I brewed this up last month and at first tasting it is very very good. This isn’t your typical peach flavored wheat, as it doesnt employ apricot or peach flavorings from your LHBS, or from real peaches. Instead, its a sort of herbal beer that I flavored using perfect peach tea bags from bigelow teas. They contain rose hips, hibiscus, orange peel, lemon peel, apple and strawberry leaves, and roasted chicory. Some of these are mentioned in the book sacred and herbal healing beers, and the others i found reference to wine making. This recipe is a for a 2.5 gallon “partial mash,” which only uses 1lbs of amber malt extract to boast alcohol content. The only reason I added this was to compensate for a low post-mash gravity reading. My efficiency was pretty low (high 50s/ low 60s), which may have been caused by the large quantity of adjuncts that I used.

Perfect Peach Ale

Ingredients

2lbs Belgian pale malt
0.25lbs Carahelles
0.25lbs 20L Crystal malt
0.50lbs Toasted oats
2lbs Flaked wheat
1lb Dry amber malt extract
0.5lbs honey
.25oz Cascade hops (first wort hopped)
.1oz Cascade hops (flameout)
2bags of Perfect Peach Tea from Bigelow Teas
Wyeast American Ale (.5L starter)
3/8 cups priming sugar

Mashed at 128F for 30 mins, then rose temp to 150F for 50mins. Recirculated 3L wort then ran off into kettle with the cascade hops. I then sparged with 6L at 170F. Added enough water to make 3 gallons, and brought it to a boil. I then added the peach tea and boiled for an hour. I added the honey and the dry malt extract in the last 10 mins and then added the remaining cascade hops at flameout. Chilled, racked to the primary, aerated, and then pitched the yeast. It was in the primary for a week, the secondary for three weeks, and then primed and bottled.

I tasted a week after bottling and I am very happy with the flavor of this beer, its smooth and citrusy with a light peach undertone. The cascade hops are slightly noticeable and blend together nicely with fruit flavor. There is also a slight tang, possibly from the hibiscus or the lemon peel, that goes well. Its appearance is very very very hazy, im guessing its from the high oat and flaked wheat content. Its aroma is light with scents of peaches, orange, and is lightly floral. The head retention is surprisingly good for being freshly bottled.

Overall, I loved the way this one turned out. I think this herbal peach tea is a very good substitute to peach flavoring and adds an added complexity because of the combination of herbs. However, time will tell if this flavoring ages well. According to Radical Brewing, the nature flavoring in peaches can somehow be digested or altered by fermentation and the resultant taste ends up being gummy and unappealing