Chilli and Chocolate

Hey Guys,

I've read with pleasure the threads around brewing chilli beers. I'd like to brew a non-gimmicky beer that enhances the taste of chillis (serrano? jalapeno? plain ol' capsicum?)

I'm growing a lot of chillis. I love beer. I love chillis. I quite like chocolate...

I'd like to brew a chilli + chocolate stout. In my mind, it is a rich, strong (6%) beer that leaves a gentle burn in the middle of the mouth. Generally this burn is achieved using fresh, ripe chillis (which I'll hopefully have plenty of).

The chilli flavour should be dominant (smell and taste); the burn will be pleasurable. And the chocolate flavour will be rich without the sweetness.

Any comments, suggestions, recipes and especially experience will be gratefully received. I should add that I'm currently a novice but my second brew is looking good!

Cheers,

Jim

It sounds delicious, but I have nothing for you. Definitely gonna keep tabs on this one.

I'm not usually a chili beer guy, but I did an imperial stout with some cocoa powder, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and 1/2 ancho + 1/2 guajillo (seeds removed in 1 gallon of beer in secondary for 2 weeks). I thought the dried low Scoville peppers did well to add a rich flavor without more than a slight burn on the end of each sip.

I’m not sure if the fresh bright peppers will go as well with the dark stout/chocolate flavors as well as the dried (chocolate and dried peppers are a classic pairing in moles for example), but it is certainly worth a shot.

Hope that helps good luck.

I have always wanted to do a chocolate chili beer. I plan on trying something like this soon:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f126/cocoa-cayenne-porter-173496/

My chocolate Mole Porter won a bronze last year at the WOrld Expo of Beer in Frankenmuth Michigan.

I use mexican hot cocco disks, and my own blend of chili powder.

This year (I need to bottle it) I actually mashed with the hot cocco, and used dried chillies instead of powder. I used a mix of different peppers including serrano, pasillo, arbol, chipotle and red finger peppers.

I did a DFH Theobroma-inspired brew with honey, ancho chile, and cacao nibs earlier this year. The chilies I soaked in vodka for a few weeks, then added the liquor at bottling to taste. The cacao nibs I added in the last 15 minutes of the boil, straining out the nibs at the end. The honey was also added in the last 5 mins of the boil.
The resulting brew was golden in color - mostly 2-row with a dash of C60 - and had a nice kick to it, but not one that would set your mouth on fire. The raw cacao nibs did add a little rich bitterness, but I wanted a little more from them. The next time I brewed, I added de-fatted cocoa powder and the dried chilies (seeds removed) at 5 minutes left to the boil, and added the honey at secondary. Havent tasted it yet, but it's going to be ready in a week. A choc. chilie stout would be delicious, give it a shot!

Oldsock said:

I'm not usually a chili beer guy, but I did an imperial stout with some cocoa powder, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and 1/2 ancho + 1/2 guajillo (seeds removed in 1 gallon of beer in secondary for 2 weeks). I thought the dried low Scoville peppers did well to add a rich flavor without more than a slight burn on the end of each sip.

Click to expand...

I did a variation of this. It's still young, but it's pretty great and I expect it'll only get better with age.

I did 5 gallons, with 3 oz cocoa, 1.2 oz ancho, .8 oz pasilla, .5 oz mulato, 2 vanilla beans, and 5.5 grams cinnamon. Mine was a simpler grain bill than Oldsock's, too; I can post it if anyone cares.

The weights of the chilis were after de-seeding; I then chopped them coarsely and added to secondary.

I’m not sure if the fresh bright peppers will go as well with the dark stout/chocolate flavors as well as the dried (chocolate and dried peppers are a classic pairing in moles for example), but it is certainly worth a shot.

Click to expand...

I concur; the smoked peppers are key to this beer in particular and pair well with stouts in general. It seems like bright peppers would go better with something crisper. But you never know until you try.