Black Pepper Stout?

Ok . . . I LOVE crushed black peppercorns on nearly every savory thing I eat . . .

It could have something to do with a poor(er) sense of taste than others (which might explain my love of IPAs) . . .

Regardless . . .

I was thinking the other day and I figured black pepper might taste good in beer . . .

I did a little searching here on the forum and found a reference to a black peppercorn lager, but I was thinking (and correct me if I am wrong) that black pepper would go better with a stout of the Guinness variety . . .

I have yet to conduct some experiments of my own, but I thought maybe I would see what you all thought.

Any suggestions as to what type of beer black pepper might go best with?

Furthermore, any idea as to the ideal amount of crushed black peppercorn one might use for a 5 gallon batch or when it should be added to the wort?

Thanks in advance.

b

Further proof that I should look around BEFORE posting . . .

zing

Randy Mosher provides a black pepper porter recipe in Radical Brewing:

OG: 1.060
IBU: 66
6 lb Munich
3.5 lb 2-row
1.5 lb C120
0.75 lb chocolate
0.4 lb black patent
1.5 oz Target (9%) 30 min
.75 oz Perle (8%) 30 min
.75 oz Crystal (3.5%) 5 min
0.4 oz freshly ground black pepper (end of boil)
0.4 oz freshly ground black pepper (in chilled wort)
Any british ale strain

His notes are important: "It was a well hopped beer, and the pepper was added to provide character. Notes of pepper could be picked up, but the pepper heat was masked by the high BUs, and the aroma by the hope fragrance. It would be difficult to over-hop this beer."

Now that I have spent the time typing the recipe, I would not use his porter base recipe at all. But the pepper volume should help. If you are adding roast barley to the stout, I would up it a just a little to balance the bitter roastiness. He also notes elsewhere in the book on black pepper, "adds depth and complexity to beer, especially dark ones. Enhances other flavors. Use in small quantities, less than a teaspoon per 5-gallon batch." I googled it, and 1 teaspoon is approx 2.1 grams of black pepper.

So, for a dry stout (Guiness style), I'd go with 1/4 teaspoon at the end of boil and 1/4 teaspoon (for heat) in the secondary (to develop aroma). Hope that helps.

Thank you, leghorn!

This is, indeed, a great help! I plan to tackle this sometime in the near future.

I do have a couple questions . . .

1) Does "end of boil" mean after the boil? Or . . . is would this be like a last minute aroma hops addition to the wort while it is boiling?

2) When he/you say 1/4 teaspoon . . . is that of powdered or crushed clack peppercorns? It seems like so very little that I would assume the former, but I would like to be sure.

Thanks again for your time and consideration!

b

*Double Post*

Buenaventura - I've never used black pepper myself, just quoting the book, but this is what I think:

End of the boil would be as soon as you take the wort off heat.

The 1/4 teaspoon would be ground peppercorns, which provides more surface area in contact with the beer to unlock the heat and aroma. Whole peppercorns just wouldn't be the same.