Mad Butcher Pickled Peppers (or any IPA)

This recipe is a spicy, kick-it-up, style of peppers. It can be used to join a pork sauté sandwich (bon mi), a pepper jack cheeseburger, a relish on a bratwurst, and excellent addition to huevos rancheros, (I do lazy-style-scrambled eggs) or puréed to make an amazing zesty salsa. It pairs well with any IPA. There are several citra style IPAs on the market. Pick your favorite. I happen to be partial to Mankato Brewery’s Mad Butcher IPA.

Supplies

800mL (24 oz) container with lid (I use a protein shaker bottle/lid)

Airlock (not entirely necessary but I always side with caution with pressure building microbes) can be found at any homebrew store.

Ingredients

Citra IPA, 1 1/3 cup
Kosher salt, 1 tbsp 1 tsp
Sugar, 2tbsp 1 tsp
Apple cider vinegar, 1/3 cup
Jalapeno peppers, 4
Red pepper
Yellow pepper
Orange pepper
Garlic, clove
Water, 1/3
Basil, 4 leafs
Ground black pepper, a pinch (just so we can say peppered pickled peppers)
Shredded carrots (optional)

 

 

Directions

Now that we have our ingredients and our favorite cita IPA it’s time to start fermentation preparation.

1. Wash produce and equipment.
2. Slice peppers, jalapeños, and other produce. For less spicy peppers remove the seeds.
3. In a small sauce pan dissolve the sugar and salt in water on medium-high heat.
4. Add vinegar, reduce heat, then add beer and turn heat off.
   
   

   

   

   
5. Let sit for 5 minutes then remove from heat, cover, and place in cool water bath or
   fridge until room temperature.
6. Place veggies and spices in container and drizzle room temperature solution over them.
7. Be sure to spin the container or stir the veggies to prevent air pockets.
8.  Let set away from sunlight for 2 weeks and you’re pickles are ready!

 

Warning: If you are not used to eating naturally fermented veggies it would be advantageous to heat the peppers in a small sauce pan before serving. I’ve noticed that these probiotics can cause gas. Heating them wont ruin the probiotic in the peppers but will deactivate a good chunk as to not cause a large disturbance to your microbiome. (example: excess gas)

The Science

Beer is the by product of fermentation of a carbohydrate to ethanol. In this case we are adding an additional two fermentations; One, to turn the alcohol into acetic acid (vinegar) and Two, to convert the sugars in the peppers to acids. These fermentations decrease the pH (increased acidity) and causes our peppers to pickle. Beer has a relatively low pH (high acidity) ~4.0. This is good because a pH below 4.5 prevents organisms that will make you sick and allow for a good environment for lactic acid bacteria. (we want these ones) We add vinegar at the beginning of this recipe to make ensure that the pH is below 4.5 since the water, peppers, and some beers will bring the pH above 4.5. As the microbes turn the beer into vinegar and parts of the peppers into acid the pH will drop. (increase in acidity) This is what will prevent spoilage organisms from growing on the peppers. The only microbe we need to worry about are molds. Molds will want air to grow. If you keep the peppers submerged in the brine (solution we made) mold will not grow. Pickling is one of the oldest forms of food preservation and adds unique and wonderful flavors to your cooking arsenal.

Thanks for reading,

The Zymologist