Chili / Pepper Beer

[dhempy]

Does anyone have / know of a good Pepper / Chili Beer recipe? I've got the ones in the "HomeBrewer's Recipe Guide (Fat Tuesday's Cajun Pepper Ale and Some Like it Hot) and I think I've got a copy of the BYO article on Wynkoop Patty's Chili clone.

This will be for a Cinco de Mayo party that my neighbor is putting on. I don't think we're looking for a fire-breather ... rather something with a good chili flavor (that'll leave the Some Like It Hot recipe out) The Wynkoop Patty's recipe (if memory serves) is an ale base (Wlp001 was the yeast I think).

In thinking about this beer a little bit it is clear that I can control the heat by how long the peppers steep in secondary and that I can select the peppers based on the flavor profile. I think that most of the base recipes are some sort of light malt with a10-20% crystal component ... but not much else in the way of specialty grains ... and Saaz and or Fuggles for hops. One question I have though is Lager or Ale? For a more subtle flavor profile and a beer that isn't "heavy", a lager might be a better choice. OTOH, the recipes seem to all be Ales with O.G.s around 1.040 - 1.044 (perhaps the malt profile of an ale would be more complimentary with the pepper).

So what are the collective thoughts of the BC crowd? I'll try to locate the Wynkoop clone recipe and get it entered into the DB .. likewise for the Fat Tuesday Pepper Ale so that everyone can see the entire recipe.

Happy Sunday.

Dan

[dhempy]

Here is the Wyncoop Patty Chili Beer Recipe.

Thoughts?

Dan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Wyncoop Patty's Chili Beer
Brewer: Big Head Brewing
Asst Brewer:
Style: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.49 gal
Estimated OG: 1.039 SG
Estimated Color: 3.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 91.86 %
0.31 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4.07 %
0.31 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4.07 %
1.25 oz Saaz [3.50 %] (60 min) Hops 17.6 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [3.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1/2 of medium sized Roasted Ancho Pepper (Boil 0.0 min) Misc
10.00 oz Anaheim Peppers (Boil 0.0 min) Misc


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 7.62 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 9.53 qt of water at 172.8 F 160.0 F

[brew captain]

Hmmm... I think I would prefer to use all dried/ground peppers if I gave this a shot. I think you would get a more controllable, predictable taste/intensity versus macerating fresh peppers. You could spike some beer samples to get an idea of how much to add. What to add it to you ask? I would make a substantial, moderately hopped, pale to amber ale with a lot of light crystal malts and a heavy dose (10%) of carapils mashed in low, say around 147'-148'. This will give you a medium-bodied beer with a lot of residual sweetness to allow you to bump the heat of the peppers up enough to know you are drinking something out of the ordinary. That said, I don't think a well attenuated hop monster is the best candidate for this style, even though nothing goes better with a spicy Mexican dinner than a nice double IPA. They key is palatability while preserving the novelty of the peppers. A double IPA is a novelty in itself!

I am just exercising my imagination here as I have actually never had a pepper beer.


Cheers!

[backyard brewer]

I think the base recipe looks OK although I'd up the munich to .5-1 lb and as RObert suggested add some C15.

I find myself wondering if the peppers can be roasted and mashed. I wonder if that would bring that roasted pepper flavor through with the heat.

[dhempy]

I think the base recipe looks OK although I'd up the munich to .5-1 lb and as RObert suggested add some C15.

I find myself wondering if the peppers can be roasted and mashed. I wonder if that would bring that roasted pepper flavor through with the heat.

Me too ... I really like the notion of roasted pepper flavor. I don't think we'll go for too much heat and I'll probably brew 10 gallons and pepper only 5 so that others will have a non-pepper version to drink.

I'm also thinking that I'll "dry pepper" this (like dry hopping only with the peppers) and taste frequently so that we get the right profile. I would guess that once the beer is carbonated that the heat would be "enhanced" due to the carbonation effect (ever have a beer right after a hot pepper?)

Thanks for the grain bill suggestions (BB and BC). I'm still contemplating where I want the body / sweetness to come in ... I'm thinking that this would NOT be an In-Your-Face kind of beer and that the heat would build with each sip. So in my mind I was thinking a lighter bodied beer with moderately low sweetness. So given those parameters, what do you think of a mash temp of 152-154?

Dan

[brahn]

The only chili beer I've ever had was Rogue's Chipotle beer. I generally love chilies, but I didn't really care for this beer. It pretty much turned me off to the idea of a chile beer, honestly. :/ It's an american amber with chiplotles added to it. You can see some of the details about it here:

http://www.rogue.com/beers/chipotle-ale.php

[brahn]

Dan, are you an AHA member? There was a question about chile beer on TechTalk and it got a couple responses today. Basically it sounds like these guys add them to secondary and taste often to find the right balance. One person suggested seeding the chilies and roasting them before adding to secondary. The recipes are an 'imperial' wheat, pils and someone suggested something like a barleywine or smoked porter.

Brent

[dhempy]

Dan, are you an AHA member? There was a question about chile beer on TechTalk and it got a couple responses today. Basically it sounds like these guys add them to secondary and taste often to find the right balance. One person suggested seeding the chilies and roasting them before adding to secondary. The recipes are an 'imperial' wheat, pils and someone suggested something like a barleywine or smoked porter.

Brent

Yes: I'll take a look at the AHA e-mailing.

I've got the question out to my neighbor as to what exactly he's looking for but I like teh notion of adding roasted flavor in secondary with frequent samplings .. that was actually my going in strategy.

Thanks for the Heads Up.

Dan

P.S. Did you get my note about the Beta Site?

[backyard brewer]

Did you ever brew this Dan?

[dhempy]

Yep ... it is in the secondary fermenters now ... I'm dropping the temp to try to get additional clarity. It is a little opaque in the carboy but flowing through tubes it looks pretty clear. Gonna start the chili process Saturday. So far, the beer tastes pretty good on its own. Nice color and hop flavor. I went with 1lb each of Carapils and Munich.

My neighbor is going to get chilis and do the prep so he'll either get the blame or the glory.

Dan