Peppers in my Porter

cookingozzy · Sep 7, 2016

Ok, so I am going to add Cayenne peppers to a porter that I am brewing. I have the peppers soaking in vodka to clean them. When I add the peppers, should I also add the vodka? Will this hurt my beer any? If anyone has any experience with this, let me know. Thank you,

kramer2500 · Sep 7, 2016

I recently did this. I had my peppers soaking in about 1/3 cup of vodka for several days. After tasting the vodka, I realized spice had already soaked into the vodka. Because of this, I added the vodka with the peppers to the secondary since I didnt want to lose out on the spice that had been absorbed by the vodka.

catdaddy66 · Sep 7, 2016

Toss it all in! The liquor will add some heat and a small bump in abv% (but nothing significant really).

Sounds delicious btw...

cookingozzy · Sep 7, 2016

I don't have much vodka that they are soaking in, but I tasted it last night and it is very hot. I can't wait to try this beer.

cookingozzy · Sep 14, 2016

Ok, so the peppers have been in the vodka for 2 weeks and my porter is still bubbling away. Should I go ahead and rack this to secondary and add the peppers and vodka or should I wait until the fermentation dies down some more?

Calypso · Sep 14, 2016

Wait until primary fermentation is done (based on gravity readings). You don't want to lose out on the aroma. I wouldn't bother racking to secondary though, seeing as you're probably adding very few peppers. I'd just carefully pour the vodka and peppers into your primary fv and give it a day or two to ferment any sugar from the peppers, then bottle.

EDIT: Or maybe let it sit a week after adding the peppers to give the flavors a chance to meld a bit. Not sure how long this takes, never used peppers in a beer. Fruit I let sit for 7-10 days.

cookingozzy · Oct 26, 2016

I tried my Pepper Porter last night and it was awesome. The cayenne peppers leave a spicy note to a well balanced beer. I'll definitely make this one again.

dmtaylor · Oct 26, 2016

For my award winning jalapeno porter, I only add the flavored vodka. Keep the chunks out. You'll still get PLENTY of flavor, aroma, and heat from the flavored vodka.