Cayenne Pepper Chocolate Stout

[Jebu1788]

Hi all, I'm going to try out a 1 gallon batch and see how it goes. Here's the recipe:


Amount Item Type % or IBU

1.50 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 60.00 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
0.25 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
0.25 lb Cherry Wood Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %

0.75 oz Centennial [7.00 %] (90 min) Hops 79.4 IBU

??? tsp Cayenne Pepper (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
2.00 oz Cacao Nibs (Boil 5.0 min) Misc

0.5 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale


My question is how much cayenne pepper powder to add? I was thinking about 0.5tsp, and want it to be noticeably hot, but not a scorcher. There seem to be many threads on this, but most I've seen use whole peppers, sliced in the secondary (or are about how the beer is hot enough to kill a yak!). Has anyone used cayenne powder and would have advice on how much to use?

Thanks!

 

[Jeffries55]

Bringing this thread back from the dead, I'm looking at brewing a cayenne pepper beer and aging on peppers in the secondary, how did your 1 gal batch turn out? Did you proceed further and do 5 gal / alter the recipe?

 

[Jebu1788]

The one gallon batch was pretty good from what I remember. My notes say I used 0.75 tsp of Cayenne, and from what I remember it was on target for what I wanted: hot, but not scorching. Some people may find it too hot, but it won't be killing anyone with heat.

A mix of malty and some roasty flavors with the chocolate and cayenne was the winner in this one. I did something similar recently that was a very dry stout, with black patent, and more smoked malts, but ended up waay over-carbing, the chocolate didn't come through, and it was too smokey, and the black patent did not blend well. It tasted awful so I dumped it. It was a learning experience by going the complete wrong way on this recipe. If I were to make it again, I'd start with this recipe but cut back (or drop entirely) the smoked malts and maybe up the munich.

 

[Jeffries55]

The one gallon batch was pretty good from what I remember. My notes say I used 0.75 tsp of Cayenne, and from what I remember it was on target for what I wanted: hot, but not scorching. Some people may find it too hot, but it won't be killing anyone with heat.

A mix of malty and some roasty flavors with the chocolate and cayenne was the winner in this one. I did something similar recently that was a very dry stout, with black patent, and more smoked malts, but ended up waay over-carbing, the chocolate didn't come through, and it was too smokey, and the black patent did not blend well. It tasted awful so I dumped it. It was a learning experience by going the complete wrong way on this recipe. If I were to make it again, I'd start with this recipe but cut back (or drop entirely) the smoked malts and maybe up the munich.

Thanks for the quick reply! I was planning on using whole-cayenne pepper from the garden, sliced in half... but of course I've got concerns about leaving them in too long and the peppers possibly "turning" and creating undesirable flavors, I might have to re-consider using cayenne powder.. would you say it was just enough heat to create a "bite" on the back end? (ideally that is what I'm going for, something similar to Mexican Cake). I'm planning on doing a Breakfast stout style base beer, with coffee from a friend, but adding cayenne, vanilla bean, and 1/2 cinnamon stick to the secondary.

 

[Jebu1788]

would you say it was just enough heat to create a "bite" on the back end? (ideally that is what I'm going for, something similar to Mexican Cake).

This was definitely spicier than Mexican Cake, so if you go with powder I'd half it at least. (so maybe 1.5-1.75tsp for a 5 gallon batch). The coffee will be an interesting touch to those styles of beers. Keep it on the sweet end though.

 

[Jeffries55]

This was definitely spicier than Mexican Cake, so if you go with powder I'd half it at least. (so maybe 1.5-1.75tsp for a 5 gallon batch). The coffee will be an interesting touch to those styles of beers. Keep it on the sweet end though.

Just wanted to add an update to this thread for future reference, but I ended up using 2.000 grams (~3/4 TSP) of cayenne powder in the secondary (~4 gallons). After two weeks I took a sample and I think I nailed it spot on! There is just enough heat to let you know it's there and to give you a pleasant "bite" on the back-end. The only thing I'd change on the stout I brewed is to use a yeast that attenuates a bit less so it was on the sweeter end as you said, but I'm pleased with it. Will report back after its bottled and if the pepper changes at all.

[EDIT 8/19/14]
I'd use an English Ale yeast like WLP002 and up the grain bill to achieve the same ABV (~8.3%). My OG/FG was 1.084/1.016... much lower than the estimated FG (1.022), so according to beersmith my new target OG/FG would be 1.096/1.034. Also, mashed at 155 with a 1.250 qt water/grain ratio.