Jalapeño Cream Ale II

I was helped many many moons ago in creating a jalapeño cream ale. As is fairly typical with me I end up making changes which initially took it from being a 1.75 gal to a 2.5 gal batch, and then I ordered my supplies. But prior to receiving them I changed it again to become a 4 gal batch and had to use various things around the house. While not being very true to the style it turned out fantastic! I did want a bit more jalapeño flavor and heat though. And so now I'll be making a revised full batch. This is what I have:

5 gal partial mash/partial boil.
4 lbs Briess pilsen LME (FO)
3 lbs 2-row
1/2 lb crystal 20
1/2 lb soft white wheat berries
1/4 lb carapils

3/4 oz Mt Hood (5.6%) @ 77 mins
1/4 oz Mt Hood @ 21 mins
3 lg jalapeños @ 7 mins
3 lg jalapeños for "dry pepper" addition of either 7 or 14 days
US-05

I'll roast the jalapeños for 30 mins @ 350* and then slice them thinly. I'll place half of them into a ziplock bag to "steam" for a while before I place them into the freezer. These will be used for the boil. The other half will be soaked in vodka and used for the "dry pepper" addition.

1.051/1.010
5.4% ABV
17 IBU's
4 SRM

I'm uncertain how the boil and "dry pepper" effect both the flavor and heat from the jalapeño. I've looked but cannot seem to find anything about this.

My previous beer used 4 peppers in 4 gals. I've upped this to 6 peppers for 5 gals and again split it evenly between the boil and "dry pepper" addition. So it's not much of an increase, but the recipe itself isn't a patchwork of ingredients!

This was what I pieced together last time:

4 gal partial mash/partial boil.

1 lb pilsen LME (FO)
1 lb honey (FO)
1 lb extra light DME
0.8 lb wheat DME
1/2 lb 2-row
1/2 lb lager malt
6 oz raw sugar
1/4 lb crystal 10

0.8 oz Liberty (4.9%) @ 50 mins
0.75 oz Liberty @ 20 mins
US-05

Anyone?

I realized I need some vodka as SWMBO won't let me use hers!

rodwha said:

I was helped many many moons ago in creating a jalapeño cream ale. As is fairly typical with me I end up making changes which initially took it from being a 1.75 gal to a 2.5 gal batch, and then I ordered my supplies. But prior to receiving them I changed it again to become a 4 gal batch and had to use various things around the house. While not being very true to the style it turned out fantastic! I did want a bit more jalapeño flavor and heat though. And so now I'll be making a revised full batch. This is what I have:

5 gal partial mash/partial boil.
4 lbs Briess pilsen LME (FO)
3 lbs 2-row
1/2 lb crystal 20
1/2 lb soft white wheat berries
1/4 lb carapils

3/4 oz Mt Hood (5.6%) @ 77 mins
1/4 oz Mt Hood @ 21 mins
3 lg jalapeños @ 7 mins
3 lg jalapeños for "dry pepper" addition of either 7 or 14 days
US-05

I'll roast the jalapeños for 30 mins @ 350* and then slice them thinly. I'll place half of them into a ziplock bag to "steam" for a while before I place them into the freezer. These will be used for the boil. The other half will be soaked in vodka and used for the "dry pepper" addition.

1.051/1.010
5.4% ABV
17 IBU's
4 SRM

I'm uncertain how the boil and "dry pepper" effect both the flavor and heat from the jalapeño. I've looked but cannot seem to find anything about this.

Click to expand...

So I take it that this is the recipe you are trying now, and the next post is one you did before. I am very curious how both turn out.

Also, I was wondering how one might convert these recipes into all-grain. My kids got me a Brooklyn Brew 1-gallon kit a few years back, and now I am going more in the 2 to 2 1/2 gallon range using my Brew Demon fermenter. So, having started with all-grain, I would like to continue ....

Any guidance? I see so many extract recipes, and would be pleased to know general guidelines for conversion to all-grain.

Thanks bunches!

Correct on the time frame.

The first one, though pieced together, was excellent! The only thing that really needed to be adjusted per my taste was the jalapeño flavor and heat (I love fresh hot jalapeños, but didn't want it to be overwhelming as I like to drink a few and so it was nearly perfect).

