How to steep a chile?

[BrewDoc627]

I'm looking to brew a chile pepper wheat. I was thinking of adding a chopped, pithed chile to the boil for the flavor and then dropping a halved chile (seeds and all) to the fermenter for some heat. I was also thinking of "pickling" the pepper in vodka for a few days prior to the ferment.

Anyone see any problem with this--aside from my apparent chile-head insanity? Thanks in advance--Cheers.

 

[Buffman]

Looks fine to me. If you really want to extract heat, consider chopping and freezing the chiles for the second addition before soaking in vodka. The freeze will break the cell walls, letting more of the chile come through. Do you think two chiles (I'm assuming jalapenos here) is enough?

 

[BrewDoc627]

I honestly don't know if 2 jalepenos is enough. I want some heat on the aftertaste of the beer with an underscoring of chile flavor on the palate, but I don't want the pepper to overwhelm the body of the beer. I lean to erring on the side of drinkability. Plus, I've found jalapenos a little inconsistent in individual heat levels. I like the freezing idea, how do you feel about roasting?
Cheers.

 

[azscoob]

I love smoked jalapenos, (chipotles) I smoke mine over pecan or mesquite and freeze them for later use in recipes, after freezing I find a better flavor in my food as opposed to fresh from the smoker, the flavor seems more robust after freezing. freezing yours could work well for increasing the chile flavor overall in your beer without going overboard on the heat by using too many peppers.

 

[Buffman]

Roasting would be a good idea - you can get the skins off and impart more flavor by exposing the flesh. Plus, some char would add a nice flavor. I made a blonde chile beer last summer, adding to the secondary several anaheims that had been roasted, skinned, chopped, and frozen. I didn't soak them in vodka, but probably would if I made it again. The chile heat and flavor dissipated pretty quickly; after about 6 months it was nearly gone.

I'd add a couple more chile to the boil; better to start a little low and add more next time if the heat and flavor aren't there. I'm going to make this one this summer, which calls for 5-7 jalapenos: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/jalapeno-cream-ale-131294/.

What's your base style?

 

[BrewDoc627]

I'm going with an American wheat base. I think it'll make for an interesting summer beer (yeah, I know, I'm starting a bit late).

 

[SourHopHead]

Check out this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/green-chile-beer-134940/ They talk about roasting them and not having any bacterial issues.