szechuan pepper corns

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rmolledo

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I'm going to brew a saison this weekend. But In the process of formulating the recipe I had an idea for a future saison. What about Szechuan Peppercorn Saison. Has anybody brewed with it before?
 
I love using szechuan pepper for BBQ, grilling, dry rubs, and general cooking but I would be very hesitant about adding it as a main flavoring for beer. I wouldn't think its taste would complement the fruity character of a saison very well. The beer probably would be fine tasting, but I bet it would be the last time you added it to a beer. Though, who knows.
 
Rmolledo did you ever brew that saison with the Schezwan Peppercorns? I got the idea while eating a snack of peanuts with chili peppers and schezwan peppercorns while in China. I ended up putting a teaspoon of the corns into a local beer and it wasn't too bad- a little bit of the peanut flavor threw the taste off. But I think it would make an interesting brew.
 
Man I have been thinking about putting some in beer. At the very least just for that cool mouth numbing sensation. And they are a bit citrusy. Maybe a wierd IPA with some other citrusy hops to compliment.
 
I made a szechuan peppercorn on a pale ale frame. Took a silver at a 900 entry comp. Kinda got lucky tho, one of the judges was curious and looked up what the wierd ingredient was. Evidently I didn't define the ingredient well enough, but when he read it he said, hats It! THEY THROUGH OFF A VERY fLORAL FLAVOR, SO BE CAREFUL NOT TO ADD TOO MUCH. i MADE ADDITIONS TO THE BOIL( 1/2. OZ.) AND AT FLAMEOUT( 1 OZ.).
 
Not to resurrect an ancient thread, or anything, but I just put a szechuan peppercorn porter into the primary. I used Brewer's Gold for bittering, and Cascade for Aroma, to - I hope - complement the resinous, spicy, citrusy addition of a good tablespoon or two of peppercorns.

I love szechuan peppercorns, and poked around for a beer that I thought would make a great match for it, and I'm betting a robust porter will really hold its own with the spice!

If it's any good, I'll share the recipe.
 
Curious if you two used fresh or dried peppercorn. I've been waiting for sansho pepper (sort of the Japanese equivalent) to come into season. Zakkoku Kobo Microbrewery, a little place north of Tokyo in Saitama, where the purveyor even grows and malts his own grains, has done a sansho porter that was actually quite nice.
 
I used dried szechuan peppercorns. They're not peppers. They're not even like black pepper. It's the outer pod of a tiny fruit. It's more like African Uzazi (prickly ash) than anything else.

It's name is definitely misleading, but it's a very tasty spice, and I bet it would do well in a robust beer, like a porter. But, you know, we'll see!
 
I used szechaun peppers in an Asian styled beer (szechaun, lemon grass, and ginger). The szechaun didn't offer a lot of flavor, but did deliver the buzz to the taste buds which enhanced the general profile of the beer IMO.
 
I'm planning on trying one as well. Got hooked on the peppercorns in Chengdu and my Chinese girlfriend is rolling her eyes when I mention my plans. Going to brew in a 5 gallon jug but have a separate one gallon pot for the peppercorns. So I can experiment but not potentially ruin an entire batch.

Planning to add more than you all have suggested in my one gallon jug and hopping the numbness transfers.


Still considering styles and leaning towards a wit beer. Any thoughts?
 
One thing I did, successfully, was a Saison-style beer with a homemade Chinese Five Spice blend, Thomasaug, that's simple enough in a basic, clean spice or coffee grinder:

2 parts Star Anise
1.5 part fennel seed
1 part cinnamon
1 part szechuan peppercorn
1 part clove

I did a ridiculously simple medium/dark saison with 6 lbs amber extract extract, 1 pound table sugar, noble hops, and wyeast french saison. It came out amazing. Since wyeast french saison works for witbier, I suspect a witbier would really pop with five spice blend, as well, particularly with real szechuan peppercorns.
 
I am eating the peanut, red pepper and szechuan peppercorn snack that phodog was talking about eating in china and i searched this thread. how interesting to see that it has been brought back to life and even commented on today! Please let me know how they turn out and how you added them (dried or possibly crushed).

I tried a 'wasabi' beer that custom brew crafters made for a local japanese restaurant last week. The first few sips were really interesting but i was very tired of the dry flavor after half a pint. Im afraid that this might have a similar flavor.

Thanks for trying this out guys.
 
I bottled some of the szechuan porters and racked off the rest into a secondary. I drank the half-bottle that came from the bottom of the bucket just to see how things fare.

Very, very good in porters. Szechuan peppercorn gives a good kick, but not a "hot" one, with lots of citrus notes and plenty of spicy aroma. We'll see how this beer tastes when it's had time to mellow a little, but it's already showing signs it will be delicious.

I think the szechuan peppercorns would be an interesting twist in any recipe that calls for peppercorns or coriander. I might try them in a Witbier someday.
 
Hmmm if it works in a porter I wonder how it would be in a belgian dark strong. Might have to try just a bit in my next recipe.
 
Badducky, how much peppercorns did you end up using per gallon? Boil or dry? Crushed or whole?

