Saving the wine...I hope

So a few weeks ago I made a gallon of peach wine using a recipe I found on the internet. And yes, I was a bad person and let it sit in primary fermentation nearly two weeks though the recipe says just 3-5 days. I have been completely unmotivated to deal with it, partly because it wasn't bubbling the air lock like I'm used to, and partly because I've been busy canning and dealing with other fresh things.

The problem with the air lock was that there was only one gallon of wine in a three-gallon primary bucket. And that problem happened because I was trying to use up peaches that came from our CSA farm.

So today, I summoned my motivation and opened the bucket. I had heard it fermenting earlier, but Gail at the Brew Shop assured me that there was just too much headspace to operate the air lock. On opening the bucket, I was greeted with the smell of yeast. It was not a bad yeast smell, but very yeasty and fruity, as if the yeast was still alive and hungry for more fruit.

I strained the peaches from the liquid using a basic mesh strainer. What I had left was a milky pink liquid that still smelled really yeasty. I have been warned that peach wine is hard to clear because of the fiber in the fruit, so I'm not too worried about that part yet. But I decided to give the yeast something new to work on in hopes of moving it along and saving the wine as actual wine.

I made a weak syrup of 16 cups water, 8 cups sugar and a cup of honey. After cooling it down to 80°, I ran the peach mixture through the strainer one more time into the sugar mixture and added the air lock. So far, the air lock is pressurized (a good sign), and I'm hopeful this addition will help to save the wine. More news to follow in a few weeks.