Peppering a wine?

[james3838]

My wife and I tried a wine at a winery in the Sevierville TN area that had a pepper bite to it and actually contained black pepper according to the server. Has anyone ever tried this and if so could you tell me a little bit about the process? I am a pepper-holic and would love to add a little something different to some of my upcoming wines.

 

[robie]

I like the peppery flavor, also. I have heard of people adding B.pepper but I have never tried it. I would think you would add it to taste before clearing. I don't know how you would prepare the pepper, though; maybe someone with that experience will come along.

Just be careful the first time and don't over do it.

 

[roblloyd]

That sounds like a great idea. I might try that with a carmenere sample.

 

[Julie]

I thought of adding this to a concord, sweet & peppery sounds pretty good. I would imagine that you would add it like any other type of spice. I think I would add peppercorns instead of ground pepper and after fermentation and leave it in for about a month, taste to see if that worked. Not sure how much, maybe a tsp per gallon?

 

[james3838]

Thanks for the responses. Since I have a 6 gallon batch of blueberry going in the primary, I thought about splitting it into a 5 and a 1 gallon secondaries and adding whole peppercorns to the 1 gallon batch while in the secondary. Worth a shot I guess. I just have to figure out how much but I'm stopping by the supply house on trhe way home and I'll ask the owner if he has ever tried it. He seems pretty knowledgable about everything else I've asked him. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Mike93YJ]

We have batch of 'corn whiskey wine' in secondary now. The recipe called fot peppercorns in the strainer bag with the corn during primary fermentation. If memory serves,it called for 12, but we used 20. Anxious for it to clear so we can taste!

 

[james3838]

Just found this on another website.
http://www.how-to-make-wine.net/winemaking/13/more-subtle-flavors-for-your-homemade-wine/

It says to boils the peppercorns in water and add during primary if I'm reading correctly. I hate to mess up a whole batch of blueberry so I will stick to my original plan with the 1 gallon batch. I'll boil the peppercorns and top off the secondary with it. I may also just drop a few whole ones in the secondary too until the next racking.

 

[james3838]

Mike,
How large of a batch are you making. Is the recommended 12 peppercorns for 1, 3, 5, or 6 gallons?

 

[Mike93YJ]

Mike,
How large of a batch are you making. Is the recommended 12 peppercorns for 1, 3, 5, or 6 gallons?

For 1 gallon.

 

[deboard]

Tried this once, I put about 1/16 cup of peppercorns in a 3 gallon batch, and it turned out to be too much for my taste. The wine is one I use for cooking mostly.

 

[Julie]

Tried this once, I put about 1/16 cup of peppercorns in a 3 gallon batch, and it turned out to be too much for my taste. The wine is one I use for cooking mostly.

thanks deboard, so what we need to do is see how many peppercornns are in a 1/16 cup, then judge that off of mike's post on the 20 peppercorns for one gallon.

 

[Runningwolf]

I think I would start measuring on a gram scale. No way of being accurate measuring by fractions of a cup

 

[deboard]

thanks deboard, so what we need to do is see how many peppercornns are in a 1/16 cup, then judge that off of mike's post on the 20 peppercorns for one gallon.

Also, to be honest, the wine I ended up making in this case was not outstanding or even good. It ended up a little thin, and I think with thin wines the pepper taste kinda takes over. So if it had been a little thicker with more body it might have been better.

but I would guess 20 peppercorns/gallon would end up being a lot less than what I used.

 

[james3838]

Guess I'll find out in a few months. I racked my blueberry from the primary yesterday into a 5 gal carboy and took the remaining slurry, added a little water and sugar to bring it up to 1 1/4 gallons and dropped the bag of berries back in it along with 12 small peppercorns. She picked right back up and was fermenting great last night. I'll give it a couple more days before I take it out of the primary and sample. If I detect the pepper, I'll strain them out when I rack to the secondary. If not, I'll add a few more to the secondary until the next racking.

 

[mayberry]

In a mixed berry red, my girlfriend and I added 2 oz of crushed black pepper in primary (6 gallon) and just racked as normal. Eventually all the pepper came out and it cleared as expected. We bottled it a month ago, and tasted a bottle on her birthday this past weekend. It's young and still a little tart, but the peppery spice is going to be just perfect.

 

[Jolly_Roger]

I think you'd get more taste from less pepper corns if you mashed/crushed them. I just bottled my last fall cider and had a 4 liter jug with 4 cut open serrano chilis in it, I added them after the first racking, then racked it off them in 3 months. It is great, the warmth doesnt hit till after... really nice.

 

[james3838]

Thanks for the input folks. I racked my small batch of blueberry that I added peppercorns to and you can definitely taste the pepper. It's not overwhelming at all but a nice match with the sweetness of the berries. Can't wait til it's ready.