Jalapeno IPA recipe - advice/guidance welcome!

[JP2013]

Hello everybody!

This is my first post here, and I can already tell that I will be spending A LOT of time here as I embark upon my home brewing adventures!

I have been thinking up a Jalapeno IPA recipe, but would love any input advice you may have. I'm still new to home brewing, and while I consider myself well read and knowledgeable, I'm a rookie compared to many of you. You're advice is vital to my success as I continue to mature my craft.

As of right now, my recipe is as follows:

---Jalapeno IPA---

WORT:
Briess Victory Grain 1lb
Briess DME Golden Light 1lb
Jalapeno slices (seedless) 1lb 5 mins

HOP ADDITIONS:
Liberty (FWH) 1oz (AA 3%-5%) 60 min boil
NZ Green Bullet (Bittering) 1oz (AA 11%-14%) 45 min boil
Willamette (Flavoring) 1oz (AA 4%-6%) 30 min boil
Simcoe (Finishing) 1oz (12%-14%) 5 min boil

DRY HOPPING:
Liberty 1oz 7-14 days
Jalapeno slices (seedless) 1lb 7-14 days

I realize that the ingredients may not be traditional, but I feel that the end result will be what I am looking for - an earthy, spicey, jalapeno-y ipa. Something that goes down smooth, but packs a punch.

Still unsure of what yeast I want to use..

Thoughts and suggestions?

Thanks ahead of time,
James

 

[billl]

That is a pretty risky way to use peppers.

A good rule of thumb for spices is to added a small amount to secondary in a bag. Taste every day and pull them as soon as you get to the level of flavor your want. You can always add more, but once you make hotsauce, there is no going back.

 

[Red_Scooter]

I would forgo the peppers in the boil, and only add to secondary (or primary after fermentation has stopped). Before adding to the peppers, give them a quick boil and then freeze them. freezing will break the cell membranes.

I've never tried a hoppy chili beer, all of mine have been light on the hops. Mainly because the pepper will overpower a lot of the flavor and aroma. So, it may be a waste of good hops. But, then again, I use serrano peppers and not jalapeno. As far as yeast, I would suggest nottingham or US-05.

Let us know how it turns out, maybe i'll try adding more hops to my next batch.

 

[CBMbrewer]

What size batch is this going to be?

 

[geckholm]

For my Habanero IPA, I slice up one Habanero and soak over two nights in a cup of vodka. Rack beer to bottling bucket after dry hop and slowly and gently stir in to taste. I usually do not add all of the vodka, but this gives you better control over the heat.

 

[geckholm]

Oh, I use Nottingham yeast.

 

[donk5]

A pound of peppers is way overkill. I usually add just a few to the secondary and it is plenty spicy. I have found that adding them to the boil will give you less of a vegetable taste and less heat as well. I have done both and I guess it depends on what you are going for. Good luck.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

I used a variety of peppers in the secondary along with a whole bunch of tropical fruits (which set off a new fermentation). I agree with Red_Scooter about freezing the peppers to break up the cells. Mine was called the Ricky Ricardo (a hot cuban) and the tropical fruits were to off set the heat. Good luck!

 

[Brewbien]

I've done a few Jalapeno beers a few different ways and this is the process that gave me the best results:

-Boil jalapenos (about 1 pepper per gallon) in the last 5 min of the boil (a lot of the jalapeno flavor/spice is in the skin)
-Quarter the jalapenos length wise and store in vodka
-Dump vodka into fermentor after primary fermentation to taste, discard jalapenos
-Mark any tubing you used as chili beer equipment as its hard to get rid of the residual oils afterwards (learned this the hard way)


Hope that helps.

 

[JP2013]

Thank you! This is exactly the kind of input I was looking for. I agree that I went overkill with the peppers after hearing you all. I was just worried about not being able to really taste the spice/flavor of the peppers. I will now plan on using 1 pepper/gallon during the last 5 mins of the boil, and do about the same during secondary. I also think that I will use Nottingham yeast.

This will be a 5 gallon batch. I will keep you all updated on the recipe up to brew day. I wish I could share the end results with you all, but sadly the USPS does not approve of this kind of behavior!

Thanks again!

James

 

[CBMbrewer]

WORT:
Briess Victory Grain 1lb
Briess DME Golden Light 1lb
Jalapeno slices (seedless) 1lb 5 mins

This will be a 5 gallon batch.

Are these the only fermentables you are going to use? Or are you using some more DME or LME as well? Those alone should give you an OG of around 1.012. Which is extremely low for any style. I would add at least another 6 pounds of DME. That would be a good starting point.

Jalapeno slices (seedless) 1lb 5 mins. Jalapeno slices (seedless) 1lb 7-14 days

2 pounds of peppers total would probably give you something more like hotsauce then beer. Good call on the 1 pepper/gallon.

HOP ADDITIONS:
Liberty (FWH) 1oz (AA 3%-5%) 60 min boil
NZ Green Bullet (Bittering) 1oz (AA 11%-14%) 45 min boil
Willamette (Flavoring) 1oz (AA 4%-6%) 30 min boil
Simcoe (Finishing) 1oz (12%-14%) 5 min boil

DRY HOPPING:
Liberty 1oz 7-14 days

Liberty is usually used as an aroma or flavor hop for German lagars. I would move the green bullet to 60min and if you are going to use the liberty, add it at flame out or use it as a dry hop. The liberty might get lost with the simcoe. I'd go with one or the other.

 

[JP2013]

Thanks for the input, CBMbrewer. I mimicked my recipe around one I found online, and those were the only fermentables they mentioned. It did seem really low to me as well. I will take your advice. I was originally thinking about adding 6lbs of Gold Malt Syrup. Thoughts on this?