Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Jalapeno Cream Ale

I added 4infused peppers in the boil. I tasted the wort just before pitching the yeast and it tastes delicious with some heat which may be good enough for me. I'll taste again after fermentation is complete and add tincture or a couple of peppers. I was and still am confused why to infuse the peppers when recipe calls for them to go in the boil.

christobrew said:

i muddled the cilantro a little bit, then let it sit as i chopped the jalapenos for the vodka tincture. so far, though, the heat has not subsided enough for me to even taste the cilantro. if i were to do another herb infused beer, i'd make sure to pair it with less overbearing flavors. maybe soon the cilantro will become more noticeable? i think i used a 2oz package of cilantro.

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How did this turn out? Did you add it to the secondary?

It's been 13 days in the fermenter, it's @1.014 right now. I tasted it and it has just a tad bit of heat to it, which is a good thing for me. I'll roast another 3 peppers today and toss them in, along with some cilantro soaked in Star San for a few minutes. Just tasted my pepper vodka,,,,it's frickin awesome! I'll wait til bottling day to see if I want to add any of the vodka to my bottling bucket.

Make sure you taste it daily once you add the secondary addition of peppers. The heat can rise rapidly. If you're pretty close on the heat level you want right now, I'd expect 2-3 days will be sufficient.

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

It's been 13 days in the fermenter, it's @1.014 right now. I tasted it and it has just a tad bit of heat to it, which is a good thing for me. I'll roast another 3 peppers today and toss them in, along with some cilantro soaked in Star San for a few minutes. Just tasted my pepper vodka,,,,it's frickin awesome! I'll wait til bottling day to see if I want to add any of the vodka to my bottling bucket.

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crjpilot said:

Make sure you taste it daily once you add the secondary addition of peppers. The heat can rise rapidly. If you're pretty close on the heat level you want right now, I'd expect 2-3 days will be sufficient.

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good idea. will taste it tomorrow

Day 2 of dry hopping. Tasted the wort and I think I will have to do a day by day taste test. So far so good. No cilantro taste, yet. If none tomorrow, I may toss in some more.

It's still at 1.014......which puts the ABV @ 5.51%

Any cilantro taste shine through?


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Nope. Need to toss in the entire bunch next time

seems like I'm losing the hotness and aroma of the pepper after a couple of weeks. Is this normal? Maybe next time I need to add more peppers?

Mine have taken several months before the pepper flavor or heat fades. I'm using 4 at 5 min. & 3 in secondary seeds & all.

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

seems like I'm losing the hotness and aroma of the pepper after a couple of weeks. Is this normal? Maybe next time I need to add more peppers?

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I'm still drinking some I bottled in April and it still has good heat and flavor.

a friend of my SWMBO, gave us some roasted New Mexico Chilli Peppers.....was thinking of maybe using them instead of the jalepeno. yes or no?

Do it. I like this beer but personally I think chilli peppers make better beer.

my previous post was meant to go in this thread......
.https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/my-2-time-gold-winning-american-ipa-81478/

Hi All,

I'm planning my brew schedule for next year and will brew this in a few months. I mash in a cooler and can easily collect 10 or 15 gallons of wort.
However I don't want to have 10 gallons of the same beer.
After mashing I would like to split it in half. Brew one half like the OP and the second half without the peppers, different hops and possibly a different yeast.

I have never tried a cream ale before anyone have any suggestions what I could do with it?
Do any of the fruity/citrusy hops go well with this type of wort?

Thanks!:rockin:

Not really, but see what the BJCP says is "to style", the IBU's in this recipe are way too high to be considered a true cream ale. If you do want to split the mash, the grain bill could make a good pale with some fruity hops.
When I make my jalapeno, very loosely based off of this one I've used cascade (better with wlp001/us-05/1056) and northern brewer(better with s-04/1098/wlp002) my favorite though was amarillo with WLP080 Cream Ale Blend.

OK,

Here is my HANDS-ON Experience. I brewed this beer twice according to the OP's original recipe. But both times I scraped out the insides, per a post instructions later in the thread. It was good, just needed more of a punch.

1) Used 5 jalapenos in the brew, scraped the insides and roasted in the oven. The beer had a very mild taste of jalapeno & it was no-way hot.

2) Used 9 jalapenos in the brew. Did the same thing per instructions and it was nicer............. but not hot enough. Most of the heat came through in the aftertaste. The beer is excellent though.

I took the beer to our local brewery/restaurant that just opened in town. The owners are really nice and they've even given a presentation to our brew club. I brought over a growler of the stuff but wasn't expecting much. They each had 1 glass, then another, then another. They quickly emptied the growler between the 2 of them. Both commented how good it was!

Now I just received a commercially available jalapeno beer from Weed California.............. some of my friends (that tried mine) brought me it...................... it's VERY hot. The aroma is over the top jalapenos, it almost blew my head off just from the smell. The beer underneath is not as good as sundowner's, but I LOVED all the jalapeno's.

