First Time Partial Mash

Time to ease off the training wheels and do a partial mash. Plush I'm going to do a unique recipe: Smoked Pepper Chocolate Bock!

2lb Munich Malt
1lb Caramel Munic
8oz chocolate Malt

3lb Dark DME
3lb Amber DME
.5 hallertauer
.5 hallertauer
.5 Spalt (finishing)

2lb Brown Sugar
10oz cocoa powder
.5lb jalapeno
6 seranos
2 habaneros
(all peppers will be smoked right before mashing and put into boil)

Wish me luck....feedback is appreciated!
:fro:

That sounds like one spicy ass beer! I cook with jalapenos and seranos all the time. I usually cut into them and taste a tiny bit before deciding on how much to use, as one can be very mild, and the next one can be super hot...you just never know. I guess with the 2 habaneros you are kinda looking for some serious heat to begin with, but that many chiles in the same brew would scare me a little bit. Good luck, post the results when it's finished...would love to hear how this comes out!

Don't boil the fresh chiles. Steep them at flameout and leave them in the primary until you bottle. I would advise only using the habaneros. If you can look past the heat, these chiles are tropical and fruity. They have another wonderful layered character when smoked. The fresh green chiles will always taste a little more vegetal. And Serranos in particular always come off as a little raw and harsh to me when not cooked.

That's a hell of a lot of sugar to add by the way. I'd reduce it to 1lb. or cut it completely. Dryness will intensify the spice even more. You'll need more sweet to counterbalance the heat and 2 lbs. of sugar impedes that goal.

im using wyeast 2206 yeast that tops out about 9%. yes I do want it spicy. It should turn out like a mexican mole sauce type of taste that is why i want to use more jalepeno, plus as i like the heat of habanero is good i think the flavor of the pepper will be overpowering. I just like the taste of serrano and jalepeno better. all peppers will be smoked but im considering cutting amounts in half during boil...then the rest in secondary when needed for flavor/heat.

I have no experience with peppers in brewing, so I'll leave that one alone. Is it a goal to have a high FG with peppers in beer to balance the heat? If not, I would say you have too many dark malts and extract. From a color standpoint you are sitting around 40 SRM with this brew. Black and opaque like a thick stout. A bock would be 14-22 SRM.

Typically when you move to partial mash, you use light or extra light malt extract. You get the color and flavor from the specialty grains like Munich, Caramunich, and chocolate (by the way, the 8oz of chocolate is adding half the color). The LME or DME is just there to augment malt sugars. Plus you will have color from the 2 lbs of brown sugar (agree on reducing this back, no more than a 1lb I would say). My advice is worth slightly less than two pennies, so take it for what it's worth. And props to you for moving to partial mash, its a great step!

We to be completely honest I just like brewing high gravity beers. Most pepper beers I have had are usually atleats 7% abv. I figured the dme was a bit overkill. I do want it a bit darker...if this turns out good I think I will definitely go with lme. Or just all grain it

I get the higher alcohol to blend with peppers, that makes sense. I would still substitue Briess pils DME (2 SRM) for your darker DME's. And then do one of two things: cut the chocolate to 4-6 oz OR cut the CaraMunich back to 8 oz. You could always add back some Munich or Vienna in its place. Its gonna look and taste more like a Bock. Cheers!

Turned out dark but not super dark...a little lighter than a stout. tastes great going into carboy! chocolaty very spicy and floral. we shall see in about 4 weeks.

This sounds so cool! I can see how this will have a mole-like flavor to it. Let us know how things turn out.

I have my carboy in my kegerator and it is set at 48 degrees...doesn't seem like mutch action at all...I used wyeast 2206 and it say to keep it between 46-52 degrees. I took it out for a couple of hours this weekend and it really started percolating the airlock, so I know it is not stuck. It is now back in the kegerator. is that where I should keep it or should it be warmer? I plan on letting it sit for atleast 2 more weeks until i rack to secondary to let it rest until the end of june.

Why does my 2206 smack pack say to pitch at 65 to 72, but I've read that all the pros pitch at lager fermenting temps?

I've always wondered that too with their lagering instructions. I'm guessing its because they omit the step of making a starter which IMO is absolutely necessary for lagers.

I have found you get better lagers by pitching a LARGE starter at fridge temps into wort that is 1-2 degrees colder than your fermenting temps. You let the beer rise up to the fermenting temp (upper 40's/low50's depending on strasin), and you usually have activity within 12 hours of pitch AT the fermenting temp. Less byproducts to clean up.

Solebs - thanks for the info, that would indeed make sense. I've learned my lesson now with my first lager,, go BIG on the starter.
Like switcher experienced, I had zero activity, so I'm raising the temp from 50s to 60s and pitched a second smack pack. I was told these packs replace the need for a starter... But I'm not seeing evidence of this.

Switcher - has the fermenting progressed well?

I took fhe carboy out of the fridge. My downstairs temp is constant at about 63 degrees and it is very happy wort. I have been leaving out for 2 days and back in fridge for 3. I used 2 smack packs in the start