Need help with a habanero ale

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divrguy

divrguy

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Okay so I've never cooked or brewed with habanero or jalapeño so I need some help. Daughters Bo loves hot sauce jalapeño and habanero. Asked me to brew him up a batch but haven't a clue what it would taste like. After a few searches I see that roasting 3 over the grill and putting them in last few minutes of boil would work. Then vodka soaked 2-3 more in secondary for additional. So, I need help from someone who has done this and how much is too much and would smoking on the grill vs roasting in the oven the best flavor? So, throw out some ideas please.
 
Not sure how much help this'll be. I brewed a peach habanero saison. I used 5 dried habaneros 30 mins in the boil. I didn't use any in secondary as I wasn't looking for the heat as much as I wanted the habanero flavor. Turned out great. I got good habanero flavor on the back end. I talked to another guy who used habaneros in secondary. He said to be careful...3-5 peppers for a 5 gal brew and only 3-5 days in secondary.
 
StompingClover said:
Not sure how much help this'll be. I brewed a peach habanero saison. I used 5 dried habaneros 30 mins in the boil. I didn't use any in secondary as I wasn't looking for the heat as much as I wanted the habanero flavor. Turned out great. I got good habanero flavor on the back end. I talked to another guy who used habaneros in secondary. He said to be careful...3-5 peppers for a 5 gal brew and only 3-5 days in secondary.
Click to expand...

That's definitely some help since I'm lost on this one. I also was thinking that something in the boil would probably kill the heat but help bring out some of the flavor? Not sure. Then the ones in secondary would bring out the heat of the pepper. And would grilling it help bring out some smokey flavor or would that ruin the pepper?

Also, a simple grain bill. Probably something like
12 lbs 2 row
8 oz crystal

Lower IBU's maybe like 40-50?

Another thing I'm wondering is since a lot of my Corona and Tecate drinkers like lime might there also be a way to get some citrus hopped character in there or would that muddy it up? Cascade for aroma and dry hop I was thinking wouldn't over power the pepper?
 
Also if anyone can help with this. I tend to like habaneros over jalapeños. They seem smoother to me. Anyone brewed with both or have a preference as to which taste better in a brew?
 
Mine had quite a bit going on and it turned out well. I had added some coriander, grains of paradise, and bitter orange peel to get a spicy citrus tone. Maybe adding an oz of lime zest for the last 5 minutes of the boil might give you the flavor you're looking for. You might also consider using some Citra hops, they tend to have a strong grapefruit/lime aroma.
 
I brew an award winning green chile blonde ale. The technique for the chiles is that I bbq them until they are are burnt and bubbly. Once cooked I immediately put them into a plastic bag to steam for 15-20 minutes. I then put the whole bag into the freezer. Freezing the cooked chiles helps to break down the cell walls so they will "leak" even more flavor when thawed. I put mine(whole)into the secondary with the finished beer. Let your own taste be the judge when rack to into the keg.
 
I haven't brewed with chilis, but I'll tell you, you can't grill a habenero...tried it once and there's not enough flesh. Maybe smoking it would work, but on the grill, i just got a useless burnt pepper
 
I made a cream ale with habanero for my mother. I only made a 1 gal batch to test and used the habanero in the secondary. The way I did it was:
two days before shifting to a secondary I placed one cut up one habanero in a pan and got it a little bit burnt up then soaked it in vodka for two days. When I did my secondary I just tossed it in.

My mother and everyone she shared it with loved it and now I am being forced to make more.
 
i'm thinking of doing a smoked blonde'ish kind of ale ... 6 row, smoked malt and roasted poblanos. I wish you luck on yours!
 
Not sure if this helps or not. I do not have personal experience brewing with habaneros, but one of my local brewpubs has a semi-regular habanero beer they make. It has great flavor, not overly spicy, just a nice bit of heat on the back of your throat, but is still refreshing. It is by far the best chili beer I've had, although TBH, I haven't had that many. At any rate, the owner was in the last time I was there, and I was asking him about it, since I was thinking of making one sometime. He said they just wash and de-seed the habaneros then toss them in the keg. They don't smoke them, grill them, or anything else. I can't remember exactly how many he said to use for a 5 gallon batch, but I want to say it was 1 per gallon.
 