So now I'm ready to try this again. I could up the count on the roasted jalapenos, but I'm thinking back to my cooking 101 and remembering the heat is all in the seeds. What if I use 9 jalapenos, slice 'em, roast 'em & just leave the seeds in? Will this be drinkable?

When & if to add Jalapenos to:
1) Mash
2) Boil
3) Primary
4) Secondary

Please help, oh you beer gurus. I'm just thinking of trying Sundowner's original recipe without the scrape!?

I like it hot! Fire! My Mexican Step-Father makes a salsa that is HOT!!! It's full of seeds. 3 days after you try it, you're still burping up the hot stuff!!!

Yup. Read back a few pages and it's all there. The heat is in the seeds.

The jalapeno seeds and core are what add the heat. If you strip the insides, you will eliminate the heat.

I brewed this using the original recipe, except for the hops, a few weeks ago and thought I would share my experience. I like spicy things but was a little scared about a spicy beer. I added 4 jalapeños to the boil. The beer had a nice little kick after the boil. Waited 10 days moved to secondary and it still had about the same spice. So far so good. Added 3 more jalapeños to secondary and tasted about 4 days later. Holy crap! It was like drinking a liquid jalapeño. Way to hot. Pulled the jalapeños out of the secondary and let it sit for about another week or so. After bottling the hotness went down a lot and was drinkable. Tried one last night after about 1.5 weeks in bottle and it is very very yummy. Just the slightest spice in the aftertaste. So far this is my favorite brew I have done.
For those of you worry about the spiciness of the beer it is not that bad and as time goes it gets better.

tmendick said:

Not really, but see what the BJCP says is "to style", the IBU's in this recipe are way too high to be considered a true cream ale. If you do want to split the mash, the grain bill could make a good pale with some fruity hops.
When I make my jalapeno, very loosely based off of this one I've used cascade (better with wlp001/us-05/1056) and northern brewer(better with s-04/1098/wlp002) my favorite though was amarillo with WLP080 Cream Ale Blend.

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Thanks.
I might give the Amarillo a go.
I did a search on here and found an interesting cream ale with Belma and Mittlefrüh. That would be another possibility.

Love this beer brewing it right now!

Brewing a 11 gallon batch right now.

View attachment 1420323132772.jpg

Sounds like a great beer, going to start with the original recipe.

what do you guys think about adding Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L for color.

Hello

first batch at this brew, hit my numbers. also let it sit in primary longer until rack to secondary. added 6 chilies soaked in Vodka light roasted. smells and taste great. family loved it.

two weeks going to mexico see how family likes over there.

I hate it when I double post.

Now I'm on my 3rd batch of this stuff. I'm simply trying to zero in the heat on my jalapeno additions. Previously my stuff was just too weak. This time I left all the seeds in. The beer underneath is fantastic! Sundowner has an excellent recipe here to start with and the beer has never lasted more than 1 week in my keg. Weak & all.

From this months Brew Magazine & Carlos Sanchez:
I use 4 varieties of peppers & I roast them before I add them to my brew. Habanero, Jalapeno, Serrano, Anaheim or Anchos. I use 1 lb. of each variety per 5 gallon batch and roast them to bring out a sweetness and aroma I'm looking for. After roasting, I run the peppers through a food processor and add them to the kettle, seeds and all. I add them later in the boil, usually after 60 minutes along with any hop additions. I have also tried adding them in steeping bags and placing them in the secondary fermenter for a few days, but have found it is far better and more consistent to add them to the boil. If you're planning your 1st chili beer, err on the side of caution. You can always make a hotter batch later or increase the heat by "dry peppering" in the keg or secondary. Whatever you do, don't get it in your eye.

I have the opportunity to 'doctor' a 10 gal cask of blonde ale at a buddy's brewery in a couple weeks. After reading this thread, I'd like to try dry-peppering the cask with smoked jalapeños. How many do you folks think I should use?

I was thinking of prepping about 15 as the OP described, trimmed and soaked in Vodka to remove heat, then smoking them a little as someone later described.

My goal would be noticeable pepper flavour more than just smoke or lots of heat, but a little kick would be nice.

As you probably know, casks give you one blind shot at getting it right. After adding the adjuncts, you're committed to the 2-3 weeks of conditioning until the cask is tapped.

Advice?

The beer was excellent. The 5 gallon batch only lasted 2 weeks in the keg. 2 gals who hate beer loved the stuff. The beer itself was smooth & creamy, delicious all by itself. But then the aftertaste was hot, hot, hot. It would have you breathing fire. Quite the contrast.

The big difference was........... keeping the seeds ............... and adding the additional peppers to the secondary. I put 5 roasted jalapenos with the seeds into the secondary. It was HOT, HOT, HOT. It even got hotter with time in the 2 weeks of kegging. Next time I'll add even more. Now I'm thinking of adding the above 4 different kinds of peppers to give the heat some complexity.

