Feedback: Wheat IPA w/ Ghost pepper ("Casper")

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TheWulf

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Looking for some feedback on the grain bill and hop additions for this little experiment. I'm quite new to brewing and this is one of the first real recipes I've put together, so any feedback is appreciated.

The goal here is to make a flavourful Wheat IPA with a hint of ghost pepper (nicknamed Casper, for what is hopefully an obvious reason!). I'm not trying to make a spice-bomb, I just want some smoky flavour from the ghost peppers.

Inspiration is mostly from eating a bag of ghost pepper chips while drinking an IPA. Went really well together. I'm thinking the wheat addition will add a bit more mouth-feel and keep it a bit smoother so that the ghost pepper smokiness stands out more than the bitterness.

Anyways, I am trying to balance out the hop additions to find a nice medium that will give a solid hop profile while not overpowering the pepper. Advice on this and the grain bill is appreciated.

Hops chosen: Columbus / Amarillo. Mostly because I have 4oz of each that I can use right now, and that's about it, except 1oz of Citra. Any suggestions with common hops could be considered, but my LHBS doesn't stock a lot of variety and aren't cheap, and I'd like to try this over the weekend.

Grains: General approximation based on several wheat ipa recipe's I've seen posted. I'm considering upping the amount of wheat vs 2-row. Any comments welcome here too.


Code: 
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.89 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.76 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal   
Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.070 SG
Estimated Color: 4.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 60.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 94.5 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
8 lbs                 Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)           Grain         1        61.5 %        
4 lbs                 White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)               Grain         2        30.8 %        
1 lbs                 Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)                  Grain         3        7.7 %         
0.50 oz               Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60. Hop           4        19.1 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min   Hop           5        7.0 IBUs      
1.00 oz               Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min   Hop           6        8.4 IBUs      
1.00 oz               Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 10. Hop           7        13.8 IBUs     
1.00 oz               Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min    Hop           8        4.6 IBUs      
1.00 oz               Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 5.0 Hop           9        7.6 IBUs      
1.00 oz               Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min    Hop           10       0.0 IBUs      
1.00 oz               Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 0.0 Hop           11       0.0 IBUs      
1.0 pkg               California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast         12       -             
0.25 g                Ghost Pepper (Secondary 7.0 days)        Other         13       -             
0.50 oz               Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Day Hop           14       0.0 IBUs      
0.50 oz               Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Dry Hop  Hop           15       0.0 IBUs      


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperatu Step Time     
Mash In           Add 19.45 qt of water at 161.7 F        152.0 F        60 min        

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.04gal, 4.34gal) of 168.0 F water
 
This certainly sounds interesting. I'm a partial mash brewer, and I like more percentage of wheat malt in my wheat beers, but then again I'm using pale malt extract for a good portion of the fermentables.i see nothing wrong with what you have... It's a choice.

Keep in mind if you keep the seeds in the pepper, it will have more bite. Good luck
 
Unferth said:
This certainly sounds interesting. I'm a partial mash brewer, and I like more percentage of wheat malt in my wheat beers, but then again I'm using pale malt extract for a good portion of the fermentables.i see nothing wrong with what you have... It's a choice.

Keep in mind if you keep the seeds in the pepper, it will have more bite. Good luck
Click to expand...

I too would bump the wheat if you want a wheat beer. Maybe 50/50 to get a nice hazy wheat beer. This beer otherwise sounds interesting. Also like the name - Friendly Ghost... HA!

Also all peppers heat is in the membrane and not the seeds. Not sure why peeps think that.

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_heat.php
 
Thanks guys.

For the non-pepper guys out there, I'd still like some feedback on the hop schedule...
 
TheWulf said:
Thanks guys.

For the non-pepper guys out there, I'd still like some feedback on the hop schedule...
Click to expand...

I like the schedule just not sure how it will pair with the smokiness of the chilies. With Amarillo being real citrusy I dont know if you should swap it with another hop to be more in balance.
 
Sadly that's all I have on hand until my large hop order comes in, hopefully next week.

I think I'll just brew it as a regular Wheat IPA and section off 1 gallon and try the pepper. No use wasting the whole batch if it goes wrong.
 
