I’m interested in adding some spicy kick to my next brew, and was wondering if anyone had any tips for adding chili peppers to their brews. Currently, I have a bunch of dried Habanero peppers, but I could conceivably go for other ones. Any advice would be appreciated. Cheers!
I would highly recommend doing a tincture!
For 6 oz of extract, usually enough for 10 gallons depending on spice level, use 6 oz Vodka (something decent, but not too expensive) add in your peppers (I like extra spicy so I think last time I did like 6? Habaneros In the jar) and shake every now and then for about 4 days. Strain out the peppers and toss the jar in the freezer. If there’s any crud at the top that froze over scoop it out and toss it. Then add that to your beer.
I prefer using tinctures since it gives you a lot more control, what I’ll do is pour 1-2 oz of beer into a glass and add in a few ml of the tincture. (Mixing imperial and metric units, I know) until I find the spice level I like. Once I know how many ml for 1-2oz of beer I’ll extrapolate that out and do math for a 640oz (5gal) batch and add that much in to my keg. I like this method since it gives you a lot more control and repeatability than just tossing peppers into secondary (some might be super spicy some might be duds, etc). One other thing: I don’t know if I’m crazy and I’ve wanted to test it but I’ve been busy, I find dehydrated peppers add in more heat than fresh peppers, not sure why though, maybe it’s just in my head lol.
alzymologist@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
I use peppers for mead a lot. Usual drill: throw them after bubbling slows down or the smell will bubble away.
A couple of good, ripe habaneros is good for 5L. Don’t use scorpions, they add sting but no other flavor, while habaneros are quite flavorful.
Capsaicin does not have any notable effect on yeast, it’s neurotoxin, after all.