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Quick and diry guide to fermenting fruit - cider and wine
Made this about a year ago and it has been aging pretty well. About 12% ABV. I think it still has a slight off-flavour, but that's probably due to not using the best honey.
It looks good at least! How would you describe the off flavor? Hot, as in fusel alcohol or solvent? Acidic? Meaty (for lack of a better word, could be described as umami)?
I find it hard to describe, perhaps as slightly chemical floral flavour and a bit of harshness. Honestly, it's pretty minor and I'm happy with the result overall. I personally think it might be the result of using cheapish honey and maybe some oxidation. I'm a bit lax when it comes to oxidation because I only make small batches and don't have the right equipement to properly avoid it.
I’ve read that it’s hard to carry through the peach flavor. How’d you do it for your brew?
By adding half the peaches in secondary. The peach flavour is subtle but it is definitely present. I also used a cider yeast, so it was nearly at its ABV limit when the peaches were added, maybe that helped slow down the fermentation as well.
Nice. Good note. I’ll keep that in mind. Peach is on my list to try and brew with. I’ve also read that apricot juice is a good substitute to carry a stronger peach flavor but I’ve not had a chance to confirm that yet.
When in doubt, age it out!
Alternatively you could consider back sweetening, or oaking, to add some extra flavor that might counterbalance it some.
Agreed. I always try to think of balancing mead like a 3-legged stool where the 3 legs you can make longer or shorter (the metaphor kind of falls apart here) as pH, sweetness/dryness and tannic balance. Age helps smooth everything out!
It's pretty well balanced compared to my previous meads. I used a cider yeast which resulted in a slight residual sweetness and the acid from the peaches and strawberries balances it pretty well. I also added some pepper corns in secondary, though not much of that made it through.
Sounds tasty! Stash a few bottles away somewhere cool and forget about them for a while!