[Aaron Grant]

I’m after some ideas on a chilli pepper beer? Was thinking of something along the line of a English barley wine. How does the chilli peppers interact with the alcohol percentages? Is there a hop/flavour combo I should look at? I can get dried habaneros and that’s about it.
Hopefully having something that can be drunk in about 2 months, but then bottle and store the rest for my guests to take home.
Thanks


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[Aaron Grant]

It’s also summer here when we will be drinking it, so I’m not against something crisp and light either.


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[majorvices]

Peppers have a surprising amount of sugar. It's really almost impossible to give you an idea how much sugar is contributed. I find that a blend of fire roasted peppers works best (be sure to roast them because that brings out the best flavor). Be sure to use some flavor peppers (like poblano) along with the fire peppers (like habanero) for the best flavor.

Obviously everyone's tolerance to heat is different but for me I want to taste the beer and peppers before I feel the heat.

[Aaron Grant]

Yeah that’s what I’m after. I am growing poblanos by chance. But my habaneros are only flowering so don’t think they will be ready in time. So the only ones I can get are dried.
Any ideas on ratios etc?


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[Bob357]

I'd recommend making a tincture, putting the peppers in a pint jar and adding just enough vodka, or other neutral spirit, to cover them. Let it sit at room temperature for a couple of weeks. Once the beer is ready to package, add the tincture to taste.

[majorvices]

Usually you will want a lot of peppers for a pepper beer, not a tincture. I have done firkins (firkin actually) with peppers before and I have used about a pound of peppers roasted and deseeded and aged directly in the beer.

[Bob357]

I've had good results in a Kolsch with 2 oz. dried Jalapeños (broken up, but not deseeded) in a tincture for 5 gallons. A couple ounces of dried Habaneros in a tincture should pack a pretty good punch, even with a bigger beer.

[jeffy]

I usually add the peppers after fermentation, like dry hopping.  Poblanos give nice pepper flavor, but not much heat.  A little habanero is always good to add some punch.  Most styles work well with peppers, with the exception of really bitter beers.  My opinion is that these tend to clash.

[Aaron Grant]

Thanks everyone. I might pull some of the lager I’ve got in to a bottle and play with some Jalapeño and Habanero dry hopping and work my way from there…


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[ynotbrusum]

One aspect to note is whether you are able to maintain head retention.  I found that the head collapses more quickly with pepper-infused beers.  Perhaps it is caused by the oils in the peppers...some one here will know, as well as how to avoid that problem.  Cheers!

[jeffy]

One aspect to note is whether you are able to maintain head retention.  I found that the head collapses more quickly with pepper-infused beers.  Perhaps it is caused by the oils in the peppers...some one here will know, as well as how to avoid that problem.  Cheers!

My very first peppers beers had poor retention.  I learned that roasting them (scorching the skin and then peeling it off) took care of that issue.

[Aaron Grant]

One aspect to note is whether you are able to maintain head retention.  I found that the head collapses more quickly with pepper-infused beers.  Perhaps it is caused by the oils in the peppers...some one here will know, as well as how to avoid that problem.  Cheers!

My very first peppers beers had poor retention.  I learned that roasting them (scorching the skin and then peeling it off) took care of that issue.

Skins are wax based so that could be the cause.


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[majorvices]

Roasting them brings out the most flavor anyway.

There's funny story about a firkin of pepper beer being stored in the brewery office during winter since the office was climate controlled and the brewery floor was not. let's just say peppers have a surprising amount of fermentable sugars. Likewise a surprising amount of beer can be expelled from an exploding over carbbed firkin beer.

[reverseapachemaster]

I've made a hatch chile beer off and on for the last decade. Six roasted peppers and four unroasted per five gallons. Cut them open, remove the tops and seeds, freeze for a couple days and toss them in the beer after fermentation ends for four or five days--until you're happy with the flavor. The base beer is a very simple blonde ale.

Chile beers can go in a lot of directions depending upon what flavor and heat you want. Personally I like a lot of flavor and just a little heat so you can drink through an entire beer or more without regret. I've had blisteringly spicy beers like Stone Crime which was delicious but painful.

If your only option right now is dried habanero I think that could work in a barleywine. I'd start low at one or two per five gallons for a week. You can always take out the old peppers and add more until you like the flavor/heat. You can't take the heat out of the beer so it's better to start small and add more versus starting with a lot and hope your friends have a tolerance for capsaicin.