Biker Billy Knight
Also known as Biker Billy Knight Jalapeño
Biker Billy Knight is a Capsicum annuum cultivar from North Carolina, United States. Capsi’s sourced range is 5,000–10,000 SHU (Vendor Claim). Flavor is jalapeño, fruity, smoky. Used for salsa, pickling, hot sauce, stuffing, roasting. Heat is a range, not a single marketing number.
A variegated open-pollinated jalapeño from North Carolina breeder Eric Knight — Bryan's Blood crossed with the Burpee Biker Billy jalapeño. Slender pods ripen from purple to deep red on tall ornamental plants, with classic jalapeño heat around 5,000–10,000 SHU.
About 1/4.3 the typical heat of a Capsi Jalapeño (31,902 SHU).
Growing
~80 days to maturity
Fruit size
5–8 cm
Flavor & Use
Classic jalapeño flavor with fruity tones and a rich, smoky finish. Heat is moderate and well-balanced rather than aggressive.
Culinary
About
Biker Billy Knight is an open-pollinated Capsicum annuum jalapeño bred by U.S. veteran and flower hybridizer Eric Knight in Wendell, North Carolina. He crossed his ornamental Bryan's Blood line (Scarlett's Chile × ancho/poblano) with the Biker Billy jalapeño, the late-1990s Burpee hybrid named for vegetarian Harley rider and cookbook author Bill Hufnagle. Matt Layton and Bryan Townshend later selected the line; specialist catalogs now offer seed around the F6 generation. The plant is the showpiece: full-size bushes over four feet tall with purple-and-white or lavender-and-dark-green variegated leaves, dark stems, and purple flowers. Pods are smaller and more slender than a grocery jalapeño. They start dark purple, often pick up striping through intermediate colors, and finish deep red. Some plants carry pods upright; others hang them pendant. Heat sits in the familiar jalapeño band — specialty catalogs cite 5,000–10,000 Scoville units — with classic jalapeño flavor plus fruity and smoky notes. Growers treat it as both an ornamental and a kitchen pepper for salsa, pickling, sauces, and roasting. It is uncommon outside specialist catalogs.
Backstory
The name stitches two stories together. In 1999 W. Atlee Burpee released an extra-hot jalapeño hybrid named for Bill Hufnagle — Biker Billy — the vegetarian Harley rider and public-access host of Biker Billy Cooks with Fire. Two decades later, North Carolina veteran and flower hybridizer Eric Knight crossed that Biker Billy jalapeño with his own Bryan's Blood (Scarlett's Chile × ancho/poblano) to put variegated, full-size foliage onto a jalapeño that still tastes like a jalapeño. Matt Layton grew the line out from the F1, and Bryan Townshend continued the selections. Unlike dwarf ornamentals such as Tiger Jalapeño, this one is a full-size plant grown as both a garden showpiece and a kitchen pepper.
Appearance
Growing
Heritage
Sources
Heat figures in Capsi are tied to a source and a trust tier. How we verify heat
- Refining Fire Chiles catalog: pedigree (Bryan's Blood × Biker Billy jalapeño), purple-to-red slender pods, variegated leaves, height over 4 ft, jalapeño-plus-fruity flavor.superhotchiles.com
- Rebec Valley Farm listing with the only numeric SHU for this cultivar (5,000–10,000), 80 days to harvest, 3.5 ft+ plants, and smoky flavor notes.rebecvalleyfarm.com
- Texas Hot Peppers listing: Eric Knight cross, lavender-and-dark-green variegation, dark purple pods sometimes striped, ripening to deep red.texashotpeppers.net
- Towns-End Chili & Spice F6 listing: Knight cross, Matt Layton selections, mild/medium heat, full-size variegated jalapeño versus dwarf ornamentals.towns-endchiliandspice.com
Last updated 16 Sep 2026 at 08:44
FAQ
- How hot is Biker Billy Knight?
- Capsi’s sourced range is 5,000–10,000 SHU (Vendor Claim). Capsi uses a sourced range and a trust tier, not a single marketing number. How we verify heat: https://web.thecapsi.app/learn/heat-and-capsaicin/how-we-measure-heat
- What does Biker Billy Knight taste like?
- Classic jalapeño flavor with fruity tones and a rich, smoky finish. Heat is moderate and well-balanced rather than aggressive.
- How do I grow Biker Billy Knight?
- Biker Billy Knight: about 80 days to maturity, subtropical climate, full sun, hardiness zones 9-11.
- What can I substitute for Biker Billy Knight?
- Capsi does not have that recorded yet.