I’ve been an avid home brewer for several years now. So what is the first thought that came to mind when faced with the issue of having more honey than I know what to do with? Make alcohol out of it! Here is the recipe I used:
5.5 gal filtered water
12 lbs light raw honey
2 packages of dry yeast (Lalvin EC-1118)
15 lbs peaches
2 tsp DAP, 1 tsp Fermaid K (staggered addition)
Bring the the water to boil and turn off heat. Mix in the honey and first dose (1/4) of yeast nutrients. Once dissolved, I ran the must through a plate chiller to bring it down to room temperature. The yeast was dehydrated per the manufacturers directions and pitched. Airlock was added and the carboy placed in the basement which normally stays around 65 degrees. The airlock was happily bubbling a few hours later. The remainder of the nutrients was added in 1/4 doses, every other day. The mead was also oxygenated/degassed during each nutrient addition. Once the bubble rate dropped down after a week, I added the 15 lbs of peaches. I left the peaches in the fermenter for 2 weeks. I then transferred it to a 5 gal carboy and left to finish for 6 months before bottling.
Update 8/13/2019- I am pleased with the finished product. Semi dry mead that is well aged and no noticeable off flavors. Some sediment appeared in the bottles, possibly because I bottled too early. The peach flavor was less intense than what I was hoping for. Next time I will change it up, either adding more peaches, or possibly pureeing them.