How to Make Peach Wine
Have you ever wondered if there was a better use for all those peaches? Why not try a peach wine recipe to make your own tipple at home?
Do you have a whole load of peaches at home and aren’t sure what to do with them?
The answer is to make a homemade peach wine!
It’s the perfect way to use excess peaches and you won’t be disappointed by the delicious, fruity flavor of the resulting beverage.
Here, we bring you a peach wine recipe that you’re going to love!
What Do I Need to Make Peach Wine?
There are a number of essential items that you’re going to need to prepare before making peach wine.
Make sure you’ve got all of these things to hand before getting started:
- A clean plastic bucket to use for the primary fermentation stage
- A plastic or glass one gallon bottle to use for the secondary fermentation stage
- A knife
- A plastic ziplock bag, a nylon bag or some cheesecloth
- A measuring cup
- A small container to use for the yeast starter
What Ingredients Do I Need?
You only need a handful of ingredients to get started with your recipe:
- 3lbs of fresh peaches (under ripe is ok, but not overripe)
- 1lb sugar
- A cup of orange juice
- A tablespoon of brewer’s or wine yeast. Baker’s yeast works in an emergency
- Water
Our Peach Wine Recipe
Now, you’ve got everything you need to make your wine and it’s time to get started. There are 5 phases involved in making the recipe:
- Making the yeast starter
- Preparing your peaches
- Making the wine
- The secondary fermentation stage
- Aging your wine
1. Making the Yeast Starter
This first phase gets the fermentation process going more rapidly than if you add dormant yeast into the peace juice directly.
You can do this by pouring a half cup of orange juice into a small container.
Put your yeast into the juice and allow it to rest out of the direct sunlight but in a warm place for a couple of hours. Once you see the orange juice becoming frothy, your yeast is ready to use.
2. Preparing Your Peaches
The next step is to get the peaches ready. You should wash them in running water and remove the leaves and stems.
Make sure you’ve cut off any discolored or bruised areas. Don’t use any damaged or unwashed peaches in your peach alcohol.
Bruising can breed bacteria which you certainly don’t want in your recipe.
Recommended: Check out our awesome tomato wine recipe next!
3. Making the Wine
Once the peaches are clean and prepared, quarter them and take out the pits. Put the pieces of peach into a ziplock bag, nylon bag or cheesecloth and then squeeze it over a bucket.
When using a ziplock bag, squeeze as much juice as possible out of your peaches then add the entire contents of the bag into your bucket. When using a nylon bag or cheesecloth, tie it up and put that into your bucket too.
Add a half cup of orange juice. In another container add a half gallon of water to a pound of sugar and stir until all the sugar is fully dissolved. Add this solution to your bucket and mix well. Finally, add the yeast starter to your bucket and stir.
Cover up the bucket with cheesecloth or plastic wrap. You want to make sure no flies or pests can get into the liquid. Put the bucket in a place away from direct sunlight and leave it for a week.
4. The Secondary Fermentation Stage
Once you’ve allowed your wine to ferment for a week, transfer it into a one gallon plastic or glass bottle or jug to allow it to go through the secondary fermentation stage.
You can achieve this by using a plastic tube to siphon the liquid out of your bucket into the jug or bottle.
Put your jug or bottle onto the floor and the bucket of wine on a counter or table above it. Put the plastic tube into the bucket and suck on its other end before quickly putting that end into the secondary fermentation vessel. The wine will begin to flow into the jug or bottle.
You could, if you prefer, simply transfer the wine by pouring it through cheesecloth to strain out any solids into your bottle or jug.
You now leave your wine for 3 months before you taste it. After 3-6 months, you can bottle the wine.
You need to use the plastic tube method again at this point to make sure no sediment ends up in the wine. Seal the bottles with wine corks or use a large, properly sealed Mason jar which works equally well.
Recommended: Try our famous blueberry wine recipe!
Notes On Taste Testing
Wine which is very young (i.e. under 1 month old) often tastes and smells quite vinegary. This is particularly the case for very dry wines.
Therefore, if you decide to taste the wine before it reaches 3 months of age, you can expect it to taste quite vinegary. This doesn’t mean you’ve made vinegar and not wine.
Occasionally, wine does turn to vinegar. This happens because bacteria has got into the wine due to unclean equipment or damaged fruit.
You’ll know if this has happened if you age it and the taste still doesn’t improve. Luckily, vinegar is also useful, so at least you haven’t totally wasted your time!
Aging Your Wine
It’s recommended that you age your wine for around 6 months. However, if you want to drink it earlier than this, that’s up to you.
You should certainly taste test it before serving, however, to make sure that it has the flavor you desire.
If you want to age the wine for the 6 months that is recommended you should wait for 3 months after beginning the secondary fermentation stage.
Transfer the wine via the plastic tube method into bottles then put the wine onto a shelf away from direct sunlight. Add the date when your wine will be ready to your calendar and then enjoy it after 6 months!
An Alternative Peach Wine Recipe
Of course, as with any recipe, there are numerous versions of recipes to make peach one. Another way to make it is to follow these instructions:
Ingredients:
- 2/3lbs of chopped peaches
- 2/3lbs of sugar
- ½ a cup of prepared strongly brewed black tea
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Instructions:
Chop your peaches and put them in a large bowl. Cover your peaches with the sugar, stirring every couple of minutes as the sugar extracts the juice from the peaches.
Drain the juice into your fermentation vessel then wash the peach pulp with water to remove all the peach juice and sugar. Pour that water through a strainer, filling your vessel to ¾ full. Leave enough space for the rest of the ingredients.
Make a cup of black, strong tea. Take out the teabag, then add half a cup to the vessel. Next, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Open a packet of yeast and add it to quarter of a cup of tepid water. Leave for 10 minutes until it has bloomed then add to the fermenting vessel. Add more water until the vessel is full to just a couple of inches from the top. Stir gently then cover.
Leave the mix to ferment over 6 weeks then bottle your wine and allow to age for around a month or up to a year before you drink it.
You can also use this method to make apricot wine. Or why not try a peach mead recipe to use up all those excess peaches?
We'd love to hear about any variations you have on this recipe or tips you know to improve the process.
Let us know what you think in the comments section down below!