The aroma was lacking jalapeno. I need to bump up The Aroma of jalapeno. That jalapeno beer from Weed had aroma in abundance. My head would even snap back when I took a big sniff of the stuff. If I remember correctly, I only added 3 jalapenos to the boil & removed them in the primary.

Per this thread:
Add the 4 roasted jalapenos to the boil at 15 minutes left. Strain them just like your excess hops = no loose jalapenos in the primary fermenter. Then add the 2-3 more roasted jalapenos to secondary............................ depending on how hot you want it. Peppers vary from crop to crop so I'd advise tasting samples of the beer in the secondary to get it spot on before you keg it.

Any additional suggestions?

BigPicture said:

The beer was excellent. The 5 gallon batch only lasted 2 weeks in the keg. 2 gals who hate beer loved the stuff. The beer itself was smooth & creamy, delicious all by itself. But then the aftertaste was hot, hot, hot. It would have you breathing fire. Quite the contrast.

The big difference was........... keeping the seeds ............... and adding the additional peppers to the secondary. I put 5 roasted jalapenos with the seeds into the secondary. It was HOT, HOT, HOT. It even got hotter with time in the 2 weeks of kegging. Next time I'll add even more. Now I'm thinking of adding the above 4 different kinds of peppers to give the heat some complexity.

The aroma was lacking jalapeno. I need to bump up The Aroma of jalapeno. That jalapeno beer from Weed had aroma in abundance. My head would even snap back when I took a big sniff of the stuff. If I remember correctly, I only added 3 jalapenos to the boil & removed them in the primary.

Per this thread:
Add the 4 roasted jalapenos to the boil at 15 minutes left. Strain them just like your excess hops = no loose jalapenos in the primary fermenter. Then add the 2-3 more roasted jalapenos to secondary............................ depending on how hot you want it. Peppers vary from crop to crop so I'd advise tasting samples of the beer in the secondary to get it spot on before you keg it.

Any additional suggestions?

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Jalepenos can be judged at the store when you buy them by looking at the vertical white lines on the pepper. the more little white lines on the jalepeno the hotter that baby will be (means its older). The young peppers are firm and are without the white lines, they are crisp and fresh. Have a peek at the jalepenos your store sells and use it to flavor your beer in the way you like.

hopefully this helps out some people who didnt know this. cheers.

42 IBUs seems excessive for a Cream Ale. Does that somehow better balance out the Jalapenos?

stealthfixr said:

42 IBUs seems excessive for a Cream Ale. Does that somehow better balance out the Jalapenos?

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Yes the IBU's are high for a cream ale but they balance out very well in this recipe.

FWIW...My health is not the best, so I apologize for not answering my private messages on a timely basis...

I think my 3rd time to make this brew or a version of it. I love this beer!

I plan on making this tomorrow night for National Homebrew Day if I get a chance, as a partial mash/partial boil, and I have a quick question:

When you roast the peppers that go in the boil (or elsewhere), do you remove the skin after the roasting? Does it matter?

I usually do, I think it would give you a burnt flavor if you left the skin on

tmendick said:

I usually do, I think it would give you a burnt flavor if you left the skin on

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Thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately I've been MIA for the last 36 hours and will have to brew this (maybe) Wednesday. Glad I have an answer though!

Almost ready

I sat here and read every post from 1 to 314..I cant wait to try this beer. Its now at the top of ,my list!
Big thanks to Sundowner, and I hope things are getting better for you, as last you posted that your health wasnt good.

Kegged this have drank a few. Pretty good on the taste, my batch personally turned out a little on the weak side as far as spicy bite. I'll be increasing a few peppers next time.

So I have been wanting to do this recipe for awhile and I finally got around to it. I used 8 peppers. I roasted them on the grill then soaked them in vodka. I used 4 in the boil and 4 in the secondary with some of the vodka to give it extra heat. I just moved this to tertiary last night, so I got to taste it. When I first opened the carboy I was hit with a wave of jalapeño smell. The taste was sweet and spicy with just a tiny bit of heat at the end. The more you drink of it the more you feel the heat. I think this one is going to be awesome. I can't wait to bottle it.

I tried to ready through this whole thread but maybe someone can answer my question, Why roast the peppers first? I am slightly new to homebrewing. Made a few batches, all grain, and upgraded to kegging. I would think adding straight raw jalapenos to the boil last 15 min it would but a huge flavor burst to it but maybe to much of a produce taste and not a beer taste. Help elighten me on the subject.

Megacab, as I recall from this thread (or maybe I read it elsewhere) you would get more of a vegetable flavor if you don't roast. I've never tested that, I know that by roasting I got the flavor I wanted.

I just brewed this one up yesterday and im pretty excited after reading all the posts
I made a couple changes, and ill post them here for all to read. My changes wete because the two brew shops in my area didnt have certain products.