I had a really tasty beer with Serrano peppers from Headflyer Brewing, it was crisp, fruity, and full of pepper flavor and aroma with very little to no heat. They describe it as “a combination of light heat from Serrano peppers paired with the citrus backdrop of pineapple” and it was bangin! This reminded me of some habanero peppers I put in vodka to make a tincture a while ago. When using peppers, a lot of people suggest using tinctures so you can start with a little and adjust the flavor\heat. I’ve also heard of using peppers in the boil to get deeper flavor. After some research on how to go about using the peppers, I wanted something easy drinking with nice pepper flavor so I settled on a Jalapeno Pale Ale.
To get the pepper flavor I wanted, I used them in the boil and also made a tincture to dose at kegging. For the boil peppers, I split and roasted them in the oven for about 20 minutes and threw them in the for last 15 minutes of the boil (1 deseeded). I ended up using all of the tincture at kegging to get maximum pepper flavor. Halfway through the keg I threw in a chopped jalapeno I froze in case I needed more. It added some nice spice and fresh pepper flavor. I wanted to use fruity hops, since it paired well in the beer that inspired this recipe so I used El Dorado and Citra hops. I’m quite pleased how this beer came out and it’s all gone as I write this. Check the recipe.
Jalapeño Business Pale Ale
Batch Size | Boil Time | IBU | SRM | Est. OG | Est. FG | ABV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 gal | 60 min | 35.15 IBUs | 7.32 SRM | 1.047 | 1.010 | 5.17 % |
Fermentables
Name | Amount | % |
---|---|---|
Pale Ale Malt | 4 lbs | 72.7 |
Red Wheat | 1 lbs | 18.2 |
Crystal 40L | .3 lbs | 5.5 |
Golden Naked Oats | .2 lbs | 3.6 |
Hops
Name | Amount | Time | Use | Form | Alpha % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
El Dorado | 3 g | 60 min | Boil | pellet | 14.4 |
El Dorado | .5 oz | 8 min | Boil | pellet | 14.4 |
Citra | .5 oz | 5 min | Boil | pellet | 13.1 |
El Dorado | .5 oz | 3 days | Dry hop | pellet | 14.4 |
Citra | .5 oz | 3 days | Dry hop | pellet | 13.1 |

Other
Name | Amount | Time | Use | Form |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jalapeño peppers | 2 each | 15 min | Boil | Spice |
Jalapeno tincture | ~1.5 oz | 0 days | Keg | Spice |
Yeast
Name | Lab | Attenuation | Temperature |
---|---|---|---|
American Ale Yeast US-05 | Fermentis/Safale | 74-76% | 64°F-82°F |
Mash
Step | Temperature | Time |
---|---|---|
Mash | 150°F | 60 min |
Water
Calcium | Magnesium | Sodium | Chloride | Sulfate |
---|---|---|---|---|
129 | 2 | 12 | 109 | 151 |
Fermentation
Step | Time | Temperature |
---|---|---|
Primary | 10 days | Ambient (~68) |
Notes
Brewed: 4/4/19 | OG: 1.046 | FG: 1.008 | ABV: 5%
Water: Minneapolis tap water, campden added, 2.5 g gypsum, 2 g calcium chloride
70% efficiency| Mash ph: 5.1 (adjusted) | whirfloc/yeast nutrient @15