About 1.5 ounces, dried, toasted and crushed with a rolling pin. I added them during the boil at 5 minutes, and let it all go through to the primary with the trub. I filtered them out at ten days when I transferred to secondary.
 
Over here in Beijing, our local craft brewery, Great Leap Brewing, uses Szechuan peppercorns along with a local honey in a Honey Ma Gold, which, I believe, is a golden ale of some sort. He brews large batches (40 - 50 gallons) and uses a large tea holder thingy and swirls the whole peppercorns in the boiling wort for a minute or so, with about 5 minutes remaining in the boil. It is a great beer with a distinctive flavor to it.
 
The Szechuan Porter came out so good, with a nice, bright citrus-y peppercorn-ness, that it got me thinking...

Anyone ever try these as a coriander replacement in a Belgian Wit? Thoughts, recommendations, etc.?

Actually, I ought to share the recipe for the Porter I'm drinking.

5 gallon batch, extract with steeping grains:
6 lbs of Briess Golden Light DME
1 lb of Burnt Sugar
1/2 pound of Victory Malt
1/2 pound of Chocolate Malt
1 oz of Brewer's Gold @60 mins
1/2 oz of Cascade @30 mins
1/2 oz of Cascade @15 mins
1 teaspoon of Irish Moss @5 minutes
1.5 oz of Toasted Szechuan Peppercorns @ 5 minutes

Wyeast London Ale

Primary fermentation at ambient January temperatures in our garage took 10 days. After that, I did a pretty long secondary of about 30 days.

Only thing I might do different next time is put some black patent in there, just to get some more darkness.

This beer is very tasty.

It looks lighter than it is just because of how I'm holding it up to full sun, but it's still on the light side for a porter. Next time I might add a couple ounces of black patent in there just to darken it a little more. I'm not entering any competitions, though, so I'm not particularly worried about anything but a tasty, tasty beer.

IMG_20120212_132945.jpg
 
I'm considering szechuan pepper for the next iteration of my H1B beer. The current version is just a robust porter with 15% of fermentables in cooked brown basmati rice, but since i have a couple coworkers from china as well i think i should add some chinese flavor to it.

badducky, I'm assuming you used a whole rather than ground szechuan pepper. does that 1.5oz include the black seeds (which are flavorless) or just the dried fruit?
 
I used what was in the Dekalb World Market, which was just the hulls, or the fruit.

It's really good.

BUT, if you want a good "chinese" flavor appropriate for a porter, which traditionally includes Szechuan Peppercorns, have you thought about Chinese Five Spice? Fennel, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Szechuan Peppercorns, and Clove together creates a strong, classic Asian flavor that I've used with great success in dark beers. Honestly, I grind my own Five Spice because it is so good to have around fresh (not pre-packaged).
 
I used what was in the Dekalb World Market, which was just the hulls, or the fruit.

It's really good.

BUT, if you want a good "chinese" flavor appropriate for a porter, which traditionally includes Szechuan Peppercorns, have you thought about Chinese Five Spice? Fennel, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Szechuan Peppercorns, and Clove together creates a strong, classic Asian flavor that I've used with great success in dark beers. Honestly, I grind my own Five Spice because it is so good to have around fresh (not pre-packaged).

Alright, I have some stuff from penzeys that should work well.

I don't want it to taste brutally chinese - primarily i want it to taste like beer, you know? but the brown basmati rice in the last batch gave it a really good aroma and some subtle flavors that were very enjoyable.

I just want to add a chinese note, and this sounds like more fun than adding millet.
 
I was thinking of something along the same lines, but adding the peppercorns to secondary for a week, with some cacao nibs. Here's what I came up with, recipe-wise:

-11 Lb. 2-row
-1.2 Lb. caramel 75
-11 Oz. Chocolate Malt
-.25 Lb. Flaked oats
-.25 Lb. Carafoam

-.75 Oz. Colombus (Boil)
-.60 Oz. Striesselspalt (Whirlpool)

-1028 English ale yeast

-.5 Lb. Lactose (Boil)
-.5 Lb. Cacao Nibs (Secondary)
-2 Oz. Szechuan Peppercorns (Secondary)

Thoughts??? Thanks in advance.
 
Upright Brewing makes a gruit with Sichuan peppercorns called 'SPECIAL HERBS' and is 5.7% ABV: "A unique brew incorporating wine and gin barrel aging to a farmhouse style gruit." With additions of "lemongrass, sweet and bitter orange peels, hyssop, and Sichuan peppercorns. A bit of spelt in the grist helps maintain some body, although the Special Herbs leans in a bright and dry direction." I haven't tried it yet but it sounds nice. My wish is that the peppercorn lends that familiar lip numbing affect i so love when eating those signature Chinese dishes.
 
Reviving this thread to say that I brewed a brett saison with szechuan peppercorn and grapefruit peel, and it won a silver medal in a local competition. I used about .25oz peppercorn and it gave a HIGHLY floral aroma that thankfully died off a bit by the time the competition rolled around. Next time I'll go much easier on the peppercorn, about half of what I added this time. The aroma was very flowery and kind of like potpourri. I added the grapefruit peel to try and drown out the peppercorn, but the floral character still dominated. Regardless, it was a good beer that I'll likely brew again.
 
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