Peach Mint Larger - To Fruit or not To Fruit....

[gmacbeer]

So here's my question: To use fruit or not? Last year I made a peach-mint larger that came out adequate, but needs some tweaking. I used peaches in the primary to impart a peach flavor and it worked well, but they sucked up a surprising amount of liquid in the primary, resulting in my 2.5 gallon batch only yielding 1.5 gallons of product [it was a half batch since it was experimental].

I'm scaling up to 5 gallons, and am considering trying to rely exclusively on the hops this time (Triumph) to replicate the peach flavor and forgo actual peaches, but not sure if hops alone will be sufficient, not to mention the hops would bring in other fruit flavors to the overall profile.

Recipe from last time (my notes were sparse)

80% 2-Row malt
20% Pilsner malt
2x cans (29 oz each) peaches
0.125 oz fresh mint
1 package dry larger yeast

(You'll notice I tried using mint in place of hops, which was a mistake. There was a hint of mint, but the beer felt like something was missing - obviously)

So for those of you who have used Triumph hops (which are relatively new), how "peachy" are they and will they possibly work? Thanks in advance.

 

[WayFrae]

I haven't used those hops so I can't help you there but you could try using a peach puree/juice instead of chunks of peaches. It should at least help you not lose as much overall liquid. Also, if you aren't dead set on a lager, US-05 (Chico) yeast can impart a peachy flavor if fermented cool, like around 64 degrees.

 

[gmacbeer]

@WayFrae - I'm not dead set on a larger... I'll check out that yeast. 64 F won't be a problem at this time of year - if anything it will be a bit cooler down in the basement (I'm in the Northeast). Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[3 Dawg Night]

I used peaches in the primary to impart a peach flavor and it worked well, but they sucked up a surprising amount of liquid in the primary, resulting in my 2.5 gallon batch only yielding 1.5 gallons of product [it was a half batch since it was experimental].

Slightly off-topic, but I bet those beer-infused peaches would be DELICIOUS with some vanilla ice cream.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

This is kind of similar to an idea I had but haven't tried yet. I want to do it as an IPA and call it a "Southeast IPA (SEIPA)," since you guys have your NEIPAs.