Scorpion pepper IPA. Am I insane?

[aiptasia]

Ok, i've got a 12 oz hopslam poured on 10 drops of the extract in a solo cup. Here we go.

Alright, after polishing off the cup, i've got a slight tingle in the mouth and mild warmth in the throat and the stomach. It's not quite as much punch as I would like, so i'm going to wait an hour for any heat effects to wear off and then try fifteen drops in another 12 oz bottle of hopslam.

Don't think of it as hopslam, think HOTslam.

 

[aiptasia]

I tried 15 drops in a hopslam last night. Still not quite hot enough for what i'd like. I'm thinking about 20 drops now and will give that a go. That should work out math-wise as well, since I had seven drops earmarked at about 4 ounces. At 12 ounces, that would be 7 drops x 3 (3 fours will go into 12), so that works out to 21 drops approx. per 12 ounces.

At that, the maths work out to:

20 drops = 1 ML = perfect for a 12 oz IPA

At a six gallon recipe, I usually get about 5 gallons bottled due to trub loss and the angel's share. That's 53 bottled 12 oz. beers.

That works out to approx. 1.8 fluid ounces going into the bottling bucket which should be about 1/2 of the 4 ounce jar of devil juice.

 

[501irishred]

How is the taste holding up at higher heat levels?

 

[aiptasia]

Surprisingly really well. What's nice about this pepper is that it has some fantastic floral and fruity notes to it. If you watch the youtube hotheads eating them, they usually say the same thing. Great flavor up front.

It's the same with the extract, the flavor comes through first. Soft, juicyfruit flavor with a floral note like eating squash blossoms. You get that flavor profile first before the heat slowly starts to creep in. From that point, the heat just keeps building and building and building, every second getting hotter and spreading to new areas of your mouth, your throat and stomach. The aftertaste is heat and the same soft floral fruit flavor.

It's completely unlike other hot peppers i've had.

I want it to be drinkable, unlike beers like Ghostface Killah. That beer is peppery heat and a lot of people can barely finish one. I want this beer to be enjoyable all the way through but make you question whether or not you can handle a second or third.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Do you have 1.8 oz left?

Hopefully. A different soak might vary.

 

[bob1852]

I tried 15 drops in a hopslam last night. Still not quite hot enough for what i'd like. I'm thinking about 20 drops now and will give that a go. That should work out math-wise as well, since I had seven drops earmarked at about 4 ounces. At 12 ounces, that would be 7 drops x 3 (3 fours will go into 12), so that works out to 21 drops approx. per 12 ounces.

At that, the maths work out to:

20 drops = 1 ML = perfect for a 12 oz IPA

At a six gallon recipe, I usually get about 5 gallons bottled due to trub loss and the angel's share. That's 53 bottled 12 oz. beers.

That works out to approx. 1.8 fluid ounces going into the bottling bucket which should be about 1/2 of the 4 ounce jar of devil juice.

Keep in mind there might be a slight difference between the heat/flavor when adding to a chilled/carbed beer and tasting instantly, versus adding at bottling time and waiting for bottle conditioning to occur.

After dry peppering, my habenaro IPA tasted way too hot with a warm, uncarbed sample, but when all was said and done a few weeks later, it was perfect.

Hope it works out for you!

 

[aiptasia]

Do you have 1.8 oz left?

Hopefully. A different soak might vary.

I've got plenty left. I've used about 2 ml thus far. That's three full fluid ounces and 27.5 ml left to play with. Give or take.

Keep in mind there might be a slight difference between the heat/flavor when adding to a chilled/carbed beer and tasting instantly, versus adding at bottling time and waiting for bottle conditioning to occur.

After dry peppering, my habenaro IPA tasted way too hot with a warm, uncarbed sample, but when all was said and done a few weeks later, it was perfect.

Hope it works out for you!

I've taken that into consideration. The only way to really know would be to do test bottles with different measured amounts and sample them at various times. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time on my hands, so i'm now considering 1.25 ml per bottle, which is coming out to 2.25 fluid ounces for a five gallon batch. I'm going to sample the heat from 1.25 ml in a beer tonight.

