Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Jalapeno Cream Ale

[Grzebyk26]

I did not remove the seeds. I sliced the jalapeños lengthwise into 1/4" strips and baked them seeds and all

Thanks got the help. I will give this one a try this weekend. Cheers!

 

[crjpilot]

I've brewed this twice and the only change I really made was using one less jalapeno in the secondary the second time. The jalapenos I bought just had too much heat for three to be used. This brought it down to a nice, even burn, but still very drinkable for 1 or 2 glasses. I've also noted that it seems to stand up well to aging, the jalapeno flavor lasting and melding well into the overall beer.

Anyway, I've entered this into two competitions, scoring a 40 and a 43.5. The 43.5 won me a Best of Show award!

So, if you haven't given this one a try yet, do it!

 

[crjpilot]

Actually, I did make one other change. I used White Labs 080 Creme Ale Blend instead of 1056. I can't say how much difference there is, but obviously it works!

 

[M8tor]

Tapped the keg last night...Wow!

I roasted 10 jalapenos on the grill. Added five of the peppers the last 15 minutes of the boil. Quartered the other five and put them in the freezer seeds and all. After two weeks in the primary I racked the beer then added all of the frozen peppers to the secondary. I did not soak in vodka. Racked to a keg after five days.

Excellent aroma. You can really smell the jalapeno. It has a nice roasted jalapeno flavor, not too green. I like the balance. The warmth/burn is perfect for me. Real nice gentle back-of-the-throat burn. I don't think I'll change a thing on the next batch.

Cheers!

 

[jons_brew_shack]

Hello from rainy Manchester in the UK!

Have had this thread book marked for months, can't remember where I first heard of "jalapeño cream ale" but this was the first hit when googling recipes, I love spicy food (my wife is Korean) and I love beer so no reason why the two shouldn't be combined. I have gone for jalapeños only, halved and grilled 7 last night, soaked in cheap supermarket vodka over night! Strike water is on now, for BIAB mash and boil.

Have upped the pale 2 row (British Maris Otter) and added some wheat, for a blonder beer, my hops are higher on the alphas and all from NZ, as I like a hoppy beer but have stopped short of going with Nelson as I think that will conflict with the chilli, however am calling this a "Spicy Kiwi"

Hoping this will perk us up in the cold, thanks to the OP for the base recipe and all those who have chipped in and adapted along the way, a very interesting read. Will post results when applicable!

 

[mgohring]

Must. Brew. This.

It has been decided....

 

[bastump218]

Best beer I made to date love this stuff.....skaol

 

[Bigcorona]

I have been looking to make this for some time. Tomorrow, the Friday after Thanksgiving, is the day. I have everything ready to start a 10 gallon batch in the morning. Different hops, but the same IBUs. For the corn, I ground up 2 lbs of whole corn and boiled it for 1 hour, looks good to go. I will also throw in 1/2 lb of rice hulls.

 

[crjpilot]

Hello from rainy Manchester in the UK!

Have upped the pale 2 row (British Maris Otter) and added some wheat, for a blonder beer, my hops are higher on the alphas and all from NZ, as I like a hoppy beer but have stopped short of going with Nelson as I think that will conflict with the chilli, however am calling this a "Spicy Kiwi"

Hoping this will perk us up in the cold, thanks to the OP for the base recipe and all those who have chipped in and adapted along the way, a very interesting read. Will post results when applicable!

View attachment 159156

How'd it go? Good call on not going with the Nelson! That would have been "interesting." I'm curious how the use of the wheat came out.

 

[crjpilot]

I have been looking to make this for some time. Tomorrow, the Friday after Thanksgiving, is the day. I have everything ready to start a 10 gallon batch in the morning. Different hops, but the same IBUs. For the corn, I ground up 2 lbs of whole corn and boiled it for 1 hour, looks good to go. I will also throw in 1/2 lb of rice hulls.

Good luck! I'll be curious to hear how the corn comes out. Now that I've made it twice, I'm tempted to go the same route and give the corn a light roast as well to add a little more depth. Not a full char, but enough to complement the roasted peppers.

