Peach Country Wine

A few weeks ago I ran across a reference to a book about fermentation.  I don't remember where I saw it, but it caught my attention and curiosity and I ended up ordering it.  Here it is.

It is a very interesting book and contains information on how people all over the world use fermentation to preserve food.  Examples of food created through fermentation are everywhere.  These include cheese, yogurt, sour dough, wine, beer, pickles, vinegar, soy sauce and many others.


This book has a section on making "country wine".  If you recall, last time I wrote about making peach jam.  Well, I did not use all of the peaches to make jam and still had some that were beginning to get pretty ripe.  So, I needed some way to use these before they ruined.  It turns out peaches make wonderful country wine and that is what I did with them.


First, I peeled and chopped enough of the remaining peaches to fill a 2-quart jar about 3/4 full.  Then, I made a sugar syrup of 1 cup sugar and 4 cups water.  I poured enough of this over the peaches to cover the peaches.  Then I covered the jar with cheesecloth secured with a rubber band.

The next step is to wait.  While you wait, you have to make sure to stir the mixture well several times a day.  Since I am at work during the day on weekdays, this task fell to Tom, and he did an excellent job!  


After a day or so, the mixture starts to bubble.  This is a sign that yeast is converting the sugar to alcohol and creating carbon dioxide.  This goes on for about a week.  When the bubbling begins to subside, then it is ready to strain and drink.  At this point, it does not contain too much alcohol.  To make a dryer wine, then you would need to transfer it to an air-locked vessel and let it continue fermenting.  The reason for this is that bacteria called "acetobacter" will take up residence in the mixture and begin to convert the alcohol to vinegar.  Acetobacter need oxygen to do this, though.  So, if you put the wine in a air-locked vessel, then the carbon dioxide can escape, but oxygen cannot get in.


I, however, was eager to taste the fruits of my labor.  Plus, I did not have an air-locked vessel.  So, the next step was to strain the mixture.   I set a strainer over a large bowl and dumped the contents of the 2-quart jar into it.  This removed most of the peach pulp.

After this I strained the juice from the bowl through a kitchen towel back into the jar.  

I ended up with about a quart of country wine.

It has a wonderful, peachy sort of sweet/sour taste.  If I do this again next year during peach season, I think I will make more of it and may even explore buying a wine bottle with an air-lock lid so that I can make a dryer wine.