Recarbing store-bought beer

I'm not sure if this should be in the ******* section but I had an idea the other day. I think I am going to try it anyway but I want to see if anyone else has ever tried it. I'm not looking for validation or assurance that I'm not being a *******, I'm just curious, and hopefully the reason will become somewhat apparent.

I love HEAT!! And I like lagers that come with heat. I've only had one so far and that was years ago - Cave Creek Chili Beer. I want to try making my own but I don't want to go through the significant lagering process only to find out that I've ruined it with too much / little heat.

So I had an idea, albeit probably a bad one.

I'm thinking about buying a 12-pack of Bud and pouring 10 of them into a 1 gallon jug / carboy. I'll put an airlock on it to let the excess CO2 escape (not sure if that is necessary). Then I will add some peppers to the carboy. The exact type and number are not known yet but I will most likely err on the side of ******* and go with scotch bonnet. Then leave that for about a week. Then reprime and bottle.

Has anyone ever done anything like that before? My goal is to determine how much pepper I might need, and also dabble with pepper varieties. I would rather spend a few bucks on a 12-pack of Bud, and ruin that, than spend several weeks brewing a lager only to screw it up.

Any advice other than DON'T DO IT? Would I need to pitch more yeast or will there still be enough in the beer to carbonate when primed and bottled again?

Obligatory anti-BMC comment:

"How will you know if you DID ruin that 12 pack of Bud?" :cross:

Wakka wakka wakka...


Seriously, though, it's an interesting idea. I'm not sure that it will turn out, but you're not risking much in the attempt.

There will be zero yeast in that Bud - it is pastuerized and filtered to kill and remove the yeast, giving clear beer.

When you bottle, you'll need to add a little yeast, plus priming sugar, else you'll never get carbonation back. Maybe a clean yeast like 05?

Well, I for one would like to know how this turns out if you try it.

And now for the obligatory suggestion: Have you thought about just adding a measured amount of some sort of chili extract to each bottle before you consume it? Seems to me that would accomplish the same goal with far less effort.

Edit: Ha ha, got snipered by homebrewdad's "obligatory."

Sanitized soda bottle and a Carbonator cap. Of course this requires a CO2 tank of some sort to force the carbonation. Set reg at 15 and place in a cold fridge and whalah!

Also a great way to test flavoring in beer with hot pepper is to chop some up real fine like and drop the whole mass into a jar of vodka or other neutral spirit. Let it sit for a week. Instant hot pepper extract. Grab a small syrnige or dropper at the local drug store and just measure drops of the tincture into a measured amount of beer (like a shot glass or something) and when you hit your heat, scale up to a full batch. This is a common testing/flavoring method for that kind of experimentation.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I like the ideas.........but I'll be damned if curiosity hasn't got me wondering about my original idea.....so I'm going to try it and report back my results.

Do post back - I'd be interested to see how this turns out.

I'd think you risk oxydation here, but that gets back to HBD's first question wakka wakka...


besides a bit of yeast, I'd do a bit of sugar for priming

I wouls strongly consider somthing with a bit more body and flavor for a chili beer, maybe Sam Adams at least.

Ramitt said:

I wouls strongly consider somthing with a bit more body and flavor for a chili beer, maybe Sam Adams at least.

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I hear ya and agree but for this I want to use something lighter. I had a Rogue something or other a few days ago (Chipotle Ale I think it was) and was disappointed in the heat. Some people look for the heat to take a back seat but, for this, I want it front and center - while still being drinkable (for me).

ACbrewer said:

I'd think you risk oxydation here, but that gets back to HBD's first question wakka wakka...

besides a bit of yeast, I'd do a bit of sugar for priming

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Maybe you could add just a bit of boiled wort with the bud and throw it in a fermenter with some yeast. That way the yeasties could remove the oxygen. Then add the chilies after a week or so. Bottle like normal work some priming sugar.