 

[jons_brew_shack]

How'd it go? Good call on not going with the Nelson! That would have been "interesting." I'm curious how the use of the wheat came out.

Hey there CRJ about to bottle this weekend, jalapeños been in secondary for a week now, samples so far have had a nice tickle of chilli on the back of the throat, definitely going to add some of the reserved chilli vodka as sure the strength will mellow with age. Have to say the this is by far the clearest cleanest looking beer I have brewed to date. Things looking good so far!

 

[jons_brew_shack]

Just about carbed up, 1 week on from bottling - insanely drinkable, pale gold in colour, earthy jalapeño chilli and slightly floral aroma, malty upfront, some residual sweetness in the middle, finishing with the buzz of warm chilli keeps you coming back for more, which accentuates the tickle of carbonation.

Definite rebrew!

 

[Inkdrop]

Subscribed. Can't wait to try this one

 

[BigPicture]

OK,

Gotta give you props 1st! THAT was some incredible Bloody Mary. Hot & Green. Wow!

Now.......................... on to the newb questions.

1) We boiled the 1st jalapeno addition for the allotted time, but do we keep them in the primary fermenter or strain them out?

2) When we rack to the secondary, then we strain out the original jalapenos?

3) Sure I'll roast 'em first, but do I only use FRESH jalapenos? Or can I use the pickled ones in the jar?

Talk about different!

Thanks in advance! :fro:

 

[crjpilot]

OK,

Gotta give you props 1st! THAT was some incredible Bloody Mary. Hot & Green. Wow!

Now.......................... on to the newb questions.

1) We boiled the 1st jalapeno addition for the allotted time, but do we keep them in the primary fermenter or strain them out?

2) When we rack to the secondary, then we strain out the original jalapenos?

3) Sure I'll roast 'em first, but do I only use FRESH jalapenos? Or can I use the pickled ones in the jar?

Talk about different!

Thanks in advance! :fro:

Hey, if you haven't already done it,

1) I removed the jalapenos after the boil.

2) The originals were removed after the boil, so none to strain when racking.

3) I would only use fresh. Pickled will definitely change the flavor profile, and probably not in a good way. Fresh will give you a nice, clean, roasted flavor with out any vinegar-y taste.

Good luck!

 

[jons_brew_shack]

Just polished off my last bottle, this will definitely be re-brewed in the new year, by far the best thing I made this year! In my interpretation only variations were use of UK Maris Otter (hence golden hue), wheat malt for head retention and bitter but woody NZ hops, I followed the OP's Chilli schedule and it was SPOT ON...

Next time going to try with some noble / slightly more floral hops, maybe Czech Saaz or similar.

Happy Christmas guys!

 

[schiersteinbrewing]

Been waiting to brew this one for months, today is the day it happened. One of the smoothest, best brew days I have had. Can't wait to get this carbed and in a glass.

 

[Nemleu]

Been waiting to brew this one for months, today is the day it happened. One of the smoothest, best brew days I have had. Can't wait to get this carbed and in a glass.

I've brewed this beer 7 times and it is by far everyone’s favorite. I smoke my jalapenos, and when you get the taste of fresh cut jalapenos and smoke up front, and a little heat when if finishes, you just have to go back for another taste.

 

[shortyz]

well i just brewed this baby up, as the guy above me i smoked the jalepenos over some hickory thinking it was a good idea. apprently it was! also im soaking the other jalepenos in sailor jerry spiced rhum instead of vodka. who knows! oh also i used 6lbs of extract instead of the 5.

i will report back in a few weeks!

 

[TheManchesterMorgue]

Sorry if this has already been asked but what temp was this fermented at? I read somewhere that cream ales are usually fermented at lagering temperatures. Is that what you did with this? Really looking forward to trying out my partial mash version over the next few days. Thanks OP!

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[jons_brew_shack]

Hey my kitchen is a steady 20C or 68F (for the Americans ) and I've had good results, just bottled my second attempt at this last night, brewing with mainly pilsner malt with some Maris Otter. Here's my iteration of the recipe...

