Peach Melomel

Classification: mead, melomel, peach mead

Source: Michael Bergman (bergman%odin.m2c.org@ RELAY.CS.NET) Issue #90, 3/1/89

This recipe is based on procedures outlined in Making Mead, by Bryan Acton and Peter Duncan. They advocate the use of campden rather than boiling because they feel that after boiling for a long time most of the essences of the honey are gone. Read the "Basic Procedures" section of Acton & Duncan for more info.

Ingredients:

6 pounds, peaches
3/4 pint, elderflowers
2-1/2 pounds, acacia honey
1/30 ounce, tannin
Graves yeast
1/4 ounce, tartaric acid
1/4 ounce, malic acid

Procedure:

Press peaches (after removing pits). Dissolve honey in 4 pints warm water, blend in peach juice along with acid, tannin, and nutrients. Add 100 ppm sulfite (2 campden tablets). After 24 hours, add yeast starter, allow to ferment 7 days before adding elderflowers. Ferment on flowers for 3 days then strain off flowers and top off to 1 gallon with cold water. Ferment until specific gravity drops to 10, then rack. Rack again when gravity drops to 5, and add 1 tablet campden. Rack again when when a heavy deposit forms, or after 3 months, whichever comes first. Add another campden tablet. Rack again every 3-4 months, adding a tablet after every second racking.