Help on pepper ale

brewingbryan · 01-25-2012, 12:26 AM

I'm moving a blonde ale over to secondary in the next day or two and I want to rack it on top of peppers.

I used an Austin Brew blonde kit and was thinking of doing jalapenos. Does anyone have experience or thoughts on the best amount for a five gallon batch or preparation? I was going to use five or six jalapenos, half pitted, half whole and roast them in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Should I also soak in vodka? Seems others have had luck with that.

I'm a blank slate, so any and all info would be helpful.

jrobidoux · 01-25-2012, 01:45 AM

I have only ever heard of folks dropping them in at the end of the boil so you might be blazing your own trail with this one, but the process you described sounds pretty solid to me.

PoppinCaps · 01-25-2012, 01:49 AM

I do 6 jalapenos, skinned to reduce tannins and pitted, added at flameout for a 5 gal batch. It's for a porter, so it might be a little too much for a blonde. Never done it in secondary, but I bet it will work just as well. If you're roasting them, I wouldn't worry about the vodka.

brewingbryan · 01-29-2012, 01:12 PM

Just checked on the beer after putting in seven roasted peppers - six jalapeños and one habanero. It's good, but lacking any real heat. On the plus side, it smells and tastes like a pepper. I followed the advice and took out the insides of each.

I'm going to add a half jalapeño with seeds and flesh to tue carboy today and give it a couple days to see if any heat comes through.

PoppinCaps · 01-29-2012, 01:52 PM

With all the carbs in the beer, I doubt the sense of heat is going to come through very strong. Dropping those seeds in there will definitely get you there faster, though.