I recently kegged a jalapeño cream ale. A fella and I at the LHBS came up with a basic cream ale recipe and I read up on forums about pepper additions. The beer came out wonderfully, really better than I ever expected. It's gone fast, everyone who has tried it has really liked it. I even had one person tell me that it was the best beer he had ever tasted
what a compliment
For pepper additions ....
The day before my brew day I went outside to my jalapeño plants in the backyard and took 4 nice size jalapeños off the plant. I took them inside, cut them into 1/4" strips seeds and all and roasted them at 350 for 25 minutes or so. Once done I threw them into a mason jar and poured Smirnoff vodka over them to soak and threw it in my pantry overnight. Fast forward to brew day. I was doing a partial mash, so during the final 60 minute boil I added these soaked peppers, seeds and all, at 40 minutes in a small grain bag. The leftover vodka really had a great pepper smell and made for one hell of a hot shot with friends later. This is when I noticed that the vodka had robbed a lot of my heat and just left me with the pepper flavor I wanted in the beer.
But I wanted it hotter ... A little kung fu kick of heat/burn at the end. Nothing over the top, just a nice balance
So
I primary 3 weeks then it's straight to the keg. So after two weeks went by I did another jalapeño pepper roast. Used 3 this time. I prepared them the same way, same size peppers from the same plant etc.. However, this time I chose to forgo the vodka soak after the roast so I would retain my heat factor. In lieu of the vodka I got a ziplock baggie out, threw the peppers in seeds and all, let them steam in the bag for 10 minutes or so then threw them in the freezer overnight. The next day I just dumped them into my carboy straight. Let them float around for another week.
At the 3 week mark I siphoned straight to my keg, force carbed her, and finally poured a glass. This was it, glory moment, had I created greatness or liquid crap that would burn your balloon knot off later.
And, there it was ... Greatness! (IMO)
I had managed to imbibe a nice noticeable pepper flavor, which I suspect came from the peppers during the boil, but was there heat? Wait for it, wait for it. Yes! After I washed down my first sip a few seconds later I noticed a pleasant bite from the heat in the back of my throat and a slight twinge on my lips. Then my chest felt a little warm, almost like I had opened it up. But in a very pleasant way. In my eyes, it was perfect, everything I wanted from it. A symphony of liquid jalapeño beer was in my glass. Again, it was well received by all who tried it. You'll get the occasional "I hate jalapeños or anything hot" customer, and that's ok, go drink what you brought over in a 6 pack from the 7-11 and leave my tasty brew alone
I was considering making this my first recipe contribution to the forum and was planning on doing it in my own sweet time, but if anyone is interested in my PM jalapeño cream ale recipe you may request it from me and I'll post it up sooner or in this thread.
Happy brewing