will some help me convert this recipe please!!! lots of questions

[suzanneb]

i am trying to use beersmith but it got too confusing at some point and then it erased the recipe 3 times after i saved. not sure why but anyway here is the recipe

http://hopville.com/recipe/542206/northern-english-brown-ale-recipes/maple-pecan-nut-brown

first off i want to do a 4.5 gallon batch. i want to ferment in 2 - 1gal jugs.(one with extra pecans or some sorta pecan extract and one with something else(maybe hickory) and then one 2.5 gal batch to fit in my 3 gal carboy(that's all i got available right now)

also i think i want to convert to partial mash/extract i guess. i heard you can't steep brown malt. is that true.

also do i need to steep the pecans or just boil???. will steeping even work???

also i would love anyones opinion. seems like this recipe will have really hi ibu which to me sounds bad so i might dial back the hops to get around 30 or something. how does that sound????????

only other things i was thinking was i can't figure out if maple is added to boil or added at end. i am guessing to boil. if so i wanna add maybe another 8 oz at flame out. does that sound like a good or bad idea?

any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

or here it is cut and pasted
malt & fermentables
% LB OZ MALT OR FERMENTABLE PPG °L
78% 7 8 Pale Malt (Maris Otter) 37 3 ~
11% 1 1 Maple Syrup 30 35 ~
4% 0 6 Brown Malt 32 65 ~
3% 0 4 Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L 35 20 ~
3% 0 4 Crystal 120L 33 120 ~
2% 0 3 Chocolate Malt (US) 28 350 ~
9 10
Batch size: 5.0 gallons
Original Gravity
1.054 / 13.3° Plato
(1.048 to 1.056)
Final Gravity
1.016 / 4.1° Plato
(1.014 to 1.017)
Color
18° SRM / 35° EBC
(Light Brown to Medium Brown)
Mash Efficiency
75%
hops
USE TIME OZ VARIETY FORM AA
boil 60 mins 0.75 Magnum pellet 14.0
boil 5 mins 1.0 Tettnang pellet 4.5
Boil: 4.0 avg gallons for 60 minutes
Bitterness
37.1 IBU / 11 HBU
ƒ: Tinseth
BU:GU
0.69
yeast
White Labs British Ale (WLP005)
ale yeast in liquid form with high flocculation and 71% attenuation
Alcohol
5.1% ABV / 4% ABW
Calories
179 per 12 oz.
misc
USE TIME AMOUNT INGREDIENT
mash 45 min 12 ounces Pecans, Roasted
boil 5 min 4 ounces Pecans, Roasted
boil 0 min 0.4 liquid ozs Yeast Energizer
boil 0 min 0.8 liquid ozs Yeast Nutrient
bottling 0 min 3 ounces Maple Syrup

 

[CGish]

I don't go from all grain to extract like this very often, so if someone with more experience chimes in and disagrees with me - Listen to them!

i want to do a 4.5 gallon batch. i want to ferment in 2 - 1gal jugs.(one with extra pecans or some sorta pecan extract and one with something else(maybe hickory) and then one 2.5 gal batch to fit in my 3 gal carboy(that's all i got available right now)

also i think i want to convert to partial mash/extract i guess. i heard you can't steep brown malt. is that true.

I have never tried, but everyone says no. If you want to use brown malt, then you need to do a mini-mash with some 2-row. A search of this site will help you if you want to go down that road.

also do i need to steep the pecans or just boil???. will steeping even work???

Steeping should work - use the same temperature range as a mash and extend your steep from 30 to 45 minutes to match what the original author got out of his pecans.

also i would love anyones opinion. seems like this recipe will have really hi ibu which to me sounds bad so i might dial back the hops to get around 30 or something. how does that sound????????

Sounds reasonable to me, but I am not a fan of the heavy bitter flavor. Use your own judgement - after all, you are the one making and drinking it.

only other things i was thinking was i can't figure out if maple is added to boil or added at end. i am guessing to boil. if so i wanna add maybe another 8 oz at flame out. does that sound like a good or bad idea?

any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

According to a recent answer by the author (on the original page you linked to), he put it in at flameout.

Here is the recipe converted in BeerSmith. You will need to do some adjustments for your system and ingredient availability. Note that BeerSmith automatically replaced the brown malt with crystal 60L.

Recipe: Maple Pecan Nut Brown
Style: Northern English Brown Ale
TYPE: Extract

Batch Size (fermenter): 4.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 17.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.1 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
3.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)
3.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)
2.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Pecans, Roasted (Mash 45.0 mins)
6 lbs Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)
12.0 oz Maple Syrup (Flameout) (35.0 SRM)
3.0 oz Maple Syrup (Bottling) (35.0 SRM)
0.40 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 23.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min
0.25 lb Pecans, Roasted (Boil 5.0 mins)
1.0 pkg British Ale (White Labs #WLP005)
1.00 tsp Yeast Energizer (Primary 10.0 days)
2.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days)

Good Luck!

Cody

Edit: I should note that I do full volume boils even on the rare extract batch, so the IBU's in particular reflect this. You will need to adjust for your boil volume and length, but BeerSmith will do this automatically if you have it set up for your equipment.

 

[homebrewdad]

I have read tons of discussion on pecans. You need to bake them ahead of time, else you will get oils in the beer that kill any potential head you might have had.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

CG's conversion recipe looks good, and HBD has a good point. Any oils in your beer will kill the head... no biggie, it'll still be tasty, but just so ya know. I'd like to ad my $.02, about the maple and adding it late. If it were me, I'd add it at flameout to preserve flavor/aroma and to limit caramelization. Flameout extract or syrup adds (LME, Maple, honey, etc.) are fine as long as the wort is still near boiling. It needs to be over ~170 to pasteurize it. What I do is add the ____ right after I kill the flame and let it sit for ~10 mins to dissolve and pasteurize, then chill as usual.
Enjoy the brew!