If you're interested I am documenting the process here.

I selected Munton's Standard Yeast for no good reason, it just seemed generic.

Took a sample of this yesterday and got a nice heat. I will bottle, when I get more bottles, and carb. So far, so good.

Im going to be making a chili beer myself, im thinking chilis or jalepeno but cant decide. I can see what your trying to do,but i would have just brewed a one gallon lager or steam/mild ale/ordinary bitter(low gravity) and sampled the heat along the process.Im intersted to see how it turns out.For one gallon its only a few dollars for that amount of grain/hops/yeast,i think it would be cheaper, but like you said more timely.Im going to go with some recipes/comments to figure how much heat to get,and also tasting the peppers before brewing it. Im going to use the Jalepeno Ale recipe out of Homebrewers Recipe Guide i think.Ive made some pretty good brews from that book so far,although it is mostly extract based which i dont use extract much anymore mainly because of price and enjoy the process and simplicity of mashing grain.

I used serranos because I like the heat they bring. Definitely not too much heat for this mini batch (2 peppers for 96 oz) but I realise that is subjective.

Maybe I will follow your advice and brew some mini batches. Most likely brew one 5 gallon batch, ferment and then rack to five 1 gallon secondaries and see how they come out with different spices. I am very tempted to see what habaneros and scotch bonnets do. Maybe some Thai green chilis. I don't think I can find ghost chilis around here. >

HibsMax said:

I used serranos because I like the heat they bring. Definitely not too much heat for this mini batch (2 peppers for 96 oz) but I realise that is subjective.

Maybe I will follow your advice and brew some mini batches. Most likely brew one 5 gallon batch, ferment and then rack to five 1 gallon secondaries and see how they come out with different spices. I am very tempted to see what habaneros and scotch bonnets do. Maybe some Thai green chilis. I don't think I can find ghost chilis around here. >

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You can get dried ghost peppers on amazon.

Thanks, now I don't have an excuse!!

porterpounder said:

Sanitized soda bottle and a Carbonator cap. Of course this requires a CO2 tank of some sort to force the carbonation. Set reg at 15 and place in a cold fridge and whalah!

Also a great way to test flavoring in beer with hot pepper is to chop some up real fine like and drop the whole mass into a jar of vodka or other neutral spirit. Let it sit for a week. Instant hot pepper extract. Grab a small syrnige or dropper at the local drug store and just measure drops of the tincture into a measured amount of beer (like a shot glass or something) and when you hit your heat, scale up to a full batch. This is a common testing/flavoring method for that kind of experimentation.

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This sounds like an approach I might try.

SUCCESS!

I popped open a bottle of chili Budweiser today and it has a delicious heat to it and it carbed up pretty well for just one week in the bottle.

I'm laughing at the thought of you carefully transferring BMC liquid to your fermenter in order to avoid oxidation.

HibsMax said:

SUCCESS!

I popped open a bottle of chili Budweiser today and it has a delicious heat to it and it carbed up pretty well for just one week in the bottle.

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Pictures please!

Genjin said:

Pictures please!

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I'll post some pictures, or a video, when I get around to opening the next one.

brewski08 said:

I'm laughing at the thought of you carefully transferring BMC liquid to your fermenter in order to avoid oxidation.

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This has me laughing out loud.

On to topic... stay away from ghost chili extract. Seriously. A couple drops could ruin a whole batch. I can handle heat, but I had one ghost chili wing and thought I was going to spend the next 36 hours in the hospital. The stuff's no joke. Rather than get into the whole story, I'll just say it involved burns on my face, tears, burning privates, a bottle of tums, hours on the toilet the following day and many showers with cold water on my rear.

I felt worse for the guy at the bar who ate three in an attempt to impress a first date with an attractive girl. I'd love to know how that night proceeded for him, but I was a mess for the following twenty minutes after trying one of his leftovers.

Here is a photo of the results.

And here is a video :