Brewing Company to Make Beer With The World's Hottest Chile Pepper

Scott Roberts March 26, 2010 at 4:47 pm food Digg this ArticleDigg Share via FacebookShare    

BeerThe annual Snowmass Chili Pepper Brew Fest in June attracts some of the best chili cooks in the state to an International Chili Society-sanctioned cook-off. It also attracts beer geeks looking to sample some of the best brews made in Colorado.

So you would think that Twisted Pine Brewing Company's Billy's Chilies beer, which combines the best of both of those worlds, would have been cheered.

Instead, says Twisted Pine spokesman Mike Burns, people wanted more. "The reaction from the crowd there was, 'Don't you have anything hotter?'"

Be careful what you wish for, chiliheads!

Earlier this month, a brewer at Boulder's Twisted Pine bought some dry ghost chilies - you know, the hottest peppers in the world -- from the Savory Spice Shop location in Boulder and, presumably after some drinking, dropped a couple of them in a sampling of Twisted Pine beers and let the beers chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Ghost peppers, or Bhut Jolokia, are grown in India and have a Scoville rating (the Scoville scale measures the hotness of a pepper) of 1,041,427 units, making them 200 times hotter than a jalapeno. They are so hot that the Indian army, according to an AP story this week, is looking at ways to include their seeds in smoke grenades that could be against rioters or to flush out terrorists in confined spaces.

Or they could just put them in beer.

"Even sixteen hours later, it was crazy how much heat they picked up," Burns says of the poor innocent ales that Twisted Pine experimented with. " Once you get over the heat, though, it has a nice smokiness to and it has more than one kind of heat. It goes down the back of your throat."

Over the next few weeks, the brewers at Twisted Pine are going to work on brewing a "well balanced" beer made with the ghost peppers that should be ready in time for this year's Snowmass Chili Pepper Brew Fest. The working name: Ghost Face Killah, although that hasn't been set in stone yet, Burns add.

You'll want to try it, or the terrorists win.

Source: http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2010/03/twisted_pine_to_brew_beer_with.php





     Comments
Comment Jonathan Passow
2010-03-26 19:23:32
It should be interesting. I consulted on and helped brew a hot pepper beer once. Fermented with Piquins, Cayennes, and Chipotles in the fermentor and then in bottling we bottled a few with varying sized slices of Jolokis. In one we put a whole pod and let sit for 5 months. The beer was intense and damn near undrinkable.
Comment chillipepperpete
2010-04-20 03:51:15
Hi Scott I hope alls well with you. Its great to see what is happening in the US as we are totally out of the loop in the UK.

Just a mention of the naga beer we have been making for 5 years. Called Black Death it is a dark ale with an incredible depth of taste. Made by the Fallen Angel brewery in the south of England it has been picking up awards all over the place. I have recently also tasted a wine made with jalapenos only (no grapes etc) in Australia which was utterly delicious. I'll forward info to chilli foundry when I get a bottle.
Best wishes, CPP
Comment Scott Roberts
2010-04-21 08:35:17
Pete, thanks for stopping by! I'll get around to visiting England one of these years, and would love to try some of this Black Death beer (I love the name!). By the way, I should be posting up reviews soon for two ChilePepperPete sauces that Rose gave me at the Fiery Foods Show.
Comment Tony Slug
2010-10-12 12:49:13
Two birds with one stone ! Great concept. WANT !

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