Roasted pecans in mash?

[shelbymedic]

This recipe calls for roasted pecans in the mash. Can I just purchase roasted pecans from the grocery store or do I need to roast them myself and put them in brown bags to reduce the oil. I figure since it will be in the mash, it will not matter if there is oil since that will boil out.

Thoughts?

 

[Smellyglove]

Not anything to contribute with. But for research/inspiration I'd shoot Omnipollo, a swedish brewery a mail. They have a beer called Noa Pecan Mud Cake, which is an absolutely outstanding beer. It's so weird that you remember it even if you get a permanent memory loss.

 

[IslandLizard]

Aside from the oil issue, mashing for an hour, then boiling for another hour, then having yeast a go at it, how much pecan flavor and aroma will be retained when all is said and done?

If anything, maybe making an extraction from the nuts, and adding it at bottling/kegging time may do some more justice to the $15-20 spent on them. Or buy some REAL natural extract perhaps?

For example, following that process with five 14 oz cans of pumpkin puree (70 oz) yields a Pumpkin Ale that barely has any pumpkin notes (when omitting the spice additions).

 

[shelbymedic]

Aside from the oil issue, mashing for an hour, then boiling for another hour, then having yeast a go at it, how much pecan flavor and aroma will be retained when all is said and done?

If anything, maybe making an extraction from the nuts, and adding it at bottling/kegging time may do some more justice to the $15-20 spent on them. Or buy some natural extract perhaps?

For example, following that process with five 14 oz cans of pumpkin puree (70 oz) yields a Pumpkin Ale that barely has any pumpkin notes (when omitting the spice additions).

I hear ya but I feel two pounds of pecans should come through in the end. We’ll see...

 

[IslandLizard]

I hear ya but I feel two pounds of pecans should come through in the end. We’ll see...

Please, let us know how it turned out, we're curious. Mind you, that oil issue is still there.

Most craft breweries use extracts and some specially de-oiled nut powder for those flavors. Now the oils themselves also hold a lot of the flavor, so that's used elsewhere.

Add your maple syrup after fermentation has slowed well down. It will pick up again after adding. It helps prevent subtle maple syrup flavors and aromas being stripped out with the large amounts of CO2 being produced, and the yeast binging early on the simple sugars, then getting amnesia and forgetting the chewier ones later on.

Leave everything in your primary fermentor. No need for secondaries, avoid them.

 

[ccous]

I hear ya but I feel two pounds of pecans should come through in the end. We’ll see...

It will not

 

[shelbymedic]

It will not

Well. Hmmmmm. Thoughts? Roast them and add them to primary?

 

[shelbymedic]

What about soaking pecans in vodka for a week and adding the vodka?

 

[doogster]

View attachment 592271View attachment 592272

This recipe calls for roasted pecans in the mash. Can I just purchase roasted pecans from the grocery store or do I need to roast them myself and put them in brown bags to reduce the oil. I figure since it will be in the mash, it will not matter if there is oil since that will boil out.

Thoughts?

Made a Pecan porter last year. 1 lb of pecans which I roasted myself, then crusched them coarsely in a brown paper bag. The bag soaks up some of the oils.

I used them in the mash, and there was no issue with head retention or any of that.

I can't say the pecan flavor came through strongly in the finished product, but it did add some flavor and character when compared to my base porter recipe. It was delicious. I am definitely going to make it again.

My vote... go for it and see what you think.

 

[IslandLizard]

What about soaking pecans in vodka for a week and adding the vodka?

That surely would be better, like we do with cocoa nibs. Then add to your bottling bucket or keg. Chop them up small (1/8" pieces?) so extraction is faster and more complete. 1-2 weeks should do it, while your beer is fermenting and clearing.

Do some research on using nuts or your vodka nut extract in beer. You're going to dissolve some of those oils at the same time, even if you blotted them in a paper bag.

Instead of "tainting" a whole batch, you could keep that tincture in a jar and add a few drops to a glass when you feel like having a pecan porter some days.

 

[Bent-Brewer]

Just 2 weeks back I did a batch of azscoob's brown ale but added 2lbs of crushed roasted pecans to the mash. Want to say I crushed in paper towels to absorb oils and roasted at 300 or 350 for 15 minutes (not by my log). Repeat the crush/roast so they cook an hour.

Smelled great, but they lost a lot of flavor with the oils to save head retention. Sample had a hint of pecan and it should come out more with time. Next time I'd probably add an extract instead.

 

[shelbymedic]

Just 2 weeks back I did a batch of azscoob's brown ale but added 2lbs of crushed roasted pecans to the mash. Want to say I crushed in paper towels to absorb oils and roasted at 300 or 350 for 15 minutes (not by my log). Repeat the crush/roast so they cook an hour.

Smelled great, but they lost a lot of flavor with the oils to save head retention. Sample had a hint of pecan and it should come out more with time. Next time I'd probably add an extract instead.

What will your nut extract method be? How much extract will I need for a ten gallon batch?

