I am brewing a batch of peach beer it is currently in the primary fermentor. It says to clean, pit, quarter and freeze the peaches which I have done. After a week or so I am supposed to transfer and put the peaches in the secondary for two weeks. My question is do I need to sanitize or boil these peaches or something? I am just wondering if they have some nasties on them will spoil my brew? Thanks for any help.
Personally, I’ve used organic frozen peaches without making any attempt to sanitize them. I figured any microorganisms they brought with them were part of the fun. Since the beer was already done with primary fermentation, the alcohol and ph inhibits the growth of anything too nasty.
That said, if you want to sanitize in some way, you definitely DON’T want to boil, or you’ll end up with a giant pectin mess. Heat it to 150ish in an oven for a bit to pasteurize, or maybe give it a dunk in some vodka.
The freezing will take care of most stuff, the pH and ABV anything else most likely. Not sure that two weeks is enough time to impart a lot of peach character, though, and you didn’t mention a weight but you’ll need at least 5# in a 5-gal batch to make a lasting flavor/aroma impact.
The recipe calls for 10 pounds of peaches in 5 gallons. Another question is when I add these 10 pounds of peaches to my 5 gallon secondary I won’t be able to get the whole 5 gallons of beer in there. What do I do with remaining beer? Can I bottle it? Or can I leave it in the primary for another week or two and then bottle it? Thanks for all you help I am fairly new to this hobby and have a lot to learn.
You will kick up a bit of a fermentation when you add the peaches and they will eventually drop to the bottom. It’ll all fit in a 7-gal bucket and be easier to handle and clean afterwards. Plus you’ll now have a new primary, too!
I am a first time fruit brewer, only by necessity/creativity. I had a batch of Jamil’s American Wheat have the band aid phenolic and I attempted (and succeeded!) in saving it by doing a secondary fermentation with dried, home-pasteurized apricots (I think i actually may have boiled them…voila pectin).
My question is, I ended up losing a good gallon of beer to the fruit (a lot of it settled to the bottom and I wasn’t able to siphon it without having a massive clog).
Any best practices for minimization of loss to fruit when fruiting your brews?
[quote=“Pietro”]Any best practices for minimization of loss to fruit when fruiting your brews?[/quote]Cold-crash for at least a couple of days to get the fruit to compact as much as possible. Then get a pair of nylons and cut off 12" of material, tie a tight knot in one end (or use the foot end if it doesn’t have a cloth heel on it), slip it over the inlet side of the siphon, and then use a ziptie to attach it to the siphon about 6" up the tube, leaving the nylon a little loose. Siphon as usual, keeping the end out of the fruit muck and tilting the fermenter until most of the beer is transferred but the hose is still running full so you have a strong siphon going, then slide the siphon down into the fruit, keeping one side tight against the fermenter wall. Don’t move the siphon, just let it sit and keep the hose end lower than the bottom of the fermenter, and the beer will trickle through the nylon and continue to flow.
I’ve brewed both wheat beer and mead with peaches. both times, all I did was blanch the peaches, peel them, and cut them into quarters, them freeze them in freezer zip lock bags. When it came time to use them, I just put them in the bottom of my secondary, and racked the beer/mead onto them, and let them sit for 2 to 4 weeks. The results were awesome.
