For those who have done a Chili Pepper beer before...

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phrogpilot73

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I've got a quick question...

So, I was all fired to try out the Smoked Chili IPA recipe that I tweaked from BYO:

6 lbs Briess 2-Row Brewer's Malt
2 lbs Briess Smoked Malt
2 lbs Weyerman Cara Foam
1 lb Briess Special Roast Malt
1 lb Briess 2-Row Caramel 40
1 oz Chinook (11.5% AA) @ 60 min
1 oz EKG (5.9% AA) @ 30 min
1 oz US Fuggles (5.1% AA) @ Flameout
Wyeast American Ale II (1272)
1/2 lb Oak Chips
1 Serrano Pepper @ 60 min
10 Chipotles added for two weeks

So the PLAN was to slice/seed the Serrano and drop it in at 60 minutes. Then, rack to secondary and let it sit on the Oak Chips and Chipotles for 2 weeks. Then keg, condition and enjoy possibly the best Smoked Chili Beer I've ever tasted...

Then I got distracted this morning, and TOTALLY forgot the Serrano in the boil. It's in the fermenter, and I still plan on adding the Oak Chips & Chipotles. I'm thinking about also adding the Serrano to get a little more of a kick. It's only one, so I don't think it will be too much - but has anyone added a strong pepper like that in a secondary vice the boil??
 
From my experience (cooking with chilis, not brewing), the heat and flavor of 10 chipotles will completely overwhelm the serrano. You may get a hint of green chili flavor from the serrano but I kind of doubt it. The serrano is not an uber chili like the habanero or the datil (my favorite). I remember when the serrano was listed a step below the jalapeno on the heat scale. In the last decade or so it became popular to eat "hot" food, so people demanded jalapenos at the grocery stores. Only problem was they didn't want real jalapeno heat, so the farmers started to breed a "de-tuned" jalapeno for the mass market. Only problem was most of the flavor went away with the heat. Kinda like the BMC of the pepper world. :(

Thread hijack aside, I don't think the serrano will do much harm.
 
I did a chili pepper beer and added everything (roasted mix of 6 or so varieties of chilis) at the secondary (might be my best beer ever)...you've got to taste, taste, taste...keep tasting every day or every other day and rack off the chilis when you've got the perfect balance of heat and flavor. It can turn from mild to wild fast! Keep us informed!!!
 
I used 2 Serrano chili's at 25 mins in the boil.

I added another Serrano by boiling 2 C water and slicing up the chili, strained the green water and added it to the secondary.

The end product was not as hot as I thought it would be, but it did make the throat tingly.
 
I did a chili pepper beer and added everything (roasted mix of 6 or so varieties of chilis) at the secondary (might be my best beer ever)...you've got to taste, taste, taste...keep tasting every day or every other day and rack off the chilis when you've got the perfect balance of heat and flavor. It can turn from mild to wild fast! Keep us informed!!!

I agree with the idea that you should keep an eye on how the flavour/heat is progressing as it can get ahead of you. Chilli beers are great when you get them right, unfortunately my only effort was designed to make the spiciest beer I could and it was certainly a success. Let us know how you get on and good luck.
 
It has been interesting to find ANY posts about chilis in beer. I LOVE both beer and chilis. I am making a chili beer and I have decided to roast the chilis over charcoal and remove the stems and outer peel, cut in 1/2 and add to secondary. If I could only get the Dale's Pale Ale clone of the yeast cake (Must finish fermenting!! 3+weeks!!!) and use the yeast for the blonde/chili recipe. Trying hard to be patient...
 
Yeah, finding much on chili beers is difficult.
My usual method is using my typical amber ale recipe, but cutting back on the IBUs and doing no late hopping, adding a mixture of jalapenos that are seeded and with seeds, along with an anaheim or hatch, and a serrano to the boil. I'll typically also add a few chilis, after soaking them in vodka, to the fermenter for the last week or so to add to the taste.
The only problem I've found is that it is hard to drink more than 1 or 2 chili beers a night because you get overloaded.
Good luck with your beer.
 
I brew a Chipotle Smoked Porter with 1 lb. of smoked malt and 2 oz. of Chipotle peppers for a 10 gallon batch. It's a GREAT beer, with just right amount of smokiness and heat from Chipotles. You can feell the heat about half-way through the pint and it's more of a light feeling of "warmth" in the background.

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I added a serrano pepper to each BOTTLE of my latest brew. Almost four weeks in the bottle and it has plenty of heat and chili taste to it. I can't taste any heat from a jalapeno in the bottle of the same base beer.

IMO, one serrano in a five gallon batch will be barely noticable, if at all.
 
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