gallon of juice? I don't know what fresh peaches cost the bushel, but I'd lay a bet that the labor+the cost would be reasonably compared to buying 4 gallons of peach cider.

Peach nectar isn't cheap either, and I've never seen it in large containers.......

Finally, I figure I spend about $35 for 4 gallons of peach cider (I pick up in SC when I happen to go down to visit friends in Charlotte). That, plus another $30 of honey gives me 2.5 cases of mead for about $75. Even *cheap* peach wine goes $7 a bottle (and peach mead goes around $12), so 2.5 cases would be $210 (minimum, plus tax), so I figure I'm saving money.

Plus, I get a peach mead that tastes like *I* want it to taste, with what *I* want in it. ::shrug:: I guess the cost is relative to what you're trying to achieve. Since I haven't found a peach mead that lives up to my personal standards yet, I'm ok with the cost, and I only make it once a year in any case.

01-25-2006, 12:32 PM
good point. I'd be inclined to try a 1 gallon experiment and if it lives up to my expectations, then I'd have no problem spending the $$ for a 5 gallon batch.

01-25-2006, 12:46 PM
Once you've made one (and I recommend tossing in a couple crushed cinnamon sticks for that 'peach pie' flavor), you'll slaver for more.

The recipe I use is:

4 gal peach cider
1 gal honey (plus extra to back-add after primary ferment for sweetness)
cinnamon tea (made from crushed sticks steeped in boiled water for 15-20 minutes, one teapot full (I have a fat English-style teapot)
Premier Cuvee yeast

01-25-2006, 03:03 PM
I got a response from the ebay vendor, which happens to be Southern Grace Farms, one of the vendors mentioned in memento's post.

They add ascorbic acid (aka Vitamin C) to their nectars and ciders, plus they are cooked and pastuerized. I wouldn't think this would cause any problems. Also, the sugar content ranges from 24 to 32 grams per 8 oz. serving.

Vicky...what is your average Starting Gravity using your 4:1 ratio?

01-25-2006, 05:02 PM
Haven't a clue. I just pour a gallon of honey into 4 gallons of peach cider, stir until the honey is dissolved, add dry yeast, shake the crap out of it and let 'er rip. When the primary ferment is done, I add honey water to taste, age and bottle.

Kids, I know a lot of y'all are scientific types, but this ol' gal tends to make mead by the seat of her pants. I keep extensive notes, but I rarely take gravity readings anymore, never hydrate my yeast, and have only recently considered adding sulfites, and that only because it will let my mead keep longer, since I'm trying to horde at least a couple bottles a batch to track how they age (they don't age well without it, I've noticed)

I test my mead by taste, look, smell and feel. I do get the occasional mead that takes off in the bottle, but since I age in carboys, thats rare anymore. And since most of my mead gets drunk up by my friends just as fast as I can make it, aging isn't a real issue either.

LOL....guess I'm just old fashioned (or lazy, hard to tell).

Vicky - who has to rack and bottle this weekend to free up some glassware for more racking