Have you ever eaten a Bhut Jalokia (ghost pepper)? I grow them every year and can't eat much more than a sliver and am in agony; I consider my self a hot pepper guy too. The pepper doesn't really taste smoky either; just hell in vegetable form! I've had two beers with ghost pepper and scorpion pepper combo ; first was last years Elevator Brewing Co's Ghost Scorpion, it was f***ing insane. So much so that they had to stop serving it at the Pepper Festival it was being served at. The other was this years version, much more tolerable, but a 1oz sample was all I wanted, btw both were disgusting but interesting. I'd make a ghost pepper tincture and add that to taste at bottling/kegging.
 
Take a bite from the pepper itself? No. I'm not sure that would be a wise idea.

I've had it in several sauces and marinades, as well as in several snacks. Potent stuff, but very interesting like you said. I am assuming the smokey flavour comes from roasting it.

I do love the heat though. However I don't think I want to waste 5 gallons on it... a 1 gallon side pot though, I think it's worth playing with.
 
So here's the final recipe:

6lbs 2-row
5lbs White Wheat
1lb Flaked Wheat

0.5oz Columbus @ 60
0.5oz Amarillo @ 20
1oz Columbus @ 10
1oz Amarillo @ 10
1oz Columbus @ 5
1oz Amarillo @ 5
1oz Columbus @ 0
1oz Amarillo @ 0

1 pkg WLP001 w/ starter

Dry Hop:
1oz Columbus
1oz Amarillo
1oz Citra



We'll see how it goes!
 
I hate to take issue with the whole idea of a beer, since I'm sure this will be fun to do. But if you want a pepper beer, wouldn't it be more sane to pick something that has a much lower heat, so that you can add more, so that you can get in flavors other than heat? E.g. chipotles are not very hot at all, so they'd allow you to get some smoke in there, and even habaneros are relatively much less spicy but have a fruity complexity to their flavor. Given how little ghost pepper you'd be able to add, it seems like the only flavor contribution whatsoever will be the heat.

Of course, I understand there is a certain impulse just to try it and see how it goes, and it will definitely be fun to be able to say you have a ghost pepper beer. But I'd be surprised if it turns out actually enjoyable to drink (unless that's because you can only barely taste the pepper).

Finally, as to the rest of the beer--if you're going for a lot of spice, I'd tone the IBUs down. I think I'd be going for a more pale ale kind of hop profile rather than IPA; the bitterness could wind up seeming quite harsh in combination with the spice.
 
I put two chopped up ghost peppers in an APA once. threw them into the boil at the @ 30min.

The heat was minor, but the flavor of the pepper melded very nicely to the hops. tasted great.
 
The beers I tasted had pepper purée added just before the bottling line, so maybe that accounts for the insane heat. Granted they were going for hottest beer in the work kind of thing.
 
So how did the beer turn out? Also, when did you add the peppers? I grow ghost peppers and my wife says I need to use them instead of just hoarding them until drunk friends come over.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Did a 6gal Ghost/Habanero brew yesterday and even just one of each for full 60min boil made my OG sample pretty warm.

Here was recipe:
11# 2row
2# white wheat
.25# aromatic
.25 cara pils
1 Scorpion + 1 Habanero for 60min boil.
1oz Belma 60min
1oz Calypso 40
1oz Cascade 10
1oz Amarillo+1oz Nugget flame out.
34/70 yeast starter

I will post results ASAP
 
UncleJohnnys said:
Did a 6gal Ghost/Habanero brew yesterday and even just one of each for full 60min boil made my OG sample pretty warm.



Here was recipe:

11# 2row

2# white wheat

.25# aromatic

.25 cara pils

1 Scorpion + 1 Habanero for 60min boil.

1oz Belma 60min

1oz Calypso 40

1oz Cascade 10

1oz Amarillo+1oz Nugget flame out.

34/70 yeast starter



I will post results ASAP
Click to expand...


You're going to want to add a pepper at secondary. I think boiling them that long will kill off the pepper flavor. I usually do a pepper or 2 with 5 mins left (just to sanitize) and then another pepper or 2 depending on variety in secondary for a few days.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 

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