Phunhog said:
I brew an award winning green chile blonde ale. The technique for the chiles is that I bbq them until they are are burnt and bubbly. Once cooked I immediately put them into a plastic bag to steam for 15-20 minutes. I then put the whole bag into the freezer. Freezing the cooked chiles helps to break down the cell walls so they will "leak" even more flavor when thawed. I put mine(whole)into the secondary with the finished beer. Let your own taste be the judge when rack to into the keg.
Click to expand...

So just whole no removing seeds I take it?

BowserBjohnson said:
I made a cream ale with habanero for my mother. I only made a 1 gal batch to test and used the habanero in the secondary. The way I did it was:
two days before shifting to a secondary I placed one cut up one habanero in a pan and got it a little bit burnt up then soaked it in vodka for two days. When I did my secondary I just tossed it in.

My mother and everyone she shared it with loved it and now I am being forced to make more.
Click to expand...

That's sounds easy to attempt I may try a small batch as well.

reverendj1 said:
Not sure if this helps or not. I do not have personal experience brewing with habaneros, but one of my local brewpubs has a semi-regular habanero beer they make. It has great flavor, not overly spicy, just a nice bit of heat on the back of your throat, but is still refreshing. It is by far the best chili beer I've had, although TBH, I haven't had that many. At any rate, the owner was in the last time I was there, and I was asking him about it, since I was thinking of making one sometime. He said they just wash and de-seed the habaneros then toss them in the keg. They don't smoke them, grill them, or anything else. I can't remember exactly how many he said to use for a 5 gallon batch, but I want to say it was 1 per gallon.
Click to expand...

I've seen this both ways with and without seeds so I wasn't sure which would be better.
 
I've been talking to a friend of mine who is a professional distiller... if you soak the peppers (or anything else) in vodka for 24-48 hours, he suggested that you simply filter out the pepper flesh and seeds and whatnot and just dump the vodka into your beer.

After the peppers have soaked in the vodka, especially for that period of time, most of the flavors and spice will have been drawn out of pepper and infused with the vodka.

Just a thought... and might be worth further testing on my part. :)
 
divrguy - check out this recipe thread on HBT. I have made this jalapeno cream ale, in fact I'm still drinking it, and it is an excellent recipe. I followed the recipe exactly for grain/hops/yeast and used 2 whole jalapenos sliced in half, seeds removed, and roasted in oven, added to the boil. Then roasted 2 more, sliced, seeds removed, soaked in vodka overnight and put into secondary for 5 days. I did not add the vodka, probably should have (will next time), and the beer has an awesome pepper aroma and flavor. There is very little heat though. Maybe the heat went with the vodka??
 
I've made several poblano/jalepeno and poblano/serrano beers, if you want heat, but little flavor, add them to the boil. If you want flavor and a little heat, add them to secondary. I've always preferred cooking them on the stove/grill first for some smoky flavor, but that's for you to decide.

Poblanos give a really great green chili flavor to the beer, with only a slight hint of heat on the back end.

Edit - In for the vodka method too, I've used it, it works well, and it allows more control over the final product.
 
ardonthorn5 said:
i'm thinking of doing a smoked blonde'ish kind of ale ... 6 row, smoked malt and roasted poblanos. I wish you luck on yours!
Click to expand...

Actually a smoked hot beer sounds awesome too!
 
I've got 5 gallons of smoked porter split between five 1 gallon secondaries and various peppers. Peppers were sliced raw (with the exception of the Bhut which was dried), not cooked or smoked or roasted, soaked in vodka with ribs, seeds, and all, and then then added to secondary. This was Saturday night. I'm planning on bottling on Saturday, making a week with the peppers, so no clue how it'll turn out.

Amounts as follows
1) 2 Jalapenos
2) 2 Serranos
3) 1 Habanero
4) 1/2 Bhut Jolokia
5) 1 Jalapeno, 1 Serrano, 1 Habanero, 1/2 Bhut Jolokia.
 
