Due to all the rain we have received here in Texas, my peach and grapes are producing like crazy. I’ve got more than I know what to do with.
I had been thinking about adding peaches to my next brew. I thought about adding some peaches to either a cream ale or a brown ale. What styles would be best for this?
Also I was wondering how and when to add the peaches. One thought would be just to throw them in my secondary. I had another thought of cooking them in the oven, letting them caramelize a bit, then through them into the fermentor. I also had the idea of soaking them in some rum then adding them to the secondary. I thought this would go well with a brown ale, or perhaps a IPA.
I’ve also thought about incorporating the grapes as well. I’ve brewed with raisins before and got a tartness that I want to avoid this time…I’ve heard that brewing with fruit can cause the tartness that I received.
I’ve also thought about incorporating the grapes as well. I’ve brewed with raisins before and got a tartness that I want to avoid this time…I’ve heard that brewing with fruit can cause the tartness that I received.
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So I’m guessing by this statement you don’t enjoy sours/wild ales? Fruit in beer is at its best in sours IMO. Something like peach would amazing in either a lambic (see you in 18 months!) or a berliner, which would be amazing for the summer and the best choice IMO.
If you don’t like sours, I would suggest a simple blonde ale, some late/whirlpool citrus hops (cascade, citra, amarillo). I would stay away from darker beers and IPAs.
As a side benefit, peaches are one of the best fruits to use in beer.
Two suggested routes for adding them, which can be used individually or together:
1.) slice/pit 1-1.5lb of peaches per gallon of beer you have, place in ziplock bags, then in the freezer for 1-2 days. This will help to kill a lot of the bacteria/microbes on the skins and bust up the cell walls of the fruit. Thaw the fruit, add to the beer after the beer’s fermentation has finished. No need to rack to a separate vessel unless you want to reuse the yeast. I would add the fruit in a sanitized paint strainer bag, as this will help tremendously when you are packaging. Leave it for 2-3 weeks (a true ‘secondary’ fermentation will happen), then package as normal.
2.) make a homemade peach extract. Around the same time you add the fruit to the beer, puree about a pound of peaches and cover/immerse in vodka in a covered container. Give it a shake every time you walk by it while the fruit ferment is happening. After 2 weeks or so, put it through a fine mesh strainer (preferred) or muslin bag, and you have your own peach extract. You can add this to taste at packaging (it won’t take much to have a flavor impact…probably a few ml’s per bottle or a 1/2 cup or so for the keg). This will give you another dimension/layer of peach flavor, most importantly by adding/preserving the AROMA of the peaches, which will partially be lost/blown off during the fermentation in #1.
3.) send them to me and i will use them in a sour!
I think I’ll end up brewing a blonde ale. I think I’ll split the wort into to different fermentors. I think I’ll add peaches to one batch and add the peaches and grapes to another batch. Or who knows, maybe I’ll just get lazy and and throw all my fruit into one batch!
I froze my peaches until I’m ready to brew, that should help with the sanitation. I also thought about cooking the peaches in my oven to get a caramelization going. I think cooking them, would not only sanitize them, but would it also sterilize them as well?
Yes, but it would also drive off the aromatic compounds that you want to make it into your beer. I heard somewhere that all fruit tastes the same to someone with no sense of smell, its the aromas that make them unique.
To the above post, I think chemical pasteurization would work, but if using camden in conjunction with potassium sorbate (like you would do with wine/cider) I believe the latter stops yeast growth.
It might work better to dip them whole into star-san solution and chop them up on a sanitized cutting board. Especially if they aren’t bruised or damaged, any bacteria should be on the outside.
If you use campden/k-meta, you don’t need to use potassium sorbate. Peaches are acidic enough that k-meta should be an effective sanitizer. Use 1 tablet per gallon of puree, and give it a good 24 hours to off-gas before adding it to your beer. The couple of times I’ve used k-meta with ale yeast, it didn’t handle the sulfate nearly as well as wine yeast, so give it a good rest so the stuff can dissipate.
I have a friend that made Peach Ginger Shandy. He cut the peaches in half and pitted them of course and grilled them for 15-20 minutes. He caramelized the sugars so the sugars were not fermentable. It tasted amazing!!!