I wanted to get away from the frankenstein ingredients list and so just simplified it.

Ultimately it should be roughly half 2-row and half lager malt with a bit of carapils for head retention. I also add wheat as I often have issues with head retention. Otherwise it isn't necessary. And then I used just enough crystal malts to get it into the color range, but also to give it a slight sweetness to meld with the jalapeño flavor. Then a "clean" ale yeast.

Cream ales are generally lagered too as in set in the fridge for some time before enjoying, but I noticed the jalapeño flavor slowly disappeared. I wouldn't give it too long to sit.

I'd think you could get a nice recipe working for about 2.5 gals with:

1.5 lbs 2-row
1.5 lbs lager/pilsner malt
0.25 lb crystal 10-20
0.25 lb carapils

2/3 oz Liberty at 60+ mins
1/3 oz Liberty at 15-20 mins

1.5 large jalapeños for the boil and another 1.5 jalapeños for the "dry pepper" addition.

Kind of guessing but I think that would likely give you about 5.2% ABV with a similar SRM and IBU. In the ballpark for sure.

Sounds pretty tasty. Lighter beers with chile flavors aren't my bag but that sounds pretty good.

If you like hot, maybe try Hatch chile rather than jalapenos. If you just want subtle chile flavor, I would suggest trying out a clone of Stone's 11.11.11 Vertical Epic. It's an amber Belgian style and it's delicious. They give a homebrew recipe on their website: http://www.stonebrewing.com/epic/111111recipe.htm

SWMBO actually wanted me to make a Hatch chili beer from my jalapeño recipe.

Hatch chilis aren't nearly as hot as a fresh jalapeño though. I have considered other peppers too, but I think a jalapeño is just my favorite with both a good amount of heat with a nice flavor.

Maybe I'll create a Tai chili rice beer one day….

*edit* The more I think about it I'll begin now!

You're right about the overall heat of jalapenos being higher, I guess the flavor of green or red chile to me makes more sense for a beer, and it can be more subtle. If you want a lot of heat, then jalapeno is definitely the way to go. I've been thinking about trying that vertical epic clone that I linked in my last post because that was by far my favorite beer from that series. Give it a try sometime!

Edit: I do guess that I don't know the way the Scoville scale works, because I've had red and green New Mexico chile way hotter than any fresh jalapeno that I've ever had. Weird. Sorry to sidetrack the topic.

Where I'm at (very small town) many things are hard to find. I can find some Stone beers but not much of a variety. Reminds me it's been a while since I've had Arrogant Bastard… I'll keep an eye out for it now though! Thanks!

rodwha said:

Where I'm at (very small town) many things are hard to find. I can find some Stone beers but not much of a variety. Reminds me it's been a while since I've had Arrogant Bastard… I'll keep an eye out for it now though! Thanks!

Click to expand...

The Vertical Epic was only a one time thing as they made a different style every year. Sorry for the confusion. That recipe looks to be pretty awesome though, so I may have to try it out. I'm thinking about trying yours out too, maybe try to convert it to all-grain. Cheers!

I don't have much history of pepper beers, but a guy in my club has made a few. Best one had one jalepeno pepper, raw and chopped tossed in as a "dry hop" (one gallon batch). It was warming and had a kick, smelled like green peppers. It was awesome.

He also did another where he roasted the pepper first. It wasn't as fresh or hot. He then did another with the pepper added at the end of the boil with similar outcome to the first.

I'd use 0.75-1 large jalepeno per gallon and add as a "dry hop". Let us know how it turns out!


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Thanks for your reply!

I've only done the one and followed the directions I was given. I've been looking for the Holy Grail of what the boil vs the dry pepper does in terms of heat and flavor. So I've been splitting it in half.

I expect to like it too much, and will be in a corner just savoring it for some time. It might be a while before you hear back!

I went ahead and roasted my jalapeños for the boil (2 large and 2 medium) and sliced them thin, and then left the 3 others for my "dry pepper" raw and sliced thin and soaking in vodka.

Can't wait for this one to be ready!