Jalapeno Pilsner

[mrtastee]

First post to the forum. I've been a member for a while and have been home brewing for almost a year.

I'm brewing a pilsner tomorrow with jalapeno peppers. I was planning on putting chopped peppers in the mash, last 5 minutes of the boil, and in the secondary. Today in my homebrew store (my old kentucky home brew in Louisville) I struck up conversation with the store owner and he had a few interesting suggestions: including adding the peppers with a vodka/jalapeño mixture and injecting in small amounts into the bottles with a syringe.

My fellow homebrewers: any suggestions or experience with pepper beer? I want to be precocious because I really want this to be a interesting brew with laces of hotness but nothing overwhelming. Just a little bit of spice with the light beer.

Here is the recipe. Feel free to follow me on hopville if you wish.

http://hopville.com/recipe/1597770/premium-american-lager-recipes/jalapeno-pils

 

[strambo]

Using the vodka/injection method will give you the most control. There is no right or wrong way. I'd skip the peppers in the mash and boil. Put them in vodka now to make the pepper-infused vodka. While the beer is in primary, buy a six pack of a commercial pilsner closest to what you are brewing and try injecting different amounts to taste.

Once the amount is figured out and when the beer is ready to bottle, just squirt the correct amount in each. Or...if you think you know the right amount for 5 gals, dump that amount into the bottling bucket. 1.5 ml extract per 12 oz bottle = 3 oz extract per 5 gallon. I used this formula for a vanilla porter using vodka infused with whole vanilla beans and it worked great. I just added more ml of the extract to a 12oz glass of Porter until it tasted best, then did the math for the 5 gal amount.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Easiest way to get a combination of heat and flavor is to add in secondary. Drop them in, give them a couple days, then taste each day until you are satisfied. Bottle when you are happy with it.

 

[gotsumbeers]

I did a Habanero Pils a couple of years ago. It turned out great. I roasted the peppers in the oven to get a bit of a smoky flavor and added three of them to the 5 gallon secondary, where they sat for a month. It was a great beer. There was a slight smokiness in the aroma with an interesting pepper hint. It had a very mild minty/peppery taste at first. Initially there was not heat, but as you swallowed you could feel the heat in the back of your throat working its way down.

The heat was definitely there. My macho friends loved it, my wife not so much.