Total capsaicin

[hlmbrwng]

I have been reading through as many threads as possible to determine what is a good amount of chili to add to a beer. There are a few problems in judging how much to use.

1) Different chili have different amounts of capsaicin
2) Each chili type has a WIDE range of possible scoville ratings
3) The amount will differ, of course, by the beer batch size
4) Adding fresh or dry peppers
5) Adding to boil or to secondary

Has anyone developed a spreadsheet to determine the amount of a specific type of chili in order to achieve an appropriate/desirable amount of heat?

It all seems like guess work to me. If not, I suppose the only way to figure it out is to collect subjective (i.e. heat, pleasantness) and object (weight in grams, IBU and ABV of beer) and try to come up with some average amount of capsaicin that should contribute to a well-balanced beer.

In a couple of days I will be adding chili to an imperial stout (about 12% and at about 65 IBU), as well as cacao nibs. I have purchased both dried Pasilla and grid Aji Amarillo peppers. The former has a scoville rating of 1-4k, and the latter has a rating of about 10-30k. Of course, these rating differ from website to website and store to store. I want the specific flavors from the Aji Amarilla, however, I am afraid that I will get the heat before I get any of the flavor. Thinking I should just add the Pasilla chili instead.

 

[daksin]

Nope, I'm pretty confident nobody has done that. Most of us just wing it and get a general idea how hot something's going to be. You could try tasting the peppers before they go in- the important thing to remember is that you can always ADD heat, but you can't take it away.

 

[hlmbrwng]

I just tried the peppers. They are dried. Neither of them have any heat.
Is this because they are dry? Is this misleading?

 

[bransona]

Dry peppers should have heat. Do you have hot peppers? Are you sure?

Capsaicin doesn't go away, so play carefully with these dangerous toys.

 

[bransona]

Also, many people have had success "dry peppering" much like you would with hops, but make a tincture from them. That might also be a good heat guide. Make your tincture and start playing with little tastes of various ratios with your beer. Then adjust for the whole batch accordingly.

 

[hlmbrwng]

Dry peppers should have heat. Do you have hot peppers? Are you sure?

Capsaicin doesn't go away, so play carefully with these dangerous toys.

I really don't know. The store listed the scoville ratings as:
***** Pasilla 1-4k
Aji Amarillo 10-30k

Neither are hot when I eat them. I can just munch on them no problem, and I think I am pretty sensitive to spicy foods.

Do you think that one could extract heat easier if they peppers were steamed as a reconstitution method? Then placed in alcohol?

 

[rodwha]

I've brewed several jalapeño beers (cream ale and blonde) and have been happy using close to 2 fresh jalapeños per gallon. When I brewed a habanero strong ale I used less than one pepper per gallon assuming it would be pretty potent. It's not. There's barely any spice at all despite having a tremendous amount of capsaicin.

 

[EcuPirate07]

I've rolled with 5 roasted jalapeños seeded. 1 went into boil with 15mins left. 4 dry hopped for a week after fermentation slowed. Then added a roasted habanero for 3 days. I got good flavor and heat.

 

[Juno_Malone]

There's a very popular recipe on the forums here for a Jalapeno Cream ale:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=131294

I've made this a few times, and I really like his method of roasting the peppers prior to soaking them in vodka. The reason I like it is that the vodka seems to leech nearly all of the capsaicin out of the peppers. So, you can add the vodka-soaked peppers to boil and/or secondary to get the aroma and flavor of the peppers, and then add the vodka itself (I recommend doing this 1-2 Tbsp at a time until you find the right amount of heat) to add whatever level of actual spiciness you want to your beer.

 

[hlmbrwng]

Last night I cut up one large Pasilla and one large Aji Marillo (both dried) chile and threw the pieces into a double boiler. All I added was a couple ounces of bourbon. I heated everything until the bourbon evaporated and I added a bit more. I eventually pressed the chili through a strainer to get the oil/bourbon. It was brownish-red and smelled kinda hot.

I took a Bell's expedition stout and poured 6 oz into a glass. I took a dropper and kept adding the "extract" until I got some flavor. There was no heat. Eventually, it just started to taste gross and there was no heat.

I think I might grab a couple fresh Scotch Bonnet's or Jalapeños and try the same thing again.
If that doesn't work, then I won't use this extract method. I'll just toss them in the fermentor. I was hoping this method would be better, as I could gauge the flavor/heat.

Do most people roast the peppers? I suppose it's a matter of preference, but I might try that.

 

[normonster]

I have a jalapeño cream ale similar to that. Basically any cream ale plus 5 deseeded green jalapeños and a half a fresh pineapple slices into cubes, for each five gallons.

Subtle pineapple, a touch of jalapeño spice on the lip and a little jalapeño flavor is the result.

 

[GHBWNY]

Has anyone developed a spreadsheet to determine the amount of a specific type of chili in order to achieve an appropriate/desirable amount of heat?
...I want the specific flavors from the Aji Amarilla, however, I am afraid that I will get the heat before I get any of the flavor.

Correct, too much heat will trump flavor before you realize there even was flavor. You're going to have to find that delicate balance. Re: a spreadsheet, it seems like it would be difficult to calculate since peppers increase in heat with maturity, so arbitrarily saying "one kind does this or that in this amount" would be a crapshoot at best when the age of the pepper is unknown.

Don't know if something like this would work for you, but some people put Tabasco in their beer. Maybe not the taste/heat you're looking for, but definitely more control than peppering a whole batch. You could pull a 12 oz. glass just before bottling and add a drop at a time, tasting, cleansing in between tastes and see where it takes you. I've just made a hearty lime ale which I'm going to try this with.

 

[hlmbrwng]

Lots of good ideas here. Thanks everyone.

 

[bransona]

In relation to dry peppering, maybe try it in a bag/spiedel. Taste daily until you're satisfied. You'll be less likely to overdo it, and you can easily add more

 

[hlmbrwng]

In relation to dry peppering, maybe try it in a bag/spiedel. Taste daily until you're satisfied. You'll be less likely to overdo it, and you can easily add more

I suppose the issue that I am having with that is that I am also adding cacao nibs and adding bourbon soaked oak cubes as well. If I want to pull each pull individually when the flavor is right, I need a bag for each one. I shall the same concern with each of the additions. Any suggestions on how one could deal with each flavor individually? Possibly without needed to add one ingrediant at a time? I suppose that would take well over a month. It's already been in the primary close to 4 weeks.

 

[bransona]

I suppose the issue that I am having with that is that I am also adding cacao nibs and adding bourbon soaked oak cubes as well. If I want to pull each pull individually when the flavor is right, I need a bag for each one. I shall the same concern with each of the additions. Any suggestions on how one could deal with each flavor individually? Possibly without needed to add one ingrediant at a time? I suppose that would take well over a month. It's already been in the primary close to 4 weeks.

For me, cacao and oak will never be too much. I love huge flavors. So, personally, I would add those directly and use peppers in a bag. Or, you could use one bag for the two and one bag for the peppers, unless you really want to control each flavor separately

 

[user 125772]

We make a beer at sleepy creek called Creekwater 911 , it's a Habanero pale ale.
The way we do it here is to take 1 habanero ,and 8 ounces of vodka and blend it for about 1 minute. Strain it through a coffee filter directly into the 5 gallon keg with the beer . This produces a very repeatable final product .

 

[hlmbrwng]

We make a beer at sleepy creek called Creekwater 911 , it's a Habanero pale ale.
The way we do it here is to take 1 habanero ,and 8 ounces of vodka and blend it for about 1 minute. Strain it through a coffee filter directly into the 5 gallon keg with the beer . This produces a very repeatable final product .

I'm liking this idea a lot. Hopefully, I can scale this to a single gallon.

What kind of heat do you get from it? I'm looking for a nice middle ground.

 

[hlmbrwng]

Steve, I roughly followed your instructions but I used Scotch bonnet. I used about a quarter of a pepper with 1.6 oz, for a 1 gallon carboy.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[user 125772]

I'm liking this idea a lot. Hopefully, I can scale this to a single gallon.

What kind of heat do you get from it? I'm looking for a nice middle ground.

that sorta depends on the size of the pepper

I split a 10 gallon batch with a friend last time we brewed it , some of our "gentler" (lol) friends report it's too hot, but most remark that it's got a nice light pepper taste with very little heat and very drinkable with a plate of tacos de carne asada. I say :rockin:

 

[user 125772]

Steve, I roughly followed your instructions but I used Scotch bonnet. I used about a quarter of a pepper with 1.6 oz, for a 1 gallon carboy.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

you must have a reeeeeeeally small blender to make such a small batch of pepper hooch ...Or maybe you made the whole 8 ounces and just used 1.6 ounces?
The leftovers makes a good bloody mary BTW.

FYI, I don't ferment the beer with the pepper hooch, I add it when I keg it...I can't imagine the yeast would like it too much, but who knows.

 

[hlmbrwng]

you must have a reeeeeeeally small blender to make such a small batch of pepper hooch ...Or maybe you made the whole 8 ounces and just used 1.6 ounces?
The leftovers makes a good bloody mary BTW.

I actually used just a quarter of a pepper and 1.6 ounces of bourbon. Seems silly, I know. But it worked!

A sample of the beer before bottling was really good. It was just a tad too hot I think, so I added some of the base beer (maybe 12 oz. to the gallon?) to this variant to just bring it down a notch. I think it's gonna be awesome. Thanks for the help!