Who Wants to Drink a Chile Beer #3:
						  Afterburner Chipotle Wheat

Specialty Grains:
     In 2 gal. water, steep:
           1 lb. Crystal malt (20° Lovibond)
         1/2 lb. Aromatic malt
     Steep at 160ˇ F for 25 min.

Extract:
     6.6 lb. Northwestern Weizen extract 

Bring to 5 gallons and Boil 

Hops:
     1 oz. Northern Brewer (from my garden, 6-10% AAU) at :60
     1/2 oz. Hallertau (8.6% AAU) at :30

(At :02, I add a spoonful of old yeast from my last brew at this point. 
Boiling kills the yeast, leaving "skeleton" yeast cells as food for my new
yeast.)

Yeast:
     Wyeast #1056 (American Ale)

Primary Fermentation: 12 Days at 60ˇ - 63ˇ F.

Upon racking to Secondary, add a muslin hop bag with five Chipotles that were
sterilized in vodka for 5 days previously.

Secondary Fermentation: 23 days at 60ˇ - 63ˇ F.

After 14 days, I tasted the brew and thought I wasn't getting enough pepper
taste, so I added one more Chipotle.

Prime with 3/4 cup corn sugar at bottling.

OG: 1.042       FG: 1.020       ABV: 2.87%
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JUDGES' COMMENTS:
National Homebrew Competition, 1st Round: 3rd Place, combined score: 32.5

Judge #1 Score: 31 (of 50)

AROMA: "Huge aroma of chipotles and smoke with, some hoppy American Wheat
       qualities underlying. Lots going on."
APPEARANCE: "Too dark for an American Wheat. Good head, slightly hazy amber.
FLAVOR: "...Has a peppery flavor. Burns. Some base be may come thru, but this 
        is mainly a pepper beer. Some wheat and hop flavors show once my palate
        has adjusted."
OVERALL: "An enjoyable, challenging brew. I really think you should possibly
     try to subdue the pepper and heat somewhat, given the milder base brew. I
     could drink and cook with this brew."

Judge #2 Score: 34 (of 50)

AROMA: "Mmm... Chiles... I can smell the heat! Some smokiness & a little
     malt/wheat/bread/toast thing."
APPEARANCE: "Blogish head -- A little dark, clean looking & the head settles."
FLAVOR: "Love the chipotle flavor. It's warming my entire mouth. A little sour
     finish. It overpowers the beer in the classic style way. Missing the 
     wheat flavor."
OVERALL: "Your chipotles blend nicely with your beer, but I'm missing the 
     clean malty crispness of the American Wheat style."
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SMOKING CHPOTLES: I picked jalape–os from my garden after they had ripened to a
red color (hard to get fresh red peppers at the store). Cut around the stems to
remove them and some of the pith. Set in an aluminum foil pan in a grill with
smoky mesquite charcoal (I found charcoalized hunks of mesquite wood at a 
Mexican grocery). Keep far away from hottest charcoals, as you want to dry out 
chiles, not cook or burn them. Cover grill and leave for several hours, 
checking every half hour or so. Mesquite is a "greasy" wood that can leave a 
black sludge at the bottom of your bottle, this usually disperses when you 
pour. You may prefer hardwood smoking chips.