How to Make Peach Beer

Peaches are a mild fruit when it comes to fermenting beverages. This recipe calls for five lbs and will provide a distinct peach flavor that will mellow after a few weeks in the bottle. Many beer drinkers find that four lbs is adequate while a true peach beer would use up to seven lbs for this recipe. Here's how to make a 5.5-gallon batch of peach beer.

Things You'll Need

• 5 lbs fresh peaches
• 5 lbs Belgian 2-row pale malted wheat
• 4 lbs German malted wheat
• 1.5 lbs flaked malted wheat
• 1 oz Hersbrucker hops
• WLP 300 hefe yeast
• Yeast starter

Instructions

1. Place the malted wheat in a grain bag and pour 2.5 gallons of cold water into a pot. Infuse the malt into the water for 20 minutes at 104 degrees, 40 minutes at 140 degrees and one hour at 158 degrees.

2. Bring the wort to a boil and add 3/4 oz of hops. Add the remaining 1/4 oz of hops in 40 minutes and boil for another 20 minutes. Allow the wort to cool to room temperature.

3. Boil, cool and filter 2 gallons of water. Pour it into a fermentation vessel and strain the wort into it, being sure to fully aerate the wort. Add in the yeast and starter. Allow to ferment for three weeks.

4. Take 5 lbs frozen peaches, heat them with two cups of water at 160 degrees for 20 minutes. Let them cool to room temperature and add them to the secondary fermentation vessel.

5. Rack the beer on top of the peaches, top off to 5.5 gallons and bottle in one week. Wait at least two weeks before drinking.

Resources

• Learn what beer drinkers think about peach beer.