 

[IslandLizard]

If you don't make your own extract, which really isn't hard to do, get a good commercial natural extract (non-artificial).
Add at bottling/kegging, or to an individual glass after pouring. Do not boil or ferment.

Amoretti makes many good natural extracts, but they're pricey! Get the water soluble version for beer.
LorAnn is a good source too.
A good bakery supply store may have some too.

Anything from Brewcraft and similar companies are fake, artificial extracts, you can smell it, you can taste it. That what you can expect at $4-$6 for 4 oz.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I have a friend who used pecans in a stout. He used roasted pecans that he roasted himself to get the oil out. He used 1 lb in the mash and 1 lb in secondary and used a diaphram pump to recirculate the beer on the pecans in secondary. He said it came out amazing and that the pecans were very noticeable. He chopped them up very fine though to get more contact with them.

I'm planning on taking the same approach with my Maple Pecan Nut Brown that I'm planning on for the holidays, although I may use more as I want them to be VERY prominent. I'm not a fan of using extracts myself but I know a lot of people do and they work well when used correctly.

 

[IslandLizard]

He used 1 lb in the mash

while he should have saved them to add to his "secondary" infusion, instead.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I made a pecan pie amber ale. It was great ~

I did toast the pecans, then added them at the end of the boil. The flavor did come through, but I am sure that the malt profile helped with that.

 

[brewbama]

(512) Brewing Co. has a Pecan Porter. Here’s a clone recipe for ideas: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/512-brewing-co-pecan-porter/

 

[shelbymedic]

I think I found the solution I’m going to use.
Pecan infused maple syrup in primary

Runamok Maple Syrup - Pecan Wood Smoked Maple Syrup - 250mL https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F5ZSYY8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[IslandLizard]

I think I found the solution I’m going to use.
Pecan infused maple syrup in primary

Runamok Maple Syrup - Pecan Wood Smoked Maple Syrup - 250mL https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F5ZSYY8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Are you sure?

About the product:

• Organic Maple Syrup Smoked With Pecan Wood.
• Use in dishes such as chili, BBQ or glazed root vegetables. Add it to a cocktail, over apple crisp or on sharp Cheddar cheese.
• Just one of ten unique and delicious varieties of infused, smoked, and barrel-aged maple syrups from our line at Runamok Maple.

It's smoked maple syrup. Smoked over pecan wood. Not pecan tasting extract. <Ugh>

 

[shelbymedic]

You do bring up a good point however it could still have a good flavor.
I’m just having a hard time figuring a relatively simple way to add both flavors while keeping head retention as well

 

[IslandLizard]

You do bring up a good point however it could still have a good flavor.
I’m just having a hard time figuring a relatively simple way to add both flavors while keeping head retention as well

Aside from what it looks like an expensive gimmicky gift item in a fancy bottle, it depends on how much "smoke" flavor it contains, and how much of that flavor will carry through in 5 gallons of beer. 250ml of maple syrup itself is not enough to add much, if any detectable flavor to a porter, even if added to the bottling bucket and used as part of the priming sugars or added to a keg. I don't mind a light smokey beer at times, but do you want a whole batch of it?

I think adding flavorings to individual glasses of beer, whenever you feel like it a change, is perfectly fine.

Plenty of methods have been presented. I think, roasting the pecans somewhat, chopping them, blot the oils off, then making an extract with vodka is the best method. Either add to a glass on demand, or add to your whole batch at packaging time. If you add it to your whole batch I'd use 2 pounds for the extract. If the beer suffers some lower head retention so be it. The pound of flaked barley in your grist helps to increase foam stability. Maybe add an extra pound of it for good measure.

Do some searches and keep reading to get ideas on what the best tactics are. You've got a few opinions here, I doubt you won't find hundreds more.

Most pro (craft) breweries use extracts, and not the cheapest. One brewer mentioned he uses raspberry extract that runs $300 a gallon or so. The beer (not a sour) tasted delicious, possibly better than when using real fruit, and without the mess of dealing with a ton of fruit pulp in the fermentor.

 

[Rob2010SS]

You do bring up a good point however it could still have a good flavor.
I’m just having a hard time figuring a relatively simple way to add both flavors while keeping head retention as well

Do you bottle or keg?

With my maple pecan nut brown that I'll be doing in the next couple of weeks, here's how I'm planning on getting those flavors:

Pecan - 2 or 3 pounds of crushed, roasted pecans that I roast myself to remove some oil. These will be used in secondary.

Maple - Since I keg, I'll be using potassium sorbate and campden tabs in the keg along with a measured amount of maple syrup. The potassium sorbate and the campden will keep the yeast from trying to ferment the maple syrup.

If you bottle, you could use maple syrup as your priming sugar. This website talks about all kinds of ways to get maple flavor in your beer. They actually recommend using a combination of methods to get the most flavor possible. It also gives you the conversion rate to figure out how much syrup to use as opposed to corn sugar.

Or, if you don't want to fuss with it, you could use this pecan pie extract from Apex.