Are you in a Manchester UK? If so want to trade a swap, I'm in Salford!




Drinking - Cocoa Bo (Chocolate Milk Stout)
Conditioning - Czech Mate (Raspberry Red Ale)
Primary - SNPA Clone

 

[TheManchesterMorgue]

I am indeed in Manchester and I'd love to!

Going to take a stab at this as my first improvised partial mash (as soon as I can source some fresh Jalapenos - where do you get yours from?) as:

1kg Optic Malt
500g Flaked Corn
500g Vienna Malt
250g Carapils

Plus 2kg of Extra Light DME in the boil.

I'm just heading into my second year of brewing now and most of what I've done so far has been wines, meads, ciders and oddities like Hard Lemonade so any feedback on whether this should work out would be more than welcome.

Nice to meet a local on here too.

 

[jons_brew_shack]

You can buy jalapeños in Tesco, they're the short stubby fat ones!



Don't see why your recipe wouldn't work but I don't know much about extract.

Ha local hero is a stretch, been brewing for just short of a year, I did 3 beer kits and jumped straight to BIAB all grain! There's a good brew club that meets once a month in town if you're interested PM me...

Good luck with the beer!

Jon


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[shortyz]

been in the bottle for 2 weeks now, cracked my first bottle and holy sweet jesus. This beer is stunning, i did an extract brew with the other grains.

I had 4 peppers in the boil and 4 in sailor jerry spicer rum . i added all the spiced rum to my batch before bottling bcs the jalepenos i had bought were a little mild. (a good way to test spice on your jalepenos is to cut a bit up and simmer it in a little oil and taste the oil) As stated before jalepenos can vary ALOT on heat depending on time of year and other things.

This beer turned out awsome, its smooth and the first taste is very earthy, i wish i had a little more heat but the taste is unreal. I dont know why craft brew places arent selling this stuff.

the only thing i found is that it came out a little sweeter then expected...

5 star.

 

[huntsman]

I agree with you 100% shortyz. This is my all-time favorite homebrew and wonder why at least one of the craft breweries haven't capitalized on this exact recipe. It it truly THAT good.

 

[Shenanigans]

Can anyone reccommend a different hops than cluster and liberty?
I know this has been asked on the first page but has anyone tried an tested a different combination and had good results in comparision to the original recipe?
I have about 20 different hops and i want to start using them up before I buy any other new ones. Which would be best from Northern Brewer, Nugget, Wilamette, Saaz, Tettnang, Fuggles, EKG, Styrian Golding, Aurora super Styrian? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[crjpilot]

Which would be best from Northern Brewer, Nugget, Wilamette, Saaz, Tettnang, Fuggles, EKG, Styrian Golding, Aurora super Styrian? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

I wouldn't say any of those are great substitutes, but if I had to pick from them, I'd probably use Nugget for bittering and Willamette for the rest. Saaz could be interesting.

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[Shenanigans]

I wouldn't say any of those are great substitutes, but if I had to pick from them, I'd probably use Nugget for bittering and Willamette for the rest. Saaz could be interesting.

Sent from my HTC One using Home Brew mobile app

OK thanks.

I also have Mt. Hood and Mittelfruh, i think one of these might be a good sub for the liberty.
I have some Magnum too.

In fact I think i'll keep it American go with Northern Brewer and Mt. Hood.
If I am to believe that is is such a great beer I might even make 10 gallons and split it in two and use another combination of hops for the second half.

 

[icanbenchurcat]

Just brewed up a 5 gal batch of this, can't wait to see how the next few weeks turn out!

 

[TheOrlandoGuy]

Thank you for this recipe. I brewed a partial mash version, subbing the Pale Malts for 5 lbs Light LME. Mashed the specialty grains and flaked corn at 152 for 1 hr. Also, I bumped down the 60 mins hops to .75 oz., and the 25 min hops to .75 oz. This gave it a projected IBU at 28.7 (which was my goal to keep it under 30).

Its bubbling away and i'm excited for the results!