Qhrumphf said:
I've got 5 gallons of smoked porter split between five 1 gallon secondaries and various peppers. Peppers were sliced raw (with the exception of the Bhut which was dried), not cooked or smoked or roasted, soaked in vodka with ribs, seeds, and all, and then then added to secondary. This was Saturday night. I'm planning on bottling on Saturday, making a week with the peppers, so no clue how it'll turn out.

Amounts as follows
1) 2 Jalapenos
2) 2 Serranos
3) 1 Habanero
4) 1/2 Bhut Jolokia
5) 1 Jalapeno, 1 Serrano, 1 Habanero, 1/2 Bhut Jolokia.
Click to expand...

Wow, what a great experiment. I would love to hear how it all turns out. I'm doing a pipeline brew Sunday so I may do a small test batch Monday to begin my experiments.

I don't think I or my daughters Bo would like the cream ales though so I think I'll use a basic pale as a base for my experiments.

Although your porters sound like they would go fantastic with peppers... So many choices....so little time lol
 
Just put mine in bottles. Had about a half bottle of each left over that I drank along the way.

From the "What are you drinking now" thread:

Last of the bottling remnants from my Smoked Porters. This one's 1 Jalapeno, 1 Serrano, 1 Habanero AND 1/2 Bhut Jolokia in 1 gallon. Not as hot as I expected, but still not for the timid.

Results across the board were surprising. Previous ones were 2 Jalapenos in 1 gallon (hotter than expected), 2 Serranos in 1 gallon (much milder than expected), 1 Habanero in 1 gallon (about what I expected) and 1/2 Bhut Jolokia in 1 gallon (milder than I expected).
Click to expand...
 
Doed said:
divrguy - check out this recipe thread on HBT. I have made this jalapeno cream ale, in fact I'm still drinking it, and it is an excellent recipe. I followed the recipe exactly for grain/hops/yeast and used 2 whole jalapenos sliced in half, seeds removed, and roasted in oven, added to the boil. Then roasted 2 more, sliced, seeds removed, soaked in vodka overnight and put into secondary for 5 days. I did not add the vodka, probably should have (will next time), and the beer has an awesome pepper aroma and flavor. There is very little heat though. Maybe the heat went with the vodka??
Click to expand...

There went your heat. I used 10-12 serrano peppers in an Americam amber ale and let them sit 8-10 days in the secondary after pan roasting them. The taste at bottling was weak pepper flavor and no heat (I was a bit dissappointed), so I placed 1" pieces in each bottle and the final product was VERY spicy!! Oh yeah, I left ALL the seeds in the peppers. That's where most of the capsaicin resides which gives peppers their heat profile.

So, to recap... more pepper flavor and less heat= fewer seeds; more heat= more seeds!
 
Is there a risk of contamination in secondary if you just through some chillies in without soaking in vodka or boiling? I don't want to loose the heat.
 
LittleBroBrews said:
Is there a risk of contamination in secondary if you just through some chillies in without soaking in vodka or boiling? I don't want to loose the heat.
Click to expand...

Soak the peppers in vodka for 24-48 hours then strain out the peppers and seeds using a coffee filter and dump the infused vodka into your batch.

All the heat and flavor of the peppers with zero chance of introducing infection.
 
brewmcq said:
Soak the peppers in vodka for 24-48 hours then strain out the peppers and seeds using a coffee filter and dump the infused vodka into your batch.

All the heat and flavor of the peppers with zero chance of introducing infection.
Click to expand...

Would I not then get a off flavor of vodka?
 
brewmcq said:
Soak the peppers in vodka for 24-48 hours then strain out the peppers and seeds using a coffee filter and dump the infused vodka into your batch.

All the heat and flavor of the peppers with zero chance of introducing infection.
Click to expand...

I bottled this up last weekend and it should be ready by the fourth. I ended up using 2 Serrano's in the boil. They were charred on the grill first. Then vodka soaked 1 Habanero in vodka and after 48 hours, dumped all of it into the beer. Pulled the Habanero after 2 days but like you guys mentioned, the heat was in the vodka. Tasted a sample and wow was it good and hot! It was only a 1.5 gallon batch and ended up with 2 six packs. It's a little bit too hot for me but I think the person I made it for will love it. Thanks for everyone's help.
 

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