We are proud to announce the bottle release of one of our favorite and most sought-after beers: Peaches & Crème. Bottles of this beer are available now at our pub and are estimated to hit stores around Michigan sometime around Friday, August 31st. Only 500 cases of this beer will be released. In addition, a limited number of kegs have also been distributed throughout Michigan.
This very special beer has only been brewed at Short’s once before, in 2007. It was one of the 13 brews to be released in 750 mL bottles as part of the Imperial Beer Series. Described as a high gravity golden ale fermented with lactose and fresh peaches, Joe Short used this eloquent bi-line to describe the beer’s flavor profile: “Cream softness fused with the delicacy of prunus persica.” The 2012 12oz bottled version has an ABV of around 8.3%. We used a half pound of real, fresh peaches and approximately 1.5 ounces of milk sugar for every gallon of beer produced.
Like all of the other 
beers from the original Imperial series, Peaches & Crème had an official trading card that came with every bottle, which included a narrative from Joe about the beer’s creation. It said:
This particular batch of beer employs 500 pounds of peaches and 150 pounds of lactose for a true peach and crème experience. Each 750ml bottle contains almost 10 ounces of fresh peaches! Peaches are native to Asia and are held in high regard by the Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese. Chinese folklore reveres the peach as being eaten by immortals and as a symbol of long life. The Japanese also have a rich respect for the drupe (stonefruit). I like the story of Momotaro. He is one of Japan’s most famous folktale heroes. The old version of the story tells of an elderly childless woman who discovers a large peach floating down the river as she is washing laundry on the riverbank. She takes the peach home with her and eats some of it. The peach restores her to the beautiful young woman she once used to be. When he husband comes home, he also eats some of the peach and is restored to his youthful figure. Later that evening, the couple makes love and conceives their first child. The woman gives birth to a boy who they named Momotaro (momo meaning peach and taro meaning “eldest son”) who grows up to become a hero and have many adventures. He quests for the island of Ogres to recover a stolen treasure and defeat demons that live there. Throughout his voyage he befriends a talking dog, monkey, and pheasant that helped him overtake the mountain fortress and demon ruler Ura. The battle was vicious and violent, but with the help of his friends, Momotaro was able to defeat the demons and Ura. He recovered the stolen treasure and returned it to the rightful owners. The story of Momotaro is one of true peach greatness. I can’t promise you after drinking this beer you will be talking to dogs, monkeys, and birds about recovering stolen treasure and beating up demons. Nor that you will regain a new youthful sexual drive. What I can assure you of is the fact that I pureed a hell of a lot of peaches and fermented them in high gravity light amber colored ale, and softened it with a lot of milk sugar, and it tastes really good on your tongue in your mouth. Enjoy with friends, pets, and the elderly.
The Imperial label artwork was created by Fritz Horstman. A modified version of the same label art has been used on the new 16 packs and 12 oz bottles. We hope that you enjoy the return of Peaches & Crème.
Cheers!
- Matt Drake, SBC Operations Manager
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