If it behaves the way it's been behaving with the taste samples, it should be slightly warmer than i'd like. Hopefully not throat punch, uncontrollable hiccup hot... but just slightly hotter. That way, if it fades a little, it's not a problem. I do the same thing with my oaked beers because the flavor fades and mellows out so fast.

 

[aiptasia]

Yeah, ok I just downed a palate wrecker with 1.25 ml. of the Scorpion Pepper extract in it. That's 25 drops in a 12 oz. bottle. It's plenty hot bordering on too hot. I don't think I want to push it beyond this level. With a little bottle conditioning, I think this will be just about perfect. My lips burn, my gums burn, my mouth, esophagus and stomach are all kinds of lit up. It's like a good habanero salsa burn. It's not unbearable heat but if I drank another one, i'd be in some severe pain.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Yeah, ok I just downed a palate wrecker with 1.25 ml. of the Scorpion Pepper extract in it. That's 25 drops in a 12 oz. bottle. It's plenty hot bordering on too hot. I don't think I want to push it beyond this level. With a little bottle conditioning, I think this will be just about perfect. My lips burn, my gums burn, my mouth, esophagus and stomach are all kinds of lit up. It's like a good habanero salsa burn. It's not unbearable heat but if I drank another one, i'd be in some severe pain.

That and tghe hops and the unfiltered brew are going to be a downright super healthy dose!!!!

Unfiltered beer is good for us, hops too, and capsaicin is incredibly good for us!

Only thing that might top it would be a hoppy spicy stout. (unfiltered of course!)

 

[501irishred]

aiptasia - I know you "happened onto" your peppers, but do know of a good source? From the looking around I've done, you grow you own or go without.... I can buy seeds all day long, but haven't come across a supplier for the actual peppers. I have a hankering for some scorpions! :rockin:

 

[aiptasia]

Yep, I looked into that myself. Amazon has a few vendors selling whole dried pods (seeds and all) and ebay has a few people selling whole fresh peppers. There's even a guy selling young seedling plants on ebay for about $10 a pop. Apparently, they're a relatively undemanding pepper plant and grow quite well in the southern latitudes. The only recommended advice i've seen for their care is a slightly acidic soil with good drainage and the use of worm castings for fertilizer additions. Apparently, the worm castings really bring out the heat in the peppers (and other peppers) of this type.

For reference, the pepper I used weighed about eight grams. What's tricky about working with these peppers is that the scoville heat level can vary, even with peppers on the same plant. You might get one that hovers around 900,000 scoville units and one that eclipses 2,000,000 on the same plant.

I'm assuming what this is going to mean is, with every extract made, you'll have to gauge the heat level manually much in the same way that i'm doing now.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I have dried ghost chilis which are about the same thing, flavor and heat wise.

 

[aiptasia]

Here's what pure evil looks like. Kinda looks like devil pee. Don't mind the dusty counters, we're having the kitchen floor replaced with new tiles.

 

[aiptasia]

Taste tested tonight at the local bottle share. Seven drops in a four ounce pour of Sculpin confirms my tasting notes. It seemed to be the consensus for a drinkable amount of heat.

 

[whitehause]

Ok.....this sound crazy and awesome at the same time. I'm a pepper head, and a beer nut, but I'm not sure about combining them. I've had peppered beers, but scorpion sounds brutal.

I've got to do it.:rockin:

Guess I'll have to find some seeds.

 

[aiptasia]

Just buy some whole pods/peppers off of Amazon or Ebay.

 

[thewurzel]

I've got plenty left. I've used about 2 ml thus far. That's three full fluid ounces and 27.5 ml left to play with. Give or take.

dont know where you got your math but
29.5735 ml = 1 fluid Oz

 

[Enoch52]

What would you recommend as a base beer for something like this?

 

[whitehause]

Just buy some whole pods/peppers off of Amazon or Ebay.

Just ordered some seeds....2.99+free shipping for 25 seeds. If I get 5 or 6 plants out of that, I'll be good. For 3 bucks, it's worth a shot. I can get em started a while since planting season in PA isn't for a couple months yet.

 

[aiptasia]

A little heat works in a number of different styles. There are pepper porters, IPA's, stouts, old ales, APA's, etc..

