Trying my First All-Grain. How does this sound for a Nut Brown

Trying to do a Pecan Ale, ala Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan Ale . Found a few receipies on here, but none of them had much detail about how it came out. This is my first shot at All Grain, and first shot at trying to put together a recipie myself (though much was stolen from other threads).

This has a higher ABV than what they show, but I couldn't figure out how to get that down, and keep the OG in line with what they had.

Also not sure Crystal 120 is the right grain, but this still comes out a lot lighter in Color than what they show.

Thanks in Adv for any advice.

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Southern Pecan Ale
Brewer: David Richardson
Asst Brewer:
Style: Southern English Brown Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.30 gal
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 14.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 14.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 78.05 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 9.76 %
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 7.32 %
0.50 lb Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.88 %
0.33 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (30 min) Hops 11.6 IBU
0.33 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 2.4 IBU
8.80 oz Pecans (Mash 60.0 min) Misc



Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.99 %
Bitterness: 14.0 IBU Calories: 227 cal/pint
Est Color: 14.2 SRM

That is a lot of firsts for one batch, any chance I could talk you into taking it slower (brewing a proven, simple, all-grain recipe for your first try?)

You just need the beer to have lower attenuation to get less alcohol (and more sweetness) from a fixed OG. This can come from using a higher mash temp, more crystal malt, a lower attenuating strain etc...

Normally a brown ale has some chocolate malt for color. All of that Crystal 120 will give you a big burnt sugar character with some dried fruit.

I had issues adding toasted walnuts to the mash of a brown ale, the fat killed the head retention.

Good luck.

I feel that a small amount of chocolate is one of the defining characteristics of brown ale, to me. Anywhere from 2 to 8 oz is the right range, though 2-3oz really gets you that nutty flavour that's so common in browns without much roast.

I would turf the c-120 and carapils, and use 1 to 1.5lbs of c80, and 3oz of chocolate malt. That's just to my own taste though. It does align closely with the ingredients mentioned on the link you provided, though.

Oldsock said:

That is a lot of firsts for one batch, any chance I could talk you into taking it slower (brewing a proven, simple, all-grain recipe for your first try?)

You just need the beer to have lower attenuation to get less alcohol (and more sweetness) from a fixed OG. This can come from using a higher mash temp, more crystal malt, a lower attenuating strain etc...

Normally a brown ale has some chocolate malt for color. All of that Crystal 120 will give you a big burnt sugar character with some dried fruit.

I had issues adding toasted walnuts to the mash of a brown ale, the fat killed the head retention.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

Can agree more - go for an easier recipe. My first was a Pirate Ale. Way too much to take on for a first timer. Now I actaully enjoy the easier grain bills more and have more fun with them.... the things we learn after the fact

I've been doing extract and PM for a year and a half, so I don't really think this to hard of a beer to make, the main thing is just figuring out the right ingredients. Which is the whole point of me going to All Grain anyway. I'm fine with the beers I've made to this point, but just want to be able to make things that are exactly what I like, not just close.

I really didn't think the c120 was right but was trying to figure out the color. After reading some more I'm guessing they probably add chocolate for the color and a little taste, and just don't list it. I found another post where the brewer from Lazy Magnolia said that they use the carapils for head retintion, even though it isn't listed on their page.

this is getting closer to what they have for numbers, but still need a little more tweaking.
Type: All Grain
Date: 7/28/2010
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: David Richardson
Boil Size: 6.30 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: 15 Gal BIAB
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 66.12 %
2 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 20.35 %
12.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 7.63 %
5.3 oz Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 3.36 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.54 %
0.33 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (30 min) Hops 11.9 IBU
0.33 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
8.80 oz Pecans (Mash 60.0 min) Misc



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.049 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.71 %
Bitterness: 14.3 IBU Calories: 203 cal/pint
Est Color: 16.9 SRM Color:

Why so much Crystal? 20% of your grain bill is a bit much IMO...

JeepDiver said:

I've been doing extract and PM for a year and a half, so I don't really think this to hard of a beer to make, the main thing is just figuring out the right ingredients. Which is the whole point of me going to All Grain anyway. I'm fine with the beers I've made to this point, but just want to be able to make things that are exactly what I like, not just close.

Click to expand...

A good recipe is only a small part of brewing a good beer. It is nice to start off with a simple/proven recipe when you are breaking in new equipment/technique because it allows you to isolate any process issues that arise. This batch will probably come out fine, but you’ll learn a lot more by doing some simple, clean, malty beers early on.

You are certainly missing some key components of a classic nut brown. Just because "nut" is in the name does not mean that you need nuts.

You certainly need a roasty component from a highly kilned or roasted malt like chocolate malt. You would also be well served to add a toasty component like aromatic or biscuit. Here is a classic recipe

8 pounds MO
.25 pounds chocolate
.25 pouns aromatic
.25 pounds special B
.25 pounds victory

15 IBU fuggle, willamette...etc at 60

mmmmmm, simple and tasty first all grain recipe
mash at 154

if you want to make things interesting you can go with 2 oz chocolate malt and 1 oz black malt.....

For the record, my first all grain batch was a big old oatmeal stout, that was a while ago and to this day many of my friends say that was my best beer to date.

I'm not sure I would say thr Southern Pecan from Lazy Magnolia is a true classic nut Brown. The roasted pecans should give it the roast and nut it needs. The beer is slightly sweet with a presence of the pecan. I've got the Crystal as high as I do since I'm trying to hit there numbers from there website. From memory (on my phone so to big of a pain to look up there site and then find something to convert the plato numbers) the are around 1.051 for OG and 1.025 for FG so they have a lot of something that won't ferment out

JeepDiver said:

I'm not sure I would say thr Southern Pecan from Lazy Magnolia is a true classic nut Brown. The roasted pecans should give it the roast and nut it needs. The beer is slightly sweet with a presence of the pecan. I've got the Crystal as high as I do since I'm trying to hit there numbers from there website. From memory (on my phone so to big of a pain to look up there site and then find something to convert the plato numbers) the are around 1.051 for OG and 1.025 for FG so they have a lot of something that won't ferment out

Click to expand...

Right on, give it a shot then and let us know what happens!

I did a southern pecan clone for my first partial mash a couple weeks ago. I only used one lb of crystal 40L, and I think my sweetness was perfect. Make sure to roast the pecans a couple of times to get rid of the oils, I roasted it 3 times and when I racked to secondary I saw a small amt of oil sheen.
I also used 6 oz. of chocolate and you can definitely taste it, maybe a lil strong for the style but I think its awesome.
Good luck, if you have been doing PM for awhile I'd say go for it because mine turned out good and it was a lot of grain for my first partial mash.