I have a question about a dried Aji Amarillo pepper addition to my pale ale. I have read all over this form and others that most people are starting to skip secondary’s all together except when dry hoping or adding things to the brew. So my question is, will there be any adverse effects of adding the peppers right to the primary rather than the secondary I had planned on?
The main issues are that you wouldn’t be able to easily reuse the yeast from this batch if you were planning on it, and you’ll be dealing with a lot more trub gunk. Otherwise, you can certainly add the peppers right to primary if you wanted.
I wasn’t planning on reusing the yeast so that’s not an issue. What do you mean by the more trub gunk? You mean like more to navigate around when I rack or the peppers will make it worst?
The peppers will add to the trub on the bottom and may make it a bit tougher/messier to rack. That’s probably not too big of a deal with peppers, but could get really messy with a soft fruit.
If you are not looking at reusing the yeast then I would add them to primary. When I add peppers I deseed them and cut them into strips lengthwise so they won’t clog the siphon.
For additions to the fermenter such as hops or fruit, I use a paint strainer bag. The lid will close over it and it makes packaging very easy.
I typically like to do any post kettle flavoring/hopping in secondary. If you were going to add them to the primary i would most likely add it right before the fermentation is finished personally.