How much Habenero would you add per gallon to a DIPA? I have an Imperial Autumn IPA in the keg and was thinking of pulling 1/2 gallon off into a 2L bottle with Habenero in there. Heard the Habenero Sculpin is pretty awesome and thought, I can do that. Thoughts? Of course, I will wear gloves and deseed/devein the pepper(s). Thanks.
Don't know for sure...but you can always add more...and if you are only doing a half gallon...hard to f**k it up too much : )
On the Basic Brewing Video podcast posted today, Steve Wilkes shared an aged mead that was made with two habeneros per 2.5 gallons, seeds and white pith removed. Based on James' reaction, it seemed like it packed a punch but was drinkable.
ghost chili might be better. they have a more pleasant aroma, before the heat that is. I would probably do one but not worry about the seeds, except to plant them and grow future generations of fiery goodness. but I like heat so...
Remember that you can add more later. Sweet counters the heat. For meads, things like a Ginger mead can be fairly balanced, without the ginger heat, same for pepper meads.
Thanks for the info on the sweetness. The FG was 1.015 (OG was 1.082), and the 8.8% ABV has a sweet finish with the alcohol and residual sugars. I think the heat will play well with the fairly sweet mouthfeel, and the IBUs are not super high as to scrape the tongue off.
a friend of mine made a beer with an extremely basic malt/hop bill, somewhere around 5% abv and split it into 5 batches, each spiked with 0.5 to 2.5 habaneros per gallon (seeds and pith removed) in increments of 0.5. the only one i tried was 0.5 (the lowest), and it was extremely spicy and almost undrinkable to me. i'd suggest 0.25 habaneros per gallon as a starting point.
For a DIPA, I'd take 1 medium size hab, quarter it, de-vein and de-seed it, then add the quartered flesh into 2 oz of neutral spirit. Allow it to soak in a dark place around 65F for 7 days. Then throw out the pepper flesh and add the extract to 2.5 - 3 gallons of beer. Removing the veins and seeds really restrains the heat, allowing the flavor of the habanero to be enjoyed more. Extracting the pepper flesh in neutral spirits definitely compensates and increases the potency, compared to extracting the peppers in the beer. Soaking the pepper flesh in spirits for a short period of time allows you to avoid "vegetal notes" that can be pulled from the flesh when soaking for long periods of time in secondary by comparison. I do the same process with 2 medium sized habanero's in 3 gallons of imperial chocolate porter and find the heat to be very noticeable, but tame enough to drink 24oz without it building up on you to a ridiculous level. The DIPA is much more "naked" than an imperial chocolate porter, hence my recommendation to "half" the pepper amount. If you are making 5 gallons of beer (and kegging) you could use 2 hab's, add half of the extract to the keg, let it mix for a day, sample, and add the other half if you want it hotter.....
I have had exactly one habanero beer, a commercial beer from weston labs brewing. They did a very good job on it. The beer had light but tangy heat that built up a little on you slowly, but never grew to the point where the beer was unpleasant for people who aren't a big fan of pepper heat (i.e. me). The beer also had a nice pepper flavor that was well balanced and complimented its malt base (which, if I recall, was slightly reddish and had a good malt flavor). This beer wasn't very hoppy. Pepper beers probably shouldn't be in most cases. Chipotle ale from Rogue is also a nice pepper beer. I buy this one every now and then because it's just plain tasty, and has grown on me from a curiosity at first to one of the hallmarks of what pepper beers should be like. And while I can't resist a smart-ass comment, I think in all seriousness that koopa's method of soaking de-pitted, de-pithed pepper flesh in a neutral spirit (i.e. vodka), and adding to taste, is most likely to get you good results without risk of over-peppering the beer.
Just started playing with habs and beer. 5 (whole) in 5 gallons of IS might have been a bit much at the start, but like hops the flavor fades (blends?) a bit with time. It is now about perfect. Again kudos to Coder for the recipe. (takes a good long sip of hab/choco/coffee IS). Ahh where were we? Habs range from hot to HOT. Yeah you know that. If a few years of growing and more years of buying is any guide, even the same plant produces wildly varying Scoville ratings. Taste it first. No, really. ...stuff I deleted.... I'd take 1/2 a regular hot hab, dice it and toss it in. Screw the de-veining and seeding.
