"Chilli Cascade" Recipe

[Mork]

This is an experimental partial mash recipe, which I've called "Chilli Cascade".
As you might guess from the name, it is a recipe for a Chilli beer.

Ingredients
2Kg Light Spray Malt
260g Crushed Crystal Malt
750g Brewing Sugar (Dextrose)
60g East Kent Goldings Hops (90 mins)
20g Cascade Hops (90 mins)
30g Cascade Hops (15mins)
60g Sliced Bird Eye Chillies (that's 60g AFTER the stalks have been removed) (15 mins)
1 sachet of Gervin Ale Yeast re-hydrated and added to wort starter culture as per instructions on the yeast packet.

It's a 5 Gallon recipe. I poured 2 Gallons of boiling water (from the kettle) into a 3 gallon stainless pot, added the Crystal Malt, brought back to the boil and added the Goldings and first 20g batch of Cascade. After 45 mins of boiling I added the Dextrose. For the last 15 minutes of the 90 minute boil I added the second 30g batch of Cascade and the sliced chillies. Allowed to cool for 15 minutes, then strained through a stainless mesh into a bin and spurged with cold water up to the 5 gallon mark. Allowed to settle for 10 minutes then syphoned into a 5 gallon primary fermentation bin (leaving the last 1 inch of trub behind). Took a little wort to make starter culture, whilst main wort (sealed with an airlock) cooled overnight to pitching temperature. Pitched yeast and used an aquatic pump and tube (perforated with holes on last 6 inches. I tied the end of the tube around a sterilised stainless knife to keep the tube at the bottom of the bin) to oxygenate the wort for 5 hours, before sealing off bin with airlock.

Hydrometer reading started off at 1041. Having tasted a little of the wort, the Chilli-kick is quite pronounced :twisted: ... think it's going to be a good beer from first impressions. Will keep you informed.

 

[Asalpaws]

Wow I imagine 60 g of bird's eyes is going to be fierce! Never tried a chilly beer. Keep us posted, T

 

[tazuk]

wow 60g of chilli :pray:

 

[Mork]

I have an "asbestos" throat and can tolerate quite a lot of heat, when it comes to eating chillies. Even so, with 60g of Bird Eye variety, from past experience chilli isn't too hot when it's in ale (might be me though). I got the chillies from a local supermarket and bought 2 packets to make the 60g. I could have gone for less, but the 2 packets combined made 60g so I thought "what the heck!" and used the lot. In the past I made a chilli beer, but rather than adding the chilli to the boil, fermented the ale first then boiled up some chillies in water and added a teaspoon to each bottle. This time I was a bit reluctant to add the chillies before fermentation (but thought it might give more heat), because I wasn't sure if it might kill the yeast or retard it, but after doing a little Internet research came to a general conclusion that it would do no harm.

 

[RokDok]

Have you tried the Levi Roots Scotch Bonnet chilli chocolate ??

Got some for Xmas and it's quite lively

RD

 

[Wendy1971]

mmm that sounds nice i might give that ago :thumb:

 

[Mork]

The airlock is bubbling away quite merrily every few seconds, which is a relief because I wasn't sure if introducing the chillies from the start was a wise idea.

Chilli chocolate is lovely. Sometimes it catches the back of your throat and makes you cough though. Wasabi coated nuts and dried peas... now they're something to try if you haven't already. You get that wonderful horse-radish/mustard kick that goes up the back of your nose.

 

[Mork]

The gravity wast at 1012 this morning. It's brewed out very quickly within 24hours. Going to dry hop the wort tomorrow and perhaps bottle at the weekend if the gravity is ok.

 

[Mork]

Gravity was 1010 this morning. I decided to dry hop with 50g Cascade Hops as I expect to bottle at the weekend.

 

[Mork]

The final gravity flattened out at around 1007 and I've now bottled the ale. I calculate the abv to be around 4.5%, which is just about where I like a beer to be. I tasted a sample before bottling and the benefits of dry hopping were extremely evident, so I'll be doing it more often from now onwards. I was definitely getting a generous citrus-hop flavour and aroma from the Cascade hops and the chilli had a respectable, but not excessive heat, most noticeable at the back of the throat. There was also a long, dry bitterness and a hint of peach on the palate. I think it's going to mature quite excellently and I think it is a recipe worthy of commercial production, in my personal opinion as a member of CAMRA. I'll let you know in a few weeks how it finally turns out after maturation, but for now I can definitely recommend the recipe if you're wanting to try something a bit different.

 

[carl_saint]

Have you tried this yet Mork? Interested to hear how it is as I quite fancy doing it!

 

[Mork]

Sorry for not replying sooner... been on holiday!
Anyway, the brew has had a good few months to mature in the bottles. I'm quite pleased with the result.
It has a nice light-ale flavour, maltwise. The Cascade hops are quite pronounced and quite bitter, due to the dry-hopping I believe, and the citrus-hop flavour/aroma complements the Chilli-kick which is very evident, but not overpowering. The Chilli is most notable at the back of the throat and leaves a lingering warmth in the chest. I can't taste the hint of peach however, that I detected just before bottling. It has a dry finish, which I'm putting down to the excellent attenuation of sugars by the strain of yeast I used, as one might expect from an ale that fermented out very quickly.
In a few words: Light bitter, citrus hops, warming, dry with a definite Chilli kick.
If I were to make a change the next time I brewed this recipe I wouldn't dry-hop for as long (maybe reduce by a day), or I would add fewer dry hops (probably a third less I guess).

 

[Unclejona]

Naga's next time perchance? :mrgreen: