Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Pepper Beer

It's time to brew something different. Something exciting. Something, dare I say... DANGEROUS! Okay maybe not dangerous (unless you choke on the beer... somehow), but still we are heading in a new direction here. What direction is that? Pepper beer. So crack open a homebrew and read on!

I recently went to the Extreme Beerfest here in Boston and it has gotten me thinking about brewing something bigger than your run of the mill stouts, IPAs, Pale Ales, etc. One of the best beers I had at the festival was easily a Sake-Beer from Cambridge Brewing Company. It was absolutely amazing. It had the sweet and floral flavors from the Sake but on top of the malty goodness of the underlying beer. Apparently CBC first brews the Sake and starts the fermentation process. Once fermentation has gained some momentum they brew the beer and dose in the wort to the fermenting Sake so that the two ferment together, driven by the Sake yeast. The process is complicated but the result is absolutely delicious! If you happen to live in the Boston area I highly recommend trying it out if they still have it.

But I digress. I just can't help talking about the Sake beer, it is that good. So pepper beer. There was at least one brewery with a pepper beer offering at the Extreme Beerfest but unfortunately it was a butterbomb with very high diacetyl. I felt like I was drinking room temp butter and if there was any pepper in there I certainly couldn't find it.

Fortunately, one of my homebrewers-in-training has a love of pepper beer that couldn't be diminished by a whole tub o' Land O' Lakes and so we are forging on to brew a pepper beer.

Considerations
1) What kind of pepper should we use? This depends on your goal. Are you trying to just get some extra bite with the hotness or are you also trying to get some pepper flavor? There is a great Chipotle Beer out there (The brewery escapes me) that not only has kick to it, but the smokiness that is characteristic of the Chipotle.

2) What will the malt base be? I have read about pepper beers built on porters, pale ales and amber ales. I like the idea of a porter base maybe with some addition of a small (VERY small) amount of smoked malt. I am hesitant to use a lighter beer as the base because I don't feel that there would be enough complexity in the maltiness to complement the spiciness of the pepper. However, I could be completely wrong and I would love to try a pepper beer built on pale malt to find out.

3) When should we add the pepper? There doesn't seem to be a consensus out there. Some people add during the boil and others to the primary or secondary as when fruiting a beer. I am not sure how volatile capsaicin (the chemical in peppers that produces the burning sensation) is so adding to the boil may not be the best. I think we are going to add it to the primary after the first few days of vigorous fermentation or maybe we will rack into a secondary over the peppers.

4) To roast or not to roast? On days where I have spare time for some legitimate cooking with a recipe involving red peppers, I occasionally like to roast the peppers myself in my oven. The change in flavor can be subtle or dramatic depending on how you roast, but I like the idea of opening up more flavor for the beer. We will probably roast our peppers ahead of time.

Alright reader(s), you have made it through another meandering post about beer that hasn't even been brewed yet! Congratulations. I suggest opening a homebrew as a reward for yourself and be sure to check back later for the results of the brew! Cheers!

2 comments:

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Best selection of Trappist Ale in Edmonton said...

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