My habanero beer has been fermenting for two weeks now, so last night we went ahead and bottled it to allow it to ferment for another two weeks before our friends arrive from NYC.
The designated bottling wench hard at work
The beer with all the pepper floaty bits is poured out of the carboy into a 5 gallon bucket in preparation for bottling
We took the opportunity to sample it and……yup, it tastes like 1/4 pound of hot peppers soaked in 5 gallons of beer! Imagine that. Which is to say, it was hot — there was a hint of a bite at the back of the throat — but not obtrusively so. And the beer itself had a very clean, crisp flavor…it wasn’t hoppy or bitter.
However, it’s too early to test for flavor because the beer was at room temperture and totally flat. The fizz occurs during fermentation as the yeast pressurizes the beer inside the bottles. The true taste test will come in two weeks, when the beer is ice cold and adequately bubbly.
But I think the Hab Brew will be a success. That’s the line I’m sticking to anyway. Because if it’s not, our brewmaster credibility will surely take a hit from our beer-loving friends.
And 5 gallons (50 bottles!) of bad beer is a lot of beer to drink.
But people still drink Hamm’s….so how bad can my Hab Brew be?
All original content © 2012 by Jessie Knadler