Making a pepper tincture

[amcclai7]

I am making a tincture out of Tn Cherry Chilies and vodka. They are only grown in Tn as far as I know but they are awesome! Tons of flavor and about the same heat as a habenero. I plan to add this tincture to a porter that I already have kegged. My goal is to increase the flavor and lower the heat as much as possible. To that end, I removed the seeds which contain vast amounts of heat but little flavor. My question now is this:

How long should I let this tincture sit? The vodka is turning a lovely orange after just 2 days (picture included) but the crushed peppers are still a vibrant red which suggests they have more juice left in them. I guess it all boils down to this: Does alcohol extract flavor or capsaicin (the hot of peppers) at a faster rate? If, by leaving the peppers in the vodka longer I am only extracting more heat then I would want to take them out. If extra time is extracting flavor I want them to sit.

Does anybody have any experience with this or helpful information they could add?

 

[microbusbrewery]

I haven't made a pepper tincture before, but yes alcohol does tend to extract flavors and aroma fairly quickly. That's pretty much how natural extracts are made, soak a spice in a neutral spirit for a given amount of time. The reason is lots of flavor and aroma compounds are highly soluble in alcohol. Oh and did you mean capsaicin? If I remember my science classes correctly, peptic acid is from your digestive system. Capsaicin is also soluble in alcohol, so the longer you let it sit, the hotter it's likely to get. Normally I'd say taste the tincture and if it's where you want it, then it's ready to go. With a pepper tincture that's similar to habeneros, that could be dangerous. Probably a good idea to have some bread and a tall glass of milk nearby if you do.

 

[amcclai7]

Capsaicin, yes! I was completely off, I don't know why peptic acid was in my head when I typed the post. I went back and edited it so future people who read it don't A. get confused, or, B. think I'm an idiot.

I agree with you. The only way to know is to taste it but I'm a bit scared! I think you're also right about the heat. The longer it sits the hotter it will get probably. I think I'll pull them off today.

 

[Sleepyemt]

The level of heat isn't really a big deal is it? You'll be adding it it to 5 gallons. I'd think you'll want the tincture to be strong in comparison

 

[amcclai7]

The level of heat isn't really a big deal is it? You'll be adding it it to 5 gallons. I'd think you'll want the tincture to be strong in comparison

I do want it to be strong but I want it to have as much of the pepper flavor as possible. If the vodka is just extracting heat at this point because it has already stripped all the flavor then I think I should go ahead and strain the peppers off the vodka.

 

[microbusbrewery]

I think there was a recent Brewing Network show...or maybe it was Basic Brewing. Anyway, one of them had some tips on how to extract pepper flavor while keeping heat to a minimum.

I like a touch of heat but it shouldn't feel like you're drinking a bottle of hot sauce. Crime from Stone Brewing was kind of like that...better for cooking than drinking. I had an absolutely incredible Anaheim chile and Amarillo IPA at GABF a few years ago. I can't remember who made it but it had tons of pepper flavor that went really well with the Amarillo hops.

 

[apshaffer]

the only way to be sure it to test the tincture. i would say to let it soak for a minimum of a week or two. test it with an eye dropper. a drop isn't going to do too much damage. put it on a cracker or a piece of bread. some herbal tinctures soak for 6 months or more. give the bottle a good shake everyday and try it after a week or so. its its not strong enough, you can evaporate some of the vodka off in a warm water bath after you determine it's ready.

 

[amcclai7]

I think there was a recent Brewing Network show...or maybe it was Basic Brewing. Anyway, one of them had some tips on how to extract pepper flavor while keeping heat to a minimum.

I like a touch of heat but it shouldn't feel like you're drinking a bottle of hot sauce. Crime from Stone Brewing was kind of like that...better for cooking than drinking. I had an absolutely incredible Anaheim chile and Amarillo IPA at GABF a few years ago. I can't remember who made it but it had tons of pepper flavor that went really well with the Amarillo hops.

I'll look for it but in the meantime if you could post a link that would be very helpful. Regardless, Thanks!

 

[microbusbrewery]

Here you go, it was a Basic Brewing Radio episode, http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/7/8/1/781...22809987&hwt=d7b076596acb39991539dde3a8455895

 

[Jonkl]

I know it's too late for this batch, but I've had good luck adding chiles to the boil to get more flavor than heat. (1 NM green chile per gallon at 10 minutes.)

I've read that "dry-chile-ing" is where you get heat, so I think the tincture is probably the same thing. The advantage is that you can control how much you add to the beer a little better.

I like chiles in darker, roastier beers. I hope it turns out well!

 

[amcclai7]

Here you go, it was a Basic Brewing Radio episode, http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/7/8/1/781...22809987&hwt=d7b076596acb39991539dde3a8455895

Thanks! For future reference they get to this specific point at about 18 minutes in. The procedure they describe is almost 100% identical to the one I described in the first post, i.e, remove seeds and the surrounding membrane, soak the remaining flesh in vodka for a few days, pull a sample, add drops to taste and then add to the entire batch.

I've done this already with my porter and it worked well! Have to say I was pleased with the amount of heat and flavor I was able to get in a short amount of time and that I had control over exactly how much heat I wanted.