Need chili pepper mead help

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DougBrown

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I've been making chili pepper mead for quite some time. I never had luck with fermenting the chilies at the beginning so I've been adding it at the end with good results -- i.e. I'm pleased with the flavor. The problem is that the various types of chili additions -- powdered, liquid mixes (Tabasco, etc.) -- tend to settle out at the bottom and the bottle has to be tipped back and forth a few times before serving. One thing I've not tired yet is using fresh chilies (maybe whole?) poking them into the secondary and fishing them out after an amount of time based on tastings. Any tips or comments?
 
So you want to have the sediment stirred up in your bottles??
Are you wanting clear mead with no sediment?
 
I always use fresh chilies in the secondary. If I want more heat, I will leave the seeds in as this is where most of the capcasin [sp?] is located. If I want more chili flavor I remove the seeds.
 
I've not yet done a capsumel myself, but based on experience with my chipotle stout, adding roughly chopped dried peppers (in a muslin bag for ease of removal) in secondary is the way to go. I do also add some in near the end of the boil, but this is less relevant to mead...
 
I made a small batch of Chile Beer, and just sampled it a couple days ago. I used dried mulato chiles in the fermentor for four days. Toasted it prior to addition, gave a amazing chile flavor and a fun mouthfeel to it, it finishes really quickly though, so next time I'll add a new chile in everyday while swapping out the old one.
 
Thanks folks. I think I'll try the fresh chilies and just be careful.
Fresh chilli should just have the top stalk removed and then chopped, but not too finely as it's possible to get some bitterness from chopped up seeds.

The capsaicin is easily extracted if the chilli is added after the ferment, as it's a "fatty alkaloid" and is easily dissolved in the alcohol element.

Also, contrary to popular myth, the highest levels of capsaicin aren't in the seeds, it's highest in the "umbilical" i.e. the white connective tissue between the seeds and the fruity part of the skin/flesh.

Use caution though, it's easy to add more, but if you over do it, it's hard to remove excessive amounts (dilution etc, is about the only way, unless you happen to own your own chem lab.....)
 
All you need to do is cut up your peppers and drop them in when before you pitch your yeast. I just tasted some Habenero Mead that we made during my big barleywine and mead brew day in September.
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All we did was slice one or two up and drop the pieces in.

He did a gallon seeded and one with the seeds left in, and the ones with the seeds removed was less hotter and a little more "fruity" tasting. It's not my scene, it was fun to taste but it was pretty much a novelty. I couldn't see myself drinking more than an ounce or so straight. It's a nice novelty but unless it was mixed in a mixed drink or something, it's not something I would drink a lot of.

8 months later we opened a few to share on natl homebrew day, and it was a huge hit.
 
Revvy, was that one de-seeded habenero in a one gallon batch?
I have my own scotch bonnets and am tempted to do one of these as a test at somepoint. Would you recomment less chilli that that, half maybe?
 
Revvy, was that one de-seeded habenero in a one gallon batch?
I have my own scotch bonnets and am tempted to do one of these as a test at somepoint. Would you recomment less chilli that that, half maybe?

We did one seeded 1 gallon batch and 1 where we left the seeds in. Definite difference in flavor and even clarity between the two. The seeded one was clearer and less sharp. The one with seeds was cloudy and really biting in it's hotness.

Since you're doing gallon batches, experiment with how much peppers you want to use. I found one was enough for me. But some folks of course would want more. And obviously different peppers with different scoville units are going to require more peppers.
 
I have only done two different 1 gallon batches of Habanero Mead, but I loved both so much I couldn't stop drinking them, used 3 Habaneros in a gallon with seeds, and they were placed in primary. But I do love my peppers and heat, and so do the co-workers that tasted them. I also apparently ruined the taste of this Habanero Beer a local place has for my co-workers, because now it isn't spicy enough for them. Similar to Revvy I just cut them once each length wise and drop em in, though in the future I'm gonna use a brew bag so those pesky seeds don't get stuck in anything.

Just talking about them makes me wish I didn't destroy them so fast, one of the two didn't even make it to the secondary, I just started drinking it as soon as fermentation stopped. :p
 
Just talking about them makes me wish I didn't destroy them so fast, one of the two didn't even make it to the secondary, I just started drinking it as soon as fermentation stopped. :p


Haha, I know how that goes!

I'll have to give this a try soon with such high praise; been on my to-brew list for a while now.
 
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