Autumn Seasonal Beer Spicy Autumn Biere de Garde (Les Cousins Dangereux)

[italarican]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

WLP 029 (Kolsch)

Yeast Starter

Yes (1L)

Batch Size (Gallons)

5

Original Gravity

1.069

Final Gravity

1.017

Boiling Time (Minutes)

90

IBU

22

Color

15

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

21 days @ 57F

Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

21 days @ 34F

Tasting Notes

Rich, liquid toffee, dark fruits, toast, subtle earthiness. Lingering sweet & pepper spiciness is prominent but not sharp. Rich but balanced.

I wanted a rich, malty but crisp pumpkin beer. I first made this with roasted butternut squash and felt like it added nothing. I ditched any attempts at squash or pumpkin and chose to go with a "fall spice" profile of cinnamon, peppers, & coffee. The recipe below hit exactly how I wanted!

I got the Chocolate Habanero peppers from my friend's garden. They tend to be slightly earthier & smokier than a regular habanero, but I could see going with regular habaneros if chocolate are not available. The beer already has plenty going on!

I had initially planned for 1 lb of Biscuit, but I miscounted how much I had, so I made up the difference with 1/2 lb Victory. You can always use 1 lb of whichever you prefer.

8.0 lbs Pilsner
3.0 lbs Munich
0.5 lbs Biscuit
0.5 lbs Victory
6 oz Special B
2 oz Carafa Special II

0.4 oz Galena 60 min
0.2 oz Galena 20 min
0.2 oz Galena 5 min

1 Whirfloc tablet 10 min

2 2-inch Cinnamon sticks, 12 days secondary
2 Chocolate Habanero peppers, 2 days secondary
1 Thai Chili pepper, 2 days secondary
Cold brew coffee (35g coffee in 20 oz pre-boiled water), mixed at kegging/bottling

Kolsch Yeast (I use WLP 029)

Mash 150F, 60 min
Batch sparge 168F, 10 min

Cinnamon sticks were soaked in vodka and added during lagering (so Day 9 of secondary @ 34F)
Peppers were soaked in vodka and added on final 2 days of lagering

My friends cannot stop raving about it! This is the first beer in 6 years of brewing where I have no interest in changing things next time around.

 

[bkboiler]

wow! this is truly unique...how spicy would you say it turned out (1-10)?
I was reading about a commercial habanero beer the other day where the brewer said each pepper varies, to add slowly...

 

[italarican]

wow! this is truly unique...how spicy would you say it turned out (1-10)?
I was reading about a commercial habanero beer the other day where the brewer said each pepper varies, to add slowly...

You probably want to de-seed any peppers you put into the beer. I'd also recommend a gentile swirl and taste every 24 hours once the peppers are added until it hits your desired spice level. You could also reduce the number of peppers.

As someone who usually orders thai/indian food at an 8/10 spice level, I'd probably put this at a 7 spice level. The heat is there and very noticeable, but only in the finish. It's a heat that lingers for quite a while but doesn't sting. Most importantly (& what I was going for), it remains drinkable. My friends go for multiple repours. Usually for habanero beers, I find it a chore once you get to 1/2 pint.

 

[bkboiler]

Gotcha. I’m a definite fan of Ballast Point Sculpin, but the Habanero Sculpin was too much for me...although I usually only order a 5/10 at Thai restaurants...

 

[jready]

What temp did you ferment at? How long total was it in the secondary (prior or after additions)?

This sounds delicious

 

[italarican]

Gotcha. I’m a definite fan of Ballast Point Sculpin, but the Habanero Sculpin was too much for me...although I usually only order a 5/10 at Thai restaurants...

Habanero Sculpin is what I was thinking: I can only have a few sips of that. The sting and burn is too much for regular sipping. This beer is much less than that. Plus, the spice fades with time (was already less spicy after 1 week). Still, if you're less into spice, I probably would stay at a max of 2 de-seeded peppers total, maybe 36-48 hours.

 

[italarican]

What temp did you ferment at? How long total was it in the secondary (prior or after additions)?

This sounds delicious

Primary = 21 days at 57F
Secondary = 21 days at 34 F

Cinnamon sticks were added on Day 9 of secondary; the peppers on Day 19

 

[jready]

Thank you! It’ll come out a bit late but this is now my fall beer!!

 

[italarican]

Thank you! It’ll come out a bit late but this is now my fall beer!!

Great! I'd love to hear how it works for you or how any changes work.

 

[jready]

Great! I'd love to hear how it works for you or how any changes work.

I will keep you posted I will be brewing this next weekend. As I see it the only change I will make for sure is going to the full pound of biscuit vs the split.

I love the heat you described, I have had a bunch of pepper beers and the best always have the heat in the throat

 

[jready]

I have all the ingredients on the way plan to brew this up this weekend!

 

[italarican]

Nice! I'm looking forward to hearing your experience, however it ends up.

I brought a growler of this to our local Oktoberfest since our homebrew club had a tent. This beer killed and was gone 10 minutes into general admission (the VIPs did their damage).

 

[deadwolfbones]

Love the name.

 

[jready]

Mashing in late but will let it run overnight. Already smells great. Now I am on the hunt for chocolate habaneros!

 

[italarican]

Love the name.

I've always done that... currently on tap: Les Cousins Dangereux, The Seaward, & The Cornballer

 

[italarican]

View attachment 591522View attachment 591523View attachment 591524

Mashing in late but will let it run overnight. Already smells great. Now I am on the hunt for chocolate habaneros!

Check out that setup! I'm jealous.

Never used them myself, but I know the actual peppers are available online here:

https://ghostpepperstore.com/Fresh-Chocolate-Habanero-4oz-_p_162.html

 

[jready]

Brew day was pretty smooth didn’t get a pic of OG after boom but came in a tad over 1.06

 

[italarican]

Good deal. The OG in my recipe is for 75% efficiency, but I actually overshot it this last time (closer to 1.075). There's enough malt complexity that you'll be good. The initial punch from the spices fades a tad after 2-3 weeks either way.

 

[jready]

I got my Chocolate Habaneros I have about two more weeks to go. Sample tasted good all by itself