Pepper Wine - Stavros - I'm going for it!

[BigDaveK]

Decided to experiment with pepper wines - varietal pepper wines.
I'm more interested in flavor rather than heat though some heat will be unavoidable. I'll make them one at a time because I'll be using the same primary bucket for each one. The recipe will be the same with the pepper being the only variable.

First up, Stavros Greek Pepperoncini.
Very prolific plant. I think it has better flavor than the Italian pepperoncini. Spicy hot. I let them fully ripen to possibly (hopefully) extract some color. Heat seems to be equal in the skin and seeds but since the seeds don't really bring flavor to the party I got rid of most them.

 

[Ohio Bob]

I wonder if the heat in any of the peppers will linger in the bucket after fermentation. Keep an eye out for this and let us know. You may have to quarantine that bucket, or “for peppers only”!

 

[sour_grapes]

I wonder if the heat in any of the peppers will linger in the bucket after fermentation. Keep an eye out for this and let us know. You may have to quarantine that bucket, or “for peppers only”!

Well, Dave does say this:

I'll make them one at a time because I'll be using the same primary bucket for each one.

 

[BigDaveK]

I wonder if the heat in any of the peppers will linger in the bucket after fermentation. Keep an eye out for this and let us know. You may have to quarantine that bucket, or “for peppers only”!

The affect on the bucket is an unknown and a concern. I read that vegetable oil will bond with capsaicin so I'll give that a test.

 

[VinesnBines]

I did not need to quarantine the primary bucket I used for jalapeno wine. However, multiple batches ,may be a concern and plastic buckets are cheap. No concerns with glass.

 

[BigDaveK]

I did not need to quarantine the primary bucket I used for jalapeno wine. However, multiple batches ,may be a concern and plastic buckets are cheap. No concerns with glass.

I don't think it will be a problem but I'm playing it safe. I primarily want a pepper wine so most of the wines will use peppers below 50,000 scoville. I like hot and spicy and my limit for eating a raw pepper seems to be around 100,000 scoville. Although...I'm thinking about making a batch with my superhots, using half for cooking and half for vinegar. I wonder how yeast would react to peppers with a scoville of 1,500,000?

 

[BigDaveK]

Transferred from primary today.
Picked up some color but I only used 12 peppers.
Nice pepper flavor followed by a gentle spicy heat. Happy so far.

 

[BigDaveK]

Racked this morning. Great pepper flavor with a little bit of heat. Could almost be confused with a "spiced" wine. I think I nailed the quantity of peppers - any more and it would have been a hot pepper wine. Can't wait to do a little back sweetening.

 

[BigDaveK]

Bottled a couple days ago.
This took a week to bottle. The fine lees were so light and wispy that picking up the jug for a final racking spread them throughout the container. Frustrating.
I've had many vegetable wines finish under .990 and this is 1 of 3 that hit .986. Vegetables are fermentation maniacs!

Brief pepper info - there are over 20 capsaicinoids in peppers responsible for the spice and/or heat. Each pepper variety has different quantities of each which is one reason for the different taste and heat levels.
Bonus pepper info - very little (if any) capsaicin is in the seeds. It's mostly in the placenta (where the seeds are attached) and migrates to varying degrees throughout the pepper.

Color - as expected, the red pepper color from carotenoids didn't make it through fermentation.
Aroma - pleasant generic wine, no pepper or vegetative smell.
Taste - Chardonnay? I briefly thought it tasted like my tomato wine, but, there's more. Very slowly heat builds at the back of the tongue and mouth, mild heat, and subsides quickly. That kind of heat, I discovered, is caused by homodihydrocapsaicin. (I'm still amazed where this hobby has sent me!) I back sweetened to just under 1.010 and have a wonderful "spiced" sipping wine.
I used EC1118, which I'm happy with, but I miss the slight fruitiness from 71B.
I would make it again.

 

[ChuckD]

I like hot peppers so a wine is on my list. Probably only a gallon bottled in splits for a sipping wine.

 

[BigDaveK]

I like hot peppers so a wine is on my list. Probably only a gallon bottled in splits for a sipping wine.

I have 6 more pepper wines still in bulk, working up the Scoville scale. Very curious about them. Stay tuned!

I think a gallon batch is the way to go. It's wonderful, unique, and fun to have but in small quantities.

Good luck!

 

[ChuckD]

I have 6 more pepper wines still in bulk, working up the Scoville scale. Very curious about them. Stay tuned!

I think a gallon batch is the way to go. It's wonderful, unique, and fun to have but in small quantities.

Good luck!

I would jack up the alcohol on a hot pepper wine and use it for those shots you do on a dare!

 

[BigDaveK]

I would jack up the alcohol on a hot pepper wine and use it for those shots you do on a dare!

I like the way you think!
I have 2 wines in bulk made with Black Hungarian, hotter than a jalapeno with more complex flavor. One of them is a dessert wine, step fed, shy of 20% last time I checked. I'm really curious about more flavor AND more alcohol AND more heat.

I think it's cute that some people actually think Tabasco Sauce is hot.

 

[vinny]

I like the way you think!
I have 2 wines in bulk made with Black Hungarian, hotter than a jalapeno with more complex flavor. One of them is a dessert wine, step fed, shy of 20% last time I checked. I'm really curious about more flavor AND more alcohol AND more heat.

I think it's cute that some people actually think Tabasco Sauce is hot.

I remember an old Latino comedian making fun of gringo's and how we handle spice. 'Oh my that's hot. WHEW! What's in this, onion?

I just read your first post, I got thinking about color extraction. I know you rabbit holed that one and getting it through primary is out. It would be nice to have a pepper wine that had some degree of a red hue to it. Ever thought about playing around in secondary? Dropping in a small piece of beet, or red peppers. Beet is probably potent enough to get some color without adding much flavor, peppers might just give you more heat unless you went with something mild, but at least any flavor added would compliment. Hmmmm...

 

[ChuckD]

Sweet and hot is always good. Make a sweet dark red with hot peppers 🌶… better yet, does the dark color come through with chocolate?

 

[BigDaveK]

I remember an old Latino comedian making fun of gringo's and how we handle spice. 'Oh my that's hot. WHEW! What's in this, onion?

I just read your first post, I got thinking about color extraction. I know you rabbit holed that one and getting it through primary is out. It would be nice to have a pepper wine that had some degree of a red hue to it. Ever thought about playing around in secondary? Dropping in a small piece of beet, or red peppers. Beet is probably potent enough to get some color without adding much flavor, peppers might just give you more heat unless you went with something mild, but at least any flavor added would compliment. Hmmmm...

I agree about adding color. I'm getting tired of the boring similar color of many of my country wines.

Beet would do it, good idea, but I would avoid that for now only because I have so little experience with it.

The anthocyanins of berry fruits are stable. My cranberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, and mulberry are beautiful to look at. A plus is that some of those would come from the yard. The next question would be do I add a handful for some color or more to influence flavor? Plenty of time to think about it. I like the red of cranberry but the phenolics in blackberries is off the chart.

 

[BigDaveK]

Sweet and hot is always good. Make a sweet dark red with hot peppers 🌶… better yet, does the dark color come through with chocolate?

Ah, yes, you've reminded me that I haven't started to experiment with chocolate yet. Better get my butt moving!

 

[ChuckD]

I just read a post where @Raptor99 was talking about a cherry chocolate wine… now I’m imagining a sweet cherry chocolate with a hot pepper finish

 

[vinny]

The anthocyanins of berry fruits are stable.

You thoroughly enjoyed that, didn't you!

Why would one note color stability, when we all know it is anthocyanins.