Bottling with raw habanero

[Moody_Copperpot]

Hello! I recently brewed a mango IPA which turned out awesome. I've kegged it, carbonated it and now I'm going to use my beer gun to bottle a few. I wanted to throw a habenero pepper or part of one and a few of the bottles. I plan on drinking this within the next month or so, anyone have any tips or see any problems with this? Obviously I realize there's a risk of bacteria from the inside of the pepper, which I suppose I could sanitize.

 

[amcclai7]

Don't do this! If you put anything inside of a bottle it will create nucleation sites and gush like crazy when you open it. instead make a tincture. (soak chopped, de-seeded peppers in vodka) After 3 days to a week strain the vodka off the peppers. Then, get an eye dropper. Pour 4 oz or so of the beer and add drops until it tastes right. Then, use math to scale up and add that amount to each bottle. I've done this many times with fantastic results.

P.S. de-seeding is not entirely necessary but I feel that you get more flavor and less heat if you do. In any case WEAR GLOVES!!! if you de-seed.

 

[drainbamage]

Don't do this! If you put anything inside of a bottle it will create nucleation sites and gush like crazy when you open it. instead make a tincture. (soak chopped, de-seeded peppers in vodka) After 3 days to a week strain the vodka off the peppers. Then, get an eye dropper. Pour 4 oz or so of the beer and add drops until it tastes right. Then, use math to scale up and add that amount to each bottle. I've done this many times with fantastic results.

P.S. de-seeding is not entirely necessary but I feel that you get more flavor and less heat if you do. In any case WEAR GLOVES!!! if you de-seed.

But what about this stuff?

I'm just kidding, that stuff is vile. Don't try to emulate anything they do.

I think nucleation points are more of a problem with larger amounts of small particulate matter (usually hop pellet sludge) than a single addition of something. That being said, an entire habanero in each bottle sounds overpowering. A sliver of habanero, de-seeded and soaked in vodka (to sanitize) and added to each bottle might be more reasonable.

 

[Moody_Copperpot]

I've made tinctures before but I thought maybe I'd do the whole pepper for effect this time, haha. I suppose that's a bad idea, tincture it is!

 

[amcclai7]

The problem with putting a pepper in is that the beer will continue to get hotter and hotter and you will also just be guessing about the correct amount. (a whole habenero is insane btw!)

If you do want the visual effect of having a whole habenero in the bottle (It'd have to be a small one) put one in the bottle and share the beer with whoever you're trying to show off for an hour later. If you let a whole pepper sit in that bottle for too long I imagine it would become liquid fire.

 

[catdaddy66]

Good info. I have plans for a Jalepeno pale ale soon and needed to find a better way than last time when I put 1" unseeded Serrano pepper pieces in each bottle.

That was some hot a$$ beer, buddy! Lol looking to tone it down a bit this time.

 

[ryanmbeal]

I've compared habanero tincture vs halved habaneros with seeds intact in kegs not bottles. I can say that the habanero flavor and aroma were much better with the actual habaneros when compared to a tincture.

Using kegs you have the benefit of being able to transfer off of the habaneros into another keg to lock in the flavor profile.