Pepper beer?

[quote=“speed”]here’s my simple jalapeno recipe that i’ve won awards for, been making it for a few years now and everybody loves it. not too spicy.

9 lb 2 row
11 oz crystal 40
1/2 oz saaz at 60 min
1056 yeast
mash at 155
ferment at 62
cut up 6 jalapenos and soak in vodka for a couple weeks then pour the vodka in the keg as you are transferring the beer.[/quote]
Does the vodka ease the heat of 6 jalapenos? Or, is it for killing bacteria? Seems like a lot of heat. My Pablo’s Kolsch was heat enough with 1 jalapeno. Almost overpowering.

Vodka serves double duty in that it pulls all the pepper flavors and aromas out, while yes, it also does this in a sanitary manner. So it’s the perfect solution.

@dustinnwww: Here’s a fun pepper-burn story. Now, the chemical in peppers that gives off heat (capsaicin) isn’t doused by water. Water can cool the hot feeling on your tongue, but it doesn’t remove the chemical. Alcohol dissolves it (which is why that vodka-soaking method would work), and the fats in dairy products make it float, so it’s then washable away by water – hence this tale.

A co-worker of mine was hosting a housewarming party, and her fiancee wanted to make fancy chili. He used jabaneros without gloves, since he didn’t know, and after cooking/chopping peppers went to the bathroom. Well, you know what males touch with their hands when they go to the bathroom.

By the time the guests arrived, the fiancee is rolling around on the floor in pain. My co-worker called Poison Control: they told her (wisely enough) to soak the affected area in a glass of milk. So the engaged housewarming couple spent half an hour in the bathroom, using a glass of milk and the shower hose.

These people have since moved, but I hope they’re still together and tell that story to their grandchildren. Good luck with your beer – and if it’s too hot, just use more (non-pepper) beer!

Yes, we refer to that disease as Jalapenis.

[quote=“twinsbrewer”]@dustinnwww: Here’s a fun pepper-burn story. Now, the chemical in peppers that gives off heat (capsaicin) isn’t doused by water. Water can cool the hot feeling on your tongue, but it doesn’t remove the chemical. Alcohol dissolves it (which is why that vodka-soaking method would work), and the fats in dairy products make it float, so it’s then washable away by water – hence this tale.

A co-worker of mine was hosting a housewarming party, and her fiancee wanted to make fancy chili. He used jabaneros without gloves, since he didn’t know, and after cooking/chopping peppers went to the bathroom. Well, you know what males touch with their hands when they go to the bathroom.

By the time the guests arrived, the fiancee is rolling around on the floor in pain. My co-worker called Poison Control: they told her (wisely enough) to soak the affected area in a glass of milk. So the engaged housewarming couple spent half an hour in the bathroom, using a glass of milk and the shower hose.

These people have since moved, but I hope they’re still together and tell that story to their grandchildren. Good luck with your beer – and if it’s too hot, just use more (non-pepper) beer![/quote]
That’s pretty classic. Not unlike my aforementioned unfortunate incident with habaneros. I didn’t have a party or try using milk though. I just laid there in pain.

Couldn’t agree more - nothing goes with spicy food like a good old C-hopped IPA. It’s got the bite to cut through the strong flavors. That said, there are pepper beers on the shelves that can be sampled. Never been tempted myself.[/quote]
Ditto. I actually drank only two of my Pablo’s Kolsch brews. Wasn’t a big fan. Fortunately, my co-brewer liked it, and took care of the rest.

I just sampled a Habanero Amber Ale they had on tap at my LHBS last time I was there picking up ingredients and it was really good. Not too spicy but it had a “heat tickle” on the tongue and throat. The guy there said that they fly through the samples of it when their brewer makes it every year at this time.

That said, I have never had a commercial example of a pepper beer off the shelf that I liked. Always way too much pepper.

I used a variation of the infusion portion you described (jalapenos in tequila anejo) that I added to a gallon of Pale Ale that came out awesome! Thanks for the help. I noticed that it’s a lot like hops in the sense that it was very strong at first but quickly diminished each week.

I served it at our homebrew club and everyone was impressed with how much of the flavor came through and now we’re wondering what else we could try with an infusion…