Brewing Peach Cobbler Ale... no peaches!?

Hey everyone,

I am brewing Brooklyn Brew Shop's Peach Cobbler Ale (1 gallon), which calls for adding 2 ripe peaches (peeled, halved, and pitted) at the end of the boil, letting them steep in the hot wort for 20 minutes, and then removing them before cooling the wort.

Now comes my problem... I went to the grocery store (several, in fact) expecting to find peaches, and apparently NO grocery stores have any peaches right now! I ended up going to the organic section and picking up a 1 litre carton of organic peach juice / puree, which the carton says is pure pressed, no preservatives, not from concentrate, and no water or sugar added, and the ingredients says only "peach juice". Would I be able to use this instead of the 2 peaches the recipe says to use? And if so, how much should I use for a 1 gallon batch? Will I need to boil it first? Will adding it at the end of the boil be enough to "sterilize" it? This is my first time adding any kind of fruit juice to a beer... any advice would be great!

Anyone??? im hoping to brew ASAP so i really need some advice on this

My vote would be to skip the juice and just add peaches towards the end of fermentation like a dry hop. Assuming you can get some peaches in the next two weeks. I would soak them in a little vodka before adding them to the fermenter.

That's my totally unqualified opinion.

temple240 said:

My vote would be to skip the juice and just add peaches towards the end of fermentation like a dry hop. Assuming you can get some peaches in the next two weeks. I would soak them in a little vodka before adding them to the fermenter.

That's my totally unqualified opinion.

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Or freeze them and make a puree. Supposedly it helps break down the cell walls from the freeze burst.

So there's no way i could use this organic peach juice??? I don't know how long it'll be before there's peaches in the store again (or why there isn't right now in the first place), and the grain mixture has been sitting milled in a bag for about 3 weeks now losing freshness, so i kinda wanna brew soon... I don't know... :|

Although I haven't tried it, I have heard that apricots leave more of a peach taste than peaches. Fwiw.

So go for it. Might end up better than the original.

Try the frozen foods section. I'll bet that they have peaches.

As far as the peach juice goes, I'd use about a cup (maybe more) of juice per peach, but add it after most of the fermentation is complete.

The beer that I'm drinking right this minute is made with pineapple juice added at flameout. Haven't tried making a clone of it yet, but those in the know (who have spoken to the brewmaster) say that a half gallon of pineapple juice is good for a 5 gallon batch. I know it's not peaches, but my point is that you'll probably make a pretty tasty beer, even if you don't follow the recipe to the letter. Go for it!

Definitely brew it! Since it is only a 1 gal batch...I'd do a cup at the end of the boil. Then, after primary is over taste it. If it is good, leave it. If it needs more peach, add it. If it is nasty, oh, well, it's only a gallon.

What about two jars of the baby food puree? Gerber i believe. Prob as pure and fresh as u can get otherwise without syrup coating everything.

I may just go for it... Thanks for all the suggestions! If I do go for it I'll add 1 cup at flameout. I have emailed Brooklyn Brew Shop to ask their opinion on it, as they're usually pretty good at responding relatively quickly. I can't see how adding a cup of peach juice would be BAD anyways, as it would probably give it a peachier flavour than just steeping a couple peach halves for 20 mins anyways.

I definitely don't think the juice will hurt anything. Worst case scenario is that it boosts your og and doesn't add any detectable flavor.

Okay so from you guys' suggestions i did some reading and I decided that i'm probably going to add apricots instead of peaches. However, apricots are even harder to find fresh than peaches it seems... So i will probably go with dried apricots. How should i go about adding dried apricots? How should they be "prepared", when should i add them, and how much should i add to this 1 gallon?

Have you looked for apricots inthe frozen section? Don't know if they exist, just an idea. Personally, never tried dried fruit. I think a lot of the flavor is in the juice (why my favorite way to add fruit is with a juicer), so w/o juice, it may take more fruit per gallon than you normally use. I'd say, chop it up in a blender/magic bullet and soak in vodka for a couple days then rack onto it.

Look forward to your results.

I think you might need fresh apricot to get peach flavors but I've never used them. Last summer I made an apricot ale with 14 oz dried apricots in a 5 gal batch. I drank the last bottle earlier this week, and it still had light apricot flavor, but also a bit of bitterness in that apricot flavor. It didn't remind me of peach at all. My method was to pull 2 cups of wort at 30 minutes, let it cool until 5 minutes (last think you want is air rapidly heating and expanding in a blender or food processor) puree the apricots in the wort, then add it back at one minute. More aromas from the apricots may lend to more of a peachy flavor--for more aroma I would either save some wort or pull some beer and puree the apricots then bring up to about 180F before adding them in secondary. I feel like the heat and liquid will help extract flavor as opposed to just soaking them in room temperature beer. I can't say if more apricot or going in secondary instead of primary/late boil will lend itself more to a peach character, but apricot cobbler ale doesn't sound bad.

I read a blog where another home brewer made the BBS Peach Cobbler ale with canned Peaches. Maybe you could try that? He did not add the syrup, just the peaches. I dont see why it would not work, and since canned there is little to no risk of contamination Best of luck and let me know how it turns out. I am starting on the BBS Apple Crisp Ale tonight, will be an interesting brew. Same concept as the Peaches but you use 2 diced apples and let them steep for 20 min after flame out.

Im looking at making this in the next week or two, did you end up brewing it? If so, what did you decide for the peaches and how did it turn out?

Im looking to make it for my wife who doesn't care for many beers, but this sounded good to her along with a carrot cake ale. So, for her tastes the peach will need to be present otherwise I don't think she'll care for it.