Adding spice to beer??

[Thejiro]

Im going to be making a smoked porter soon and I would like to add a little bit of cayene to the boil or secondary to give the beer a little spicy edge. Think a slight spicy tingle on the tongue is what im shooting for.

I do know that spice is a subjective thing and what is spicy for one my not be for another.

My question is does anyone have any experience with this that could give me some suggestions on where to start??

Tia
Ken

 

[JonM]

I it were me, I'd split it across two fermenters, add X amount to one, and Y amount to the other and see which is better. Heck - do you have five one-gallon jugs? Use five different secondaries and add different amounts to each.

 

[Thejiro]

I could split it between 2 2gallon jugs and 1 1gallon jug. Im thinking of adding 1 teaspoon to the boil between 10 & 20 minutes......

 

[TreeBridge]

Have you thought about adding a couple peppers to the boil? I think chipolte peppers would go very well with a smoked porter. They are dried smoked jalapeno peppers. This would not only add spiciness but also flavor. Adding the peppers to the secondary may work but i don't think it would extract the spiciness as well.

 

[Thejiro]

I know all about chipotles. That is not the direction i want for this smoked beer. I used some in a secondary in an imperial stout i took 3rd in a competition with. Im just looking to get a vague spicy/tingling sensation when drinking the beer, not the flavors associated with the peppers.

 

[Hopelesst]

In my cooking experience you do get a distinct flavor along with cayenne, not just the spiciness. I know that you're going for a smoked porter which is bound to have plenty of is own strong flavors to hide the cayenne but you might want to look more for the spice itself. Have you considered steeping seeds from hot peppers in the secondary?

 

[D_Nyholm]

I've had a stout that had 2 ancho chilies placed in secondary for a 15 gallon batch. It had the spicyness that you are talking about. Just enough to know it was there. Didn't taste it when you took a SIP, but felt a tingle on your tongue and throat after a few sips. Might be what you are looking for? They also added chocolate nibs and it made a great stout. I think they used 3 lbs but that was hardly noticeable also.

 

[Thejiro]

Thats deffinately the character im looking for in it im going to have to do a few different treatments and see what gives the best results.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

You could also try boiling some chillies in some water to extract the capsaicin into it. Then add to taste at bottling. Id personally use a habanero... that way you get heat with less pepper flavor tagging along with it since youd be using less peppers and the capsaicin is really what your looking for. Then just use a touch at a time until you think its where you like heat wise.

 

[DannPM]

Pour 3oz samples of a commercial smoked porter into a tasting glass, add exactly measured increasing increments of the cayenne pepper to each. Taste each and write down a rating out of 10. Use the highest rated tasting increment and scale up to 5 gallons, 640 ounces I believe, 213x your addition to the tasting glass.

I suggest seeking out micro measuring spoons that go down to 1/32nd tsp. You need to be exact when scaling up 213x lol.

 

[NA_Wreckdiver]

I lean toward HopelessT's suggestion of using the white inner & seeds of a hot pepper.
That is where the "heat & spice" is. If you don't use the Outer colored meat of the pepper,
you should get very little if any "pepper flavor".

Post your results... sounds like several people would be interested in hearing...
I know I would.

 

[SamBrewer]

IMHO if you are looking for a spicy touch at the end of the seep you can add powder at the end of the boil ( split batch to undertand how much you want it). Adding pepper into secondary I suppose you will extract more of the flavor/aroma and less of the spiceness

 

[TalkingGoats]

http://www.nbtbrewing.com/?p=52

Maybe this route? This show has a lot of profanity just a warning if you have never listened to it.


He dry hops this beer with a Jalapeno.

Grain Bill

————

American 2-Row: 12lb

Carapils: 11oz

Cara Vienne: 8oz

Wheat Malt: 8oz

Hop Bill

———–
Columbus (14.4%): .71oz @ FWH
Simcoe (12.5%): .50oz @ 30min
Amarillo (8%): .50oz @ 30min
Simcoe: .75oz @ 15min
Amarillo: .75oz @ 15min
Simcoe: 1.50oz @ 0min
Amarillo: 1.50oz @ 0min

Simcoe: 1.5oz Dry Hop
Amarillo: 1.5oz Dry Hop

Yeast

———

White Labs WLP002 English Ale Yeast

Mash Schedule

——————-

Saccharification Rest: 158 F for 30 minutes, fly sparge

Fermentation Schedule

—————————-

Pitch @ 65F, hold until finish