I'm using a Sculpin clone as the base beer, which is a reserved IPA.

 

[aiptasia]

Just ordered some seeds....2.99+free shipping for 25 seeds. If I get 5 or 6 plants out of that, I'll be good. For 3 bucks, it's worth a shot. I can get em started a while since planting season in PA isn't for a couple months yet.

Sounds good. Give them plenty of magnesium and worm castings.

 

[501irishred]

Just ordered some seeds....2.99+free shipping for 25 seeds. If I get 5 or 6 plants out of that, I'll be good. For 3 bucks, it's worth a shot. I can get em started a while since planting season in PA isn't for a couple months yet.

Have you ever grown peppers from seed? It can be a pain in the arse! If planting season is two months away, I'd recommend starting them inside, in a seed starter kit (mini green house). If you can get em to germinate by the time the weather cooperates, you'll have a better shot..... Were about one month away here, and I started my peppers about a month ago (habanero, jalapeno, cayenne, hot and mild bananas) and now thinking about attempting some scorpions too.

 

[whitehause]

Have you ever grown peppers from seed? It can be a pain in the arse! If planting season is two months away, I'd recommend starting them inside, in a seed starter kit (mini green house). If you can get em to germinate by the time the weather cooperates, you'll have a better shot..... Were about one month away here, and I started my peppers about a month ago (habanero, jalapeno, cayenne, hot and mild bananas) and now thinking about attempting some scorpions too.

Yep....Farmed about 400 acres for a number of years. That's why I figured if I get 5 or 6 good plants from 25 seeds I'll be doing ok. I don't think I'll need a bushel of these things, a few should do the trick, plus give me plenty of seeds for future growing.

 

[501irishred]

Yep....Farmed about 400 acres for a number of years. That's why I figured if I get 5 or 6 good plants from 25 seeds I'll be doing ok. I don't think I'll need a bushel of these things, a few should do the trick, plus give me plenty of seeds for future growing.

Sorry, guess I should have caught the 5-6 reference. I'd imagine your right about the number "needed". I usually grow 3-4 of one really hot pepper of some kind each year, and end up asking myself towards the end of the season why I grew THAT many.... (tomatoes are easier to give away surplus)

 

[whitehause]

Sorry, guess I should have caught the 5-6 reference. I'd imagine your right about the number "needed". I usually grow 3-4 of one really hot pepper of some kind each year, and end up asking myself towards the end of the season why I grew THAT many.... (tomatoes are easier to give away surplus)

Yea, 5 or 6 is probably 4 or 5 more than I'll really need, but I'll get to have fun with some friends who think they're real pepper heads, and a local pub near me prides themselves on making all their own wing sauces and likes to experiment (they have a mango Habanero that's awesome). They would take some too I'm sure.
PA's not the best pepper growing region by far, but I have acidic sandy soil,and I've had some good success in the past so even if the conditions aren't optimal I'm sure they'll be hotter than anything else I've grown.

 

[brewinginnc]

We eat them at work and yes you are insane

 

[cheezydemon3]

We eat them at work and yes you are insane

Insane like us eh?

Yeah, a superhot beer is a novelty. A beer is what you want when you are eating superhots.

I guess you could eat plain tortilla chips and drink liquid death.....

All superhots from habanero on up are tough to sprout. they want it warm and wet but not moldy....a fine line.

Watering with chamomile is supposed to suppress mold.

They take nearly a month to sprout too.

Cayenne and jalapeno sprout when you sneeze on them, not so for superhots.

I start mine in NOVEMBER under flourescent grow bulbs.

 

[aiptasia]

We eat them at work and yes you are insane

I think i've reached a comfortable heat level with the extract. It's hot enough to enjoy the whole beer but not so hot that you scream in pain with the first sip. Again, I wanted this experiment to be a drinkable, hot IPA but not something useful in mortal combat against the huns.

 

[BoomerHarley]

I made a habanero ale that was awesome. I simply cut out the veins and seeds and it cut the heat a lot. Totally drinkable and delish.

 

[brewinginnc]

I get it, its just not my bag baby