Black Peppercorns

[Ó Flannagáin]

This ingredient's potential is greatly ignored in the homebrewing or even professional brewing communities. The two beers I've enjoyed the most (and have been reviewed the best) had at least a half ounce of black peppercorns cracked and added to the end of the boil. The flavor isn't duplicable with any other ingredient. It's a wonderful, background spiciness. It taste like, well, black peppercorns! But it's not the flavor you think of when think about putting some pepper on your taters. It's a much more refined flavor and it leaves a beautiful after taste that outlasts the bitterness from the hops.

I put it in a belgian dark strong ale, trappist style and a saison. It REALLY shined in the saison. The yeast had a slight peppery sense to it that blended so well with the peppercorns it's hard describe. The rochefort had coriander, dark candi sugar and sweet orange peel already, so the peppercorns made a beautiful addition to that spice blend.

Other styles I'd like to try it in include:

Wit - would go awesome with the tang from the yeast and a little coriander
Other trappists: Tripel, Dubbel
IIPA
Schwarzbier (if I ever start lagering)
and possibly a funked out hefe

edit: I think a big RIS and/or a robust porter would benefit as well :x

[chetlemmons]

hmmm, i could definitely see it in a robust porter. maybe i'll try that in my next 3gal batch...

[Ó Flannagáin]

I"m brewing tonight or tommorow night. I'm gonna do a belgian golden ale. Probably gonna be about 5%abv and I'll be using rochefort trappist yeast. DEFINITELY gonna put some peppercorns in that one.

[chetlemmons]

i imagine it's going to be a farely small amount....how much are you gonna use?

[Ó Flannagáin]

probably 3/4 ounce, which might be too much for some people, but I LOVE it.

[chetlemmons]

last 10 mins or so?

[Ó Flannagáin]

Yep

[Lerxst]

I have heard of brewers using white pepper or rainbow pepper corns (w/ a few extra spices) as a sub for grains of paradise...I've not tried using black pepper myself but I could easily see a light peppery flavor working really well in a DIPA.

[Lerxst]

Peppercorn Rye IPA mashing right now as I type. :x

[Lerxst]

Peppercorn Rye IPA mashing right now as I type. :x


The hydro sample was killer, here are the specs:

9lbs Marris Otter
3lbs Rye Malt
1lb Crystal 60
7oz Wheat
1tblsp Gypsum in the kettle
.5 ounce of course crushed black peppercorns @ 10m
.5 tsp Irish moss
1oz Williamette FWH
1oz Columbus @ 60
1oz Columbus @ 40
1oz Williamette dry hop

[Ó Flannagáin]

Hell yea! I didn't even think about rye, I bet those two go together realll well.

I'll be putting my latest black peppercorn saison in the keg this week probably. At least half of it anyway, let the other 5 gallons age a bit more.

[Lerxst]

I transfered the peppercorn rye IPA to the secondary today to stew on another oz of Willamette. INTENSE stuff to say the least!!!

[Ó Flannagáin]

I'm gonna have to make an order soon, gonna have to throw a few lbs of rye in there. Been over a year since I've used any.

[Lerxst]

Ok...the Peppercorn Rye IPA has carb'd and daym if it doesn't have absolutely fantastic foam. Reactions have been mixed because it really plays some tricks on your palate. So far, no one has identified the spice addition as peppercorns. A typical comment is "wow, that doesn't taste like pepper at all." I like the musty earthy spice quality combined with the firm level of Columbus & Willamette hops. One is going into the tourbox.

[Ó Flannagáin]

I brewed a wit yesterday and I desperately wanted to throw some peppercorns in, but I was too lazy to clean out my grain crusher and crush em... :(

[Lerxst]

I brewed a wit yesterday and I desperately wanted to throw some peppercorns in, but I was too lazy to clean out my grain crusher and crush em... :(

I have an old mortar and pestle that's perfect for crushing spice additions. Lots of control over how fine or course you go with a small quantity.

[Lerxst]

Last night we went out to dinner and my GF got a martini made with a black pepper infused vodka...which I would imagine was just a tintcure made from crushed peppercorns in vodka. This definitely had more of the ground pepper flavor you would immediately associate with black pepper. It's another interesting way you could incorporate pepper (or many other herbs/spices) at bottling time.

[MrMarbleHead]

So say a guy had a saison that he used black pepper in the boil and it didn't quite get to the level that he wanted, could he toss some in the secondary and add to the aroma, or is it pretty much a lost cause and should just keg up as normal.

[Ó Flannagáin]

So say a guy had a saison that he used black pepper in the boil and it didn't quite get to the level that he wanted, could he toss some in the secondary and add to the aroma, or is it pretty much a lost cause and should just keg up as normal.

I was wondering that too, actually. I haven't tried it yet though.

[Lerxst]

So say a guy had a saison that he used black pepper in the boil and it didn't quite get to the level that he wanted, could he toss some in the secondary and add to the aroma, or is it pretty much a lost cause and should just keg up as normal.

Does he just want aroma? I would think that a quick dry peppering might give you a little kick in the aroma before it really starts to add flavor. A tincture like I previously mentioned would wind up adding flavor over aroma.

[MrMarbleHead]

So say a guy had a saison that he used black pepper in the boil and it didn't quite get to the level that he wanted, could he toss some in the secondary and add to the aroma, or is it pretty much a lost cause and should just keg up as normal.

Does he just want aroma? I would think that a quick dry peppering might give you a little kick in the aroma before it really starts to add flavor. A tincture like I previously mentioned would wind up adding flavor over aroma.

So you think that about four or five days may add anything? Just looking to add a little more peppery aroma to it. I think that he may add a teaspoon of fresh ground pepercorns to the secondary tonight.

[Lerxst]

So say a guy had a saison that he used black pepper in the boil and it didn't quite get to the level that he wanted, could he toss some in the secondary and add to the aroma, or is it pretty much a lost cause and should just keg up as normal.

Does he just want aroma? I would think that a quick dry peppering might give you a little kick in the aroma before it really starts to add flavor. A tincture like I previously mentioned would wind up adding flavor over aroma.

So you think that about four or five days may add anything? Just looking to add a little more peppery aroma to it. I think that he may add a teaspoon of fresh ground pepercorns to the secondary tonight.

Can't hurt...you can monitor it and if you don't get anything after 5 days, bottle or rack off the pepper.

[Redweasel]

Zombity bumpity bump. I reserrect thee dead thread.

Thinking about using peppercorns I'm my house pale. Not sure how much to use in 5 gallons though. I'd like to have it come through pretty well. I'll be using City of Fountains Pale as my base recipe.