My Fire in the Hole kind of a flameout....

[Hamburglar57 0]

Just to share that I'm torn on the outcome of my Jalapeno Chili beer. On one hand there isn't nearly the pepper flavor or heat (pretty much none) in the beer I was hoping to get. On the other hand, it smells enticingly peppery, still has a great crisp summer beer taste and is generally a really good beer. I guess I'll call it a wash and if I make it again tweak the recipe for more pepper flavor. You brew, you drink, you learn.... :gulp:

[Guest System Admin]

How many peppers did you use?

How long did you have peppers in?

I heard some say they only did 1 week with peppers and others say they used 4-5 large peppers.

Mine is in the fermentor, bottling is next weekend

[Hamburglar57 0]

I used 6 seeded medium to large jalapenos and one medium-large-ish one with seeds left intact. Left it the fermentor for the entire 2 weeks of fermentation. Still not much pepper flavor and no heat. Next time I will leave all the seeds in.

[SmokingTony 0]

I'm pretty big in the kitchen, and I work a lot with green peppers, so here are my two cents.

Jalapenos are not really all that hot when seeded. If the one that you left with seeds, was completely in tact, it is likely that the beer was not able to penetrate the jalapeno and make contact with the seeds and veins, where all the heat is. Whenever I make soups and want to impart heat, I take a jalapeno, and with a knife remove the stem end, leaving an open orifice where the liquid can run in and out to make contact with the seeds of the jalapeno while most of the seeds actually stay inside, attached to the pepper through out the cooking process. This always works well. Doing this, you should only need one, maybe two peppers. Another option is to up the ante and use a Serrano pepper. If you are unfamiliar with her, she is the thinner, hotter cousin of the jalapeno. I would still remove the stem end, however.

On an ending note, I like the sound of your beer as is. When you first posted about it, I was a little turned off by the flavor concept, but I do enjoy a beer with a spicy aroma, so this sounds enticing. Good luck with your brew, I hope it turns out the way you want it to.

[Christ872 1]

Tony~

What about Cayenne peppers??? I know you you mention jalapeno and Serrano...but I wanna do this recipe with Cayenne.

What do you think of the spicy/peppery/heat there???

Please assist

[Guest System Admin]

What I did was took 6 large peppers off the plants in my garden (3 red Jalapenos, the other 3 were in colors turning from green to red)

I capped the peppers and cut all 6 into 16 pieses each one, and removed half the ribs and seeds. The peppers were hot, my fingers were tingling for a couple hours afterwards.

I was worried about infection since fresh peppers so I put in hop sack and boiled with the Booster for 3-5 min.

[Guest System Admin]

This recipe is probably on my 1,2 list of favs. Mine did not have any heat at all, but a great aroma and jalapeno taste. Perfect for me. If you want more heat you will have to do a little tweak ... finely chop the peppers with seeds, and/or step up the heat ladder. You might get a bit more heat by steeping for a few minutes. My only concern here might be the introduction of more oil than if just putting in a hop sack.

I removed the sack at about 10 days after taking a little taste. Considering there was no heat at that time, I would suppose that a few more days would have made a difference.

When cooking with peppers and wanting a bit more heat, I use Thai Hots. They look alot like a Cayenne, but smaller. I have not seen these in the store. I grow my own peppers. Will be using some Yellow Banana in the next batch.

I just read where dehydraed peppers have more heat when rehydrated because of the change that takes place in the sugars when dehydrated. Don't know for sure from experience until I try the batch of peppers I just dehydrated from my garden.

Well, I think I gave a bit more than a two cents worth

[SmokingTony 0]

Christ872 wrote:

Tony~

What about Cayenne peppers??? I know you you mention jalapeno and Serrano...but I wanna do this recipe with Cayenne.

What do you think of the spicy/peppery/heat there???

Please assist

I have never worked with whole Cayenne peppers, only powder. They are much hotter than jalapeno and even Serranos. I think the technique I mentioned previously would still apply. I think one would be plenty.

[FunkLord 0]

Set my first batch of jalapeno beer to ferment a week ago.

Dunno why people are removing the seeds and such- that's where the HEAT is!

Anyhoo- I used three large, fresh jalapenos, seeds and all, chopped finely. On first sample: A nice, intense fresh-sliced pepper scent, and the first sip, while being the standard half-sweet-beery flavor, contained a nice heat that's still lingering gently on the tongue, five minutes later.

