That would be a very unusual recipe - using either- as alcohol usually interferes with, even prevents, fermentation in its early stages.

So IMO it is likely a question only the author of the recipe could answer. My guess would be no since wine and beer are not interchangeable in most recipes. But neither is necessary for fermenting peppers and making hot sauce.

Dave

I tried that recipe last year. Didn't work. Lost a lot of gorgeous hot peppers.

Good to know pixie. Just curious - what is the source of this unusual recipe?

Dave

From what I know, for fermenting things like hot peppers you have to add lactic acid. One way to get it would be to strain some plain yogurt through cheese cloth.
Use the juice ( = whey ).

No you do not have to "add" lactic acid. It is naturally produced by the process of fermentation and peppers ferment just like anything else. And whey is not lactic acid. It is simply the watery part of milk that is left after curd formation and is composed of water, protein, and calcium.

Dave

And whey is not lactic acid. It is simply the watery part of milk that is left after curd formation and is composed of water, protein, and calcium.
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I did not say whey from milk, I said whey from "YOGURT"
I did not say the whey (from yogurt) IS pure lactic acid. But it has lactic acid in it and that can speed up the process fermentation. I did not invent this one. It is a common practice.
And yes it can happen naturally. Even grapes naturally ferment to produce wine but they add yeast to control and speed up the process.
Some people add Kaffir lime/leaves for the same purpose