When to add peppers to beer

Peppers are peppers ...it's a love/hate relationship with a lot of folks. I usually roast my peppers and "dry hop" with them in a porter or something similar. I think something sweet could counter-balance the spice/heat of the peppers...so, yea...bombs away!

I would beef up the malt bill though...unsupported chilis can be overwhelming.

 

You also have to change the name of the brew.

 

I froze my chili peppers. brewday chopped them up prior to adding them to the last ten minutes of the boil. My very first and only time doing this and I'm impressed with the results. spicy on the back of the throat prior to yeast pitching. going to keg it this weekend.

 

I like making a tincture with peppers and adding it to the keg / bottling bucket personally. Less chance of extracting vegetal flavors by boiling vegetables and easier to control your dosage.

 

Tinctures are OK, but I've never experienced vegetal flavors with "dry hopped" frozen chile cubes either.

 

I'd reconsider adding hot peppers to a cherry beer.

 

+1. The times I've done it, I've added them to a dark beer (porter, stout). And treated them like a dry hop. (although it may work well in a "hot steep" @ the end of the boil as well) Only difference is I didn't roast mine first.
Also, you don't need much for a noticeable effect (2 jalapenos should be plenty).

 

I usually give a quick rinse in starsan before putting the peppers in secondary.

 

I usually add mine at flame-out and leave them in during primary. But then, I usually make a pepper-centric ale, so I want the vegetal flavors (including the bitterness) from them, as well as the heat.

 

I've never used frozen chile cubes so I guess I can't compare. One reason why I think tinctures aid the reduction of vegetal notes is because the higher proof liquor you soak them in is capable of extracting MORE of the flavor and/or capsaicin. Therefore, you get more out of the peppers and as a result can use less peppers overall which = less vegetal matter involved. Beer's lower abv simply doesn't do as efficient of a job at extracting the essence of the pepper. Vegetal flavors aside, tinctures definitely make controlling the dosage way easier.

 

Make a tincture and add to the glass.

 

I have added cerrano peppers that had been soaked for 5 days in vodka. I put 1 pepper into a bottle just before filling. Did this for 8 bottles. Didn't want to experiment with the whole 5 gallons. They were hot but lost heat after 2 weeks. Tried again but soaked 8 dried Ghost peppers in a half pint of vodka for 3 weeks. Near the end of bottling an Imperial Blonde, I strained out the peppers added just the vodka. I got 12 bottles out of this. They were HOT but you could still taste the beer. This method worked well for me because I didn't want to do 2 cases of Suicide Blonde.

 

For my famous jalapeno porter I use nine peppers in five gallon all added on bottling day. Chop them up seeds and all, soak in warm vodka or tequila for at least five hours, then add the liquid to your beer. For a cherry beer I would use less so they aren't too strong, maybe just five or six for five gallons. Yummy.

 

this gets a huge "why?" from me.
you're rinsing the outside? but what about the inside?
and the reason why there's a correlation between spicy food and hot climates is partially due to the bacteriostatic effects that peppers have. while they're not sterile, they probably don't have a hell of a lot growing on them. even a water rinse, IMO, or a flash freeze, would take care of any issues.

 

Guys! The correct answer is never.... I'm a huge fan of spicy foods and I can make a mean habanero meat loaf but I have not a had beer that I thought was bettered by peppers.

 

I have opened, deseeded, quick dip in Star San, then into secondary (usually into the Star San foam in the bottom of the carboy). You're probably correct, it doesn't do much, the dried chillies just look so grimey and it's more for my peace of mind.

 

Go try a Prairie Bomb or Mexican Cake.

I made a coffee stout and took about a gallon of it (when moving to secondary) and added 2 jalapeños from my garden. There was also a small bit of crown in there as well. The result was a perfect amount of heat for me. Nice and lingering all the way down. Not much coffee however. Guess I'll try again.

 

you haven't had my Suicide Blonde!

 

You ever had a little beer called Hunaphu?