Smoked Peach Pale Ale Concern

Looking for some outside opinions here..

I did a partial boil extract batch with the Brewer's Best American Pale Ale kit. Primary for 12 days, reached FG of 1.016, then racked into secondary on:

About 4.5 lbs of slow smoked peach slices I did in a buddy's smoker.

I just tasted a sample after 3 days in secondary, and it is overwhelmingly smoky in aroma and taste.

I did not puree the peaches, they are just sliced. They were also from the grocery store, frozen in bags when I purchased them. I let them thaw, then smoked, then froze again, and thaw again prior to racking over.

The carboy has some light foam/bubbles and is bubbling slightly into the sanitizer bucket that the blowoff hose is in.

What I'm curious to hear peoples thoughts on are:

-What happens to the smoky flavor/aroma after spending time in bottles? Strengthen? Disappear? How long?

-It's only been a few days, and it's QUITE aggressively flavored with smoke, but can I expect the peach to start playing a role if I let it sit longer..?

-Was I crazy to think Smoked Peaches would be a good flavor?

Anyway, just looking for some advice/thoughts..

Woodsy

Well to answer question 4:Was I crazy to think Smoked Peaches would be a good flavor?
IMO Yup

A+ for originality.

Heh, all you can do is bottle and condition them. I'm sure the smoke should go down with time. Another option is to buy a commercial Rauchbier, drink that first, then yours may be mild in comparison!

I think the smoke will fade a bit over time, but then again, I've never smoked a peach before.

I never heard of anyone smoking peaches. much less brewing with them. but then all good ideas were new at one point. I'd think the smoke should fade given enough time. hopefully the peach flavor doesn't also fade as fast. you could try adding in non smoked peaches to increase the peach flavor.

I think it would work out great. I also like smoked beers, so I don't see how this would be bad at all. The smokiness will fade over time. Ideally, this would have been a higher gravity beer, but you might be on to something.

Peaches have the reputation of being pretty unassertive when put into beer. I've heard apricots and mangoes do a better job of delivering peach flavor than peaches do, although I've yet to use any of the three. The smoke will subside over a few months, although I don't know if that will reveal peachiness. I'd second the idea of using more fruit. Since that runs the risk of thinning the beer out as the sugars in the fruit ferment, you might consider steeping a few ounces of honey malt and adding that in as well.

Thanks everyone

Since yesterday there has been a drastic change in how the peaches look; they are starting to break down and are finally looking a bit like ripening fruit as they get eaten up. In the hopes that this imparts some more noticeable peach flavor, I will let it ride a day or two more and taste it once or twice and see how the smoky/dry plays out, before I pull the trigger.

I think the idea is awesome. I applaud your efforts.

Could always add a bit of peach extract for flavor. That being said, I love rauchbier, the smokier the better.