I'm gonna have a hard time being patient for the next few weeks, 'cause if this is how awesome it is after one week, I can't imagine how excellent it will be, a month from now...

(For the record, the recipe I used was the Brewferm "Diabolo" kit.)

[Hamburglar57 0]

I did finely chop the peppers, not add them whole, so there should've been no problem with the fermenting beer running through them. and I tasted a bit of the one i left the seeds with and could taste the heat. So not sure what the problem was there.

As for removing the seeds, that is in the directions. I erred on the side of caution when leaving only the seeds of one pepper because, while I like spicy, I didn't want a beer so spicy it was undrinkable. All in all, I consider it a learning experience with a not-so-bad end result. The beer has a slight resemblance to Goose Island Pepe Nero, which I happen to enjoy very much, so it could definitely be worse!

[FunkLord 0]

After 17 days in the keg, and a week in the bottle, I had to crack one open and give it a preliminary try.

The most striking thing off the bat is the smell- it retains that "fresh-cut" pepper smell, after all of these weeks, complimented by a slight cilantro odor that came out of nowhere.

The taste isn't all that bizarre, but the heat is pretty striking- especially when it hits the back of the throat. Not wholly unpleasant- but by itself, it's just unusual- I have a feeling it would go better along with a spicy food.

While it's (predictably) "green," I'm sure it'll mellow out after a few more weeks.

[SmokeDiver3zero 0]

Keep posting. My Fire-in-the-hole brew is on-deck. I'll still undecided on how many/how to cut/seed mine.

[Christ872 1]

SmokeDiver~

I'll give you a note when mine comes out. Let you know if the Cayenne works. She's been in the keg since Saturday(09-24)

[ricewing 0]

I brewed my Fire in the Hole with 5 Jalepenos and 2 Habaneros that came from my small garden. It's definately got the heat. :ohmy:

[Screwy Brewer 61]

I have to say this is an interesting concept. I usually drink a beer after eating hot peppers and spicy food. Based on this thread I might find myself trying my hand at brewing this too.

I'm thinking a nice pale ale base with just enough bittering hops to reduce any malt sweetness. Then after final gravity move it to a clean secondary putting cut up peppers, seeds and all in a sanitized hop sack with some stainless steel washers to sink them to the bottom.

I figure a 5-7 day soak should do it.

[SenorPepe 0]

One of the local brewpubs here does a seasonal tri-pepper pilsner that is excellent. Cold, clean, with peppery taste and heat. Delicious.

[SmokeDiver3zero 0]

Screwy Brewer wrote:

I have to say this is an interesting concept. I usually drink a beer after eating hot peppers and spicy food. Based on this thread I might find myself trying my hand at brewing this too.

I'm thinking a nice pale ale base with just enough bittering hops to reduce any malt sweetness. Then after final gravity move it to a clean secondary putting cut up peppers, seeds and all in a sanitized hop sack with some stainless steel washers to sink them to the bottom.

I figure a 5-7 day soak should do it.

Thanx SB!

Now I have to change my recipe (on deck) again. I did'nt figure in bittering hops and the "sinkers" are a great idea. Plus, flavoring at secondary should be perfect.

Update: SenorP, "tri-pepper"? Huuuum, now that's interesting

[partspimp 0]

love the washer idea! I'll be trying that later this week.

[SenorPepe 0]

SmokeDiver3zero wrote:

Screwy Brewer wrote:

I have to say this is an interesting concept. I usually drink a beer after eating hot peppers and spicy food. Based on this thread I might find myself trying my hand at brewing this too.

I'm thinking a nice pale ale base with just enough bittering hops to reduce any malt sweetness. Then after final gravity move it to a clean secondary putting cut up peppers, seeds and all in a sanitized hop sack with some stainless steel washers to sink them to the bottom.

I figure a 5-7 day soak should do it.

Thanx SB!

Now I have to change my recipe (on deck) again. I did'nt figure in bittering hops and the "sinkers" are a great idea. Plus, flavoring at secondary should be perfect.

Update: SenorP, "tri-pepper"? Huuuum, now that's interesting

Yeah it was good. I think part of what makes it great is the tri-pepper. I didn't ask but the way it tastes, it seems like they have some peppers just for flavor (probably not too hot) and then they layer that with more assertive, hotter chiles. That way you get a depth of chili flavor without it being too hot for the masses. It was well done.

EDIT: I could be am talking out my ass.