Chilli Chocolate Stout

A great brew that has good head retention and a fantastic after kick of chilli on the lips.  It requires a few extra ingredients but is well worth it we can make this all year round, love it at Xmas.

Ingredients for a 14Ltr batch

10 fresh chillies halved and deseeded or 1 heaped Tsp of ground dried chillis
1kg dark spray malt (if you use light malt it won't be a stout)
250g Golden Syrup
500g sugar
75g Chocolate malt
30g hops (fuggles pellets)
Ale yeast (half an 11g pack S-04 Ale Yeast)
1 Tsp Yeast nutrient

Instructions

In the biggest pan you can fit on your hob, boil 6ltrs of water and start to MTFU ready for the adding off the malt, if you don't have MTFU pills to hand try some home made brew, it would be terribly absent minded of you not to.  Put your glass down briefly, pick it up again have a long swig then lower the heat and get K to casually sprinkle the Malt into the water, only a little at first or you will be subjected to something that resembles the effects of striking the top of a can of shaving foam with a hammer, do not try that at home.  It can be messy but with patience and alcohol you can safely get the lot dissolved in the water and then get it back to a low boil smiling smugly to yourself as you do. Add the chocolate malt and quickly pick up your glass and look busy stirring while K wipes the floor hoping that she isn't using your best t-shirt.   After it has been at a low boil for 10 minutes stirring frequently, drop the chillis and hops into the pan and stir in.  Boil for a further 10 minutes then add the sugar and Golden syrup, dissolve, remove from heat and then let it sit for 5 minutes.

After a further 10 minutes still stirring away and after a couple more beers, pour in the sugar and the golden syrup and dissolve whilst stirring then turn off the heat and sort of casually mention to K that you are about to pour boiling liquid, albeit with a wonderful smell, over her hands. This is a good time to get the keg cleaned and sterilised with your Chemipro OXI. Position the sieve and muslin over the keg and carefully pour the skin meltingly boiling liquid into the keg whilst avoiding K's hands and therefore retaining your testicles. The steam will of course remove your eyelids and the floor will get stickier and stickier but nobody cares. Resist the temptation to squeeze the liquid out. Instead be patient, have a sip and let it drip til you're bored. Heave the keg onto a suitable counter top and top it up to 14ltrs with cold water. Check the temperature, if you can comfortably stick your finger in the liquid without snivelling like a Frenchman, then it's ok to pitch the yeast. We use S-04 Ale Yeast which is great, all you have to do is stir the hooch, sprinkle it on top in a pretty pattern, seal the top and fit the airlock. Remember to label the keg with what's inside and the date. After a week or so depending on the room temperature it should either have stopped bubbling or indicate as being ready when you test with the Harmonica or whatever it's called (see Beers Ales and Ciders home page). Then you can proceed to the bottling phase.