Lets Talk Brewing

[Moontanman]

Does anyone ever brew beer with peppers? Sounds like something I would like a tall frosty hot glass of!

[alexander]

brew with peppers... well there are vodkas and tequilas that are infused with peppers. Um, i know that northern Russian sailors have an absolutely insanifying drink to warm up sailors or whatever in very very cold weather... Now having that said, i actually dont know the recipe, i know some of the ingredients that go into it include hot pepper powder, usually of the scolding hot variety, over 100-150000 on the scouville scale, 95.6% alcohol (usually home made), and an egg yolk or two... thats all i know, but its supposed to be potent and make you breathe fire (or close)

I'll look, i am sure that there is something out there that is made with peppers...

[Nitack]

Just a thought. The capsaicin that gives hot peppers their kick is a pretty hostile chemical... would it have a detrimental effect on the yeast?

[Moontanman]

Hmmm, I can just see a strong beer made with the buds of a certain plant to replace the Hops and a habenero to give that pefect bite!

[freeztar]

I've had a beer that had a jalapeno in it (it came that way). It wasn't that good, or hot, though.

Found these:
The Chili Beer Company - Home Page
Chili Pepper Beer - ProBrewer Interactive
http://ericsbeerpage.com/Beer/Recipe/pepper.html

[Moontanman]

Do you think the beer was brewed with the pepper or was it added to the bottle after?

[freeztar]

The one I tried had an actual pepper in the bottle, so I think it was added after bottling, but the last link I gave talks about adding pepper during the boiling stage, which makes sense to me if you want to really infuse the pepper flavor. Though, at the same time it would seem that boiling it would destroy the heat.

[alexander]

I have found some recipes, here's a beer recipe that sounds really interesting:

Originally Posted by byo.com

Smoked Chili IPA
(5 gallons, partial mash)

For the beer drinker who has tried everything before, just to prove that he or she hasn't. This beer is malty and fairly big underneath and hoppy in the middle, with a waft of beechwood smoke near the end. And, of course, you get dragon's breath for hours after!
Ingredients:

* 3 lbs. pale malt
* 1 lb. toasted pale malt (toast in oven for 30 minutes at 350°F)
* 1 lb. beechwood smoked rauchmalt
* 1 lb. medium crystal malt (50° to 60° Lovibond)
* 4 lbs. unhopped light dry malt extract (DME)
* 2/3 oz. of 12% alpha-acid Chinook hops (8 AAUs)
* 3/4 oz. of 8% alpha-acid Perle hops (6 AAUs)
* 1 oz. of 4% alpha-acid Kent Goldings hops (4 AAUs)
* 1 oz. of 4% alpha-acid Fuggles hops (4 AAUs)
* 1 large dried Anaheim chili o English ale yeast slurry (Wyeast 1098 or equivalent)
* 1 lb. oak chips (optional)
* 1 cup light DME for priming
* 25 medium dried Anaheim chilis, cut in half

Step by Step

Heat 10 quarts water to 164°F. Crush grains, mix into liquor and hold at 152°F for 90 minutes. Runoff and sparge with 15 quarts water at 169°F. Add DME to kettle, bring to a boil.

Total boil is 90 minutes. Add Chinook hops, boil 30 minutes. Add Perle hops, boil 30 minutes. Add Kent Goldings hops, boil 30 minutes. Turn off heat, add Fuggles hops and 1 dried Anaheim, chopped into small pieces.

Steep 30 minutes. Remove hops and pepper, chill wort. Steam (15 minutes) and toast (350°F, 30 minutes) oak chips, if desired, and place in fermenter. Add wort to fermenter along with enough preboiled and chilled water to make up 5.25 gallons. At 65° to 68°F, pitch yeast.

Ferment relatively warm (68-70°F) for two weeks. Rack to secondary and condition cool (55-60°F) for three to four weeks. Prime with DME, add half an Anaheim pepper to each bottle. Seal and condition for six weeks.

OG = 1.070 (17.5° Plato)
FG = 1.020 (5° Plato)
Bitterness = 55 IBUs

enjoy

[Southtown]

Originally Posted by alexander

its nearing the end of week two of fermentation. Firstly my air lock blew off sometime over sunday

I had a airlock just like the three-piece in one of your pics. It blew off on me every time. My first batch actually popped the lid. I actually had to keep a glass of sanitiser sitting next to my fermenter for days after pitching. After a few batches like that, I just ran my syphon hose into a beermug with sanitizer in it. See attatchment. Notice all the stuff that was trying to push through my airlock.

[alexander]

not a fan of those, south, but i did remedy the issue... i got a bigger bucket :P, i have a 6.5 gal now