Jalapeño Beer?

Manager at my LHBS mentioned making some sort of hot pepper beer. As I’ve been thinking about it it’s been growing on me. We have some nice smoking hot jalapeños around here. What kind of style would you match something like that with (pale/blonde?)? I suppose you’d go light on the crystal malts and such. How many jalapeños might it take to make a batch? I’d want it to taste like jalapeños and burn the next day too!

This is more just a personal preference but I don’t think Jalapeno would be a good pepper to choose. Jalapenos taste a bit too “green” and “vegetal” in my opinion to taste good in a beer. I would personally prefer something more of a “bright” or “tangy” like a habanero.

Again, totally my opinion as I am a bit of a hot pepper fan

Try several beers with the peppers you wish using a “randle”, I think it’s called.
One of our homebrew club members brought one to the last meeting, and we tried several different brews with several different peppers.

I concur with what was stated above, on the Jalapeno peppers.
We used Habanero’s and Serrano’s, and they were a nice, interesting addition to the beers, with at the most a 5-7 minute dwell time before tasting.

Brew a porter, but save the jalapenos for bottling/kegging day. That’s right. Brew and ferment a beer totally like normal. Then jam those jalapenos in there on the very last day. You can win awards this way. See here.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=85174&p=792804&hilit=jalapeno+porter#p792804

I have been making a jalapeño beer for years and I think they are a good pepper to add to beer. I make a simple cream ale with only saaz hops for bittering. Chop up 6 peppers pith seeds and all and soak them in enough vodka to cover them and let sit for a week. Add to keg. I’ve won a few awards with this recipe.

Go for it. A local brewery here makes a jalapeño pale ale that’s quite good. I’ve been planning on trying to duplicate it. All the ingredients (but not quantity) are listed on their web page.

http://birdsongbrewing.com/ourbeers.html

I’ve never understood the fascination with peppers in beer…what’s the deal?

I’ve tried a pepper beer before…it was novel…tasted fine…but not the kind of flavor I’d drink a whole glass of…let alone a whole batch!

I brew mine as a novelty item for beer festivals. The crowds love it because most people have never tasted a good pepper beer before. But yeah, I kind of agree… to drink 5 gallons all by yourself… it would take a very long time indeed.

I’ve never had one. SWMBO has and nobody liked it. But I love all sorts of peppers, and the fire and sweating. It made me curious. Maybe I’d just make a small batch (1.8 gal) to see. It sounded strange and not like something I’d want to do, but if it does taste like jalapeños and is hot I’d give it a whirl!

I like jalapenos and chipotle peppers. I like them with Mexican foods, but not enough to brew 5 gallons.

LOL, perhaps this is where a 1 gallon kit might make sense.

I have two buckets that’ll do 1.8 gals, and a few Mr Beer fermentors I use to make small batches. It’s what I’d do first to see what it’s like.

I was given a recipe for a jalapeño cream ale. I’d pass it along to anyone who cares to check it out.

One thing to think about with peppers is that it is very difficult to know the ‘right’ amount to add to a beer, as every plant and every ‘fruit’ is different with respect to Scoville units. Best bet is to make a vodka tincture and add it to taste at serving or bottling.

also golden pepper ales make great blending brew. Just a dash in your stout or IPA to switch it up

[quote=“s2y”]I like jalapenos and chipotle peppers. I like them with Mexican foods, but not enough to brew 5 gallons.

LOL, perhaps this is where a 1 gallon kit might make sense.[/quote]

I’ve brewed 5 gals of porter, then added chipotle to one or two gals.

Good to cook with, also.

Since NB destroyed all their old links a couple years ago, here’s my recipe again:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1755/41462014615_b15d39a7a6_b.jpg

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And for anyone else clicking above and who can’t see anything from Photobucket anymore, here, try this:

Unrelated to brewing but I have used Photobucket for about ten years and it looks like they are pushing for pay only. Making it difficult to figure out how to even login. I only use it to store a few things and use it infrequently.

Me did try different kinds. But habonera. Best kind did find out. Taste wise. Spice. But not to much. In after taste of beer

A few years ago, went on a beer tour along the finger lakes. One place had a jalapeno beer. The only thing we tasted was the heat. I would think that if you wanted a beer, you would taste the beer. I am a firm believer in fruit or favor beers is to taste beer first and the other favors at the end.

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I did a Sarano pepper tincture and it only took 1.2 ml to make a nice pepper that disappears and lets you taste the beer. What is interesting is that my pepper heat settles to the bottom of the bottle. So you need to give it a little swirl to get it suspended.
I don’t know how you would do the with consistency in a large production