I made a gallon of Jalapeno Wine last season from the recipie on Jack
Kellers website and it turned out great. It has an excellant taste and
smells like fresh ripe peppers. I also made a Habanero wine buy
substituting the peppers in the Jalapeno recipie.
It is drinkable but not for the faint of heart because I used the full
16 Jalapeno peppers in one gallon. I have been using this wine mainly for
steak marinades and cooking though it is quite a conversation piece when I
have fellow homebrewers over to taste.
My question is: When I use if for a marinade it does not add the "spice"
that I would like. I end up using additional peppers in the marinade to
spice it up some. I'm growing peppers now for another batch this year and I
was wondering what the effect would be if I doubled it to 32 peppers per
gallon!! Would this cause any problems with fermentation? Would it really
add more heat?
Also, I would like to increase the alcohol level. My last batch was
around 12% but I would like to make one as high as possible without having
any residual sugar. I was thinking about going with a Champagne yeast and
trying for around 16%. Do you think that would be a strong enough yeast to
go to 16% in that environment without stopping prematurely? I haven't any
problems so far with stuck fermentation other than a batch I made from grape
juice concentrate but I think that was a combination of low level
preservatives and the temperature of the must.
Thanks it advance,
Tom

"Tom" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> I made a gallon of Jalapeno Wine last season from the recipie on Jack
> Kellers website and it turned out great. It has an excellant taste and
> smells like fresh ripe peppers. I also made a Habanero wine buy
> substituting the peppers in the Jalapeno recipie.
> It is drinkable but not for the faint of heart because I used the full
> 16 Jalapeno peppers in one gallon. I have been using this wine mainly for
> steak marinades and cooking though it is quite a conversation piece when I
> have fellow homebrewers over to taste.

I made an Habanero wine a few years ago. IIRC, I used a lot more peppers
than you, and added some tomato juice to give it some body. It came out
pretty darn hot!

I gave a small bottle to a friend, warning her what it was. She stuck it in
the 'fridge and forgot all about it - that is until her _mother_ found it
and mistaking it for leftover white wine poured herself a glass and took a
swig! ¡Ay, caramba!

> My question is: When I use if for a marinade it does not add the
"spice"
> that I would like. I end up using additional peppers in the marinade to
> spice it up some. I'm growing peppers now for another batch this year and
I
> was wondering what the effect would be if I doubled it to 32 peppers per
> gallon!! Would this cause any problems with fermentation? Would it
really
> add more heat?

It'll add more heat, but I recall having a _very_ hard time getting that
fermentation to go to dryness.

> Also, I would like to increase the alcohol level. My last batch was
> around 12% but I would like to make one as high as possible without having
> any residual sugar.

Why? You're going to use it for marinade - not rocket fuel - aren't you?

Tom S

I made a Jalapeno Mead 2-3 years a go. Still got a few bottles. I used 16
peppers, it is HOT!!!! You can just barely sip it. I am considering
blending it with a summer mead.

Don't think I would try Habanero, not because of the heat but the awful
flavor that perpers.

Frank
ATF Home Brew Club
New Bern NC

My family has always made hot sauce by simply putting birds eye peppers (or
your favorite) in a bottle and then covering with vinegar and aging for a
while. I don't see why this would not work using your wine rather than
vinegar. Make it as strong as you like.

Ray

"Tom" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> I made a gallon of Jalapeno Wine last season from the recipie on Jack
> Kellers website and it turned out great. It has an excellant taste and
> smells like fresh ripe peppers. I also made a Habanero wine buy
> substituting the peppers in the Jalapeno recipie.
> It is drinkable but not for the faint of heart because I used the full
> 16 Jalapeno peppers in one gallon. I have been using this wine mainly for
> steak marinades and cooking though it is quite a conversation piece when I
> have fellow homebrewers over to taste.
> My question is: When I use if for a marinade it does not add the
"spice"
> that I would like. I end up using additional peppers in the marinade to
> spice it up some. I'm growing peppers now for another batch this year and
I
> was wondering what the effect would be if I doubled it to 32 peppers per
> gallon!! Would this cause any problems with fermentation? Would it
really
> add more heat?
> Also, I would like to increase the alcohol level. My last batch was
> around 12% but I would like to make one as high as possible without having
> any residual sugar. I was thinking about going with a Champagne yeast and
> trying for around 16%. Do you think that would be a strong enough yeast
to
> go to 16% in that environment without stopping prematurely? I haven't any
> problems so far with stuck fermentation other than a batch I made from
grape
> juice concentrate but I think that was a combination of low level
> preservatives and the temperature of the must.
> Thanks it advance,
> Tom
>
>
>

