Brewing for Cinco de Mayo...ideas?

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pwkblue

pwkblue

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I look for any excuse or theme to brew. I have 3 beers in secondary for St Patrick's day, now I am thinking about Cinco de Mayo. I do enjoy Mexican beer on a hot summer day, but I'm looking for something more interesting.

Any ideas? I have a vial of cry havoc yeast ready to make a starter....and my basement is cool enough for Lager....so I'm leaning towards lager. I'm looking for ideas. Maybe something with Agave Syrup? chipotle or Chiles? Lime? Tequila?

Since most Mexican Beers are essentially Vienna Lagers stretched with corn....I'm thinking of 5 gallons of something close to Dos Equis or Bohemia. Then perhaps split the batch and secondary part of it with chiles or chipotle?

Any ideas or input or recipe links would be appreciated...I am hoping to brew this in the next week to have enough time to lager.
 
http://www.maltosefalcons.com/recipes/saison-guacamole

Seen a lot of "mole" beers with chocolate and chilis. Hibiscus/jamaica is nice, especially on a hot summer day, if you enjoy tart, pink beers. I kept meaning to do a Virgen de Guadelupe-themed beer with rose petals, but never did. You could try a wit with lime in place of orange peel, and a tiny amount of cumin.
 
I brew this every year for Cinco de Mayo:
We like it, it's not really hot but has a definate pepper aroma and a subtle pepper taste at the back of the throat. I have used several hops with this but I like Citra best.
Recipe: 5 gallon
10 lbs 2 row american
1 lb honey
1 lb brown sugar
12 large jalapeno peppers
4-6 green chile peppers
1 oz Euro hops 60 min
1/2 oz Citra 15 min
1/2 citra 1in
Safale US-05 yeast
Mash at 154F 60min
I batch sparge 170F
I cut the Jalapeno peppers lengthways and remove the seeds because I want just a hint of pepper aroma and taste but you can leave them in if you want more, both ways work.
I just slice the green chilies and add them to the other peppers.
I have also made this using only the 12 Jalapenos and it tastes just as good.
I add the peppers using a hop bag or other nylon bag boiling them for the last 15-20 minutes of the boil. I don't squeeze the bag when I remove them.
This is the only brew I use a secondary with as it is a bit cloudy if I don't.
My OG for this is all over the place (1.050-1.070) depending on the peppers I think. Anyway, give it a try I think you will like it.
 
That pepper one is great sounding, but I do have recipes for both Dos and Bohemia if you would like them to get a base beer, pm me if you do.
 
ron said:
I brew this every year for Cinco de Mayo:
We like it, it's not really hot but has a definate pepper aroma and a subtle pepper taste at the back of the throat. I have used several hops with this but I like Citra best.
Recipe: 5 gallon
10 lbs 2 row american
1 lb honey
1 lb brown sugar
12 large jalapeno peppers
4-6 green chile peppers
1 oz Euro hops 60 min
Click to expand...

Two questions Ron, is that 2 row US Pale Malt and what do you mean by Euro hops? Just setting it up in BrewTarget.
 
ron said:
I brew this every year for Cinco de Mayo:
We like it, it's not really hot but has a definate pepper aroma and a subtle pepper taste at the back of the throat. I have used several hops with this but I like Citra best.
Recipe: 5 gallon
10 lbs 2 row american
1 lb honey
1 lb brown sugar
12 large jalapeno peppers
4-6 green chile peppers
1 oz Euro hops 60 min
1/2 oz Citra 15 min
1/2 citra 1in
Safale US-05 yeast
Mash at 154F 60min
I batch sparge 170F
I cut the Jalapeno peppers lengthways and remove the seeds because I want just a hint of pepper aroma and taste but you can leave them in if you want more, both ways work.
I just slice the green chilies and add them to the other peppers.
I have also made this using only the 12 Jalapenos and it tastes just as good.
I add the peppers using a hop bag or other nylon bag boiling them for the last 15-20 minutes of the boil. I don't squeeze the bag when I remove them.
This is the only brew I use a secondary with as it is a bit cloudy if I don't.
My OG for this is all over the place (1.050-1.070) depending on the peppers I think. Anyway, give it a try I think you will like it.
Click to expand...

Another question for Ron. When do you add the sugar and honey to the boil? Are you doing it later (ie - at flame out) for more flavor?

Thanks in advance.
 

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