Thanks for the advice. I think I will try about 25 peppers per gallon to
see how that turns out. The reason I wanted it dry is because I don't want
to end up with a sweet tasting steak. To most people the wine with 16
peppers is quite hot but I eat hot food almost every day so I think I have
become immune to it. Jack Keller's recipie also called for raisens to give
the time body. I never thought of tomato juice. Thanks again,
"Tom" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> I made a gallon of Jalapeno Wine last season from the recipie on Jack
> Kellers website and it turned out great. It has an excellant taste and
> smells like fresh ripe peppers. I also made a Habanero wine buy
> substituting the peppers in the Jalapeno recipie.
> It is drinkable but not for the faint of heart because I used the full
> 16 Jalapeno peppers in one gallon. I have been using this wine mainly for
> steak marinades and cooking though it is quite a conversation piece when I
> have fellow homebrewers over to taste.
> My question is: When I use if for a marinade it does not add the
"spice"
> that I would like. I end up using additional peppers in the marinade to
> spice it up some. I'm growing peppers now for another batch this year and
I
> was wondering what the effect would be if I doubled it to 32 peppers per
> gallon!! Would this cause any problems with fermentation? Would it
really
> add more heat?
> Also, I would like to increase the alcohol level. My last batch was
> around 12% but I would like to make one as high as possible without having
> any residual sugar. I was thinking about going with a Champagne yeast and
> trying for around 16%. Do you think that would be a strong enough yeast
to
> go to 16% in that environment without stopping prematurely? I haven't any
> problems so far with stuck fermentation other than a batch I made from
grape
> juice concentrate but I think that was a combination of low level
> preservatives and the temperature of the must.
> Thanks it advance,
> Tom
>
>

Thanks for the advice. I think I will try about 25 peppers per gallon to
see how that turns out. The reason I wanted it dry is because I don't want
to end up with a sweet tasting steak. To most people the wine with 16
peppers is quite hot but I eat hot food almost every day so I think I have
become immune to it. Jack Keller's recipie also called for raisens to give
the time body. I never thought of tomato juice. Thanks again,
"Tom" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> I made a gallon of Jalapeno Wine last season from the recipie on Jack
> Kellers website and it turned out great. It has an excellant taste and
> smells like fresh ripe peppers. I also made a Habanero wine buy
> substituting the peppers in the Jalapeno recipie.
> It is drinkable but not for the faint of heart because I used the full
> 16 Jalapeno peppers in one gallon. I have been using this wine mainly for
> steak marinades and cooking though it is quite a conversation piece when I
> have fellow homebrewers over to taste.
> My question is: When I use if for a marinade it does not add the
"spice"
> that I would like. I end up using additional peppers in the marinade to
> spice it up some. I'm growing peppers now for another batch this year and
I
> was wondering what the effect would be if I doubled it to 32 peppers per
> gallon!! Would this cause any problems with fermentation? Would it
really
> add more heat?
> Also, I would like to increase the alcohol level. My last batch was
> around 12% but I would like to make one as high as possible without having
> any residual sugar. I was thinking about going with a Champagne yeast and
> trying for around 16%. Do you think that would be a strong enough yeast
to
> go to 16% in that environment without stopping prematurely? I haven't any
> problems so far with stuck fermentation other than a batch I made from
grape
> juice concentrate but I think that was a combination of low level
> preservatives and the temperature of the must.
> Thanks it advance,
> Tom
>
>