Pecan Wee-heavy, intrigued, but unsure.

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RedSun

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Okay, talking with the wife this weekend and as we picked up several pounds of shelled nuts for the holidays and started thinking about adding pecans to a wee-heavy or something of the sort. How would one go about that? Rack onto some pecans in the secondary perhaps? Quantities? We'll be doing a 2G batch of this test brew.

She suggested candied pecans for that sweet pecanish taste, but I'm less sure about that.
 
Ooh! I'm planning a Wee Heavy soon too, and was looking for some way to make it more interesting! I will keep lurking to see what others think!

What are you thinking about using for hop variety?
 
Fuggles/willamette/EKG are the classics I've tried, but I've been thinking of something different, maybe some Challenger or Target in there with Fuggles? I'm going to keep the biscuit to a minimum, I'm really not a huge fan of late.

-RS
 
Yeah, that was my thought as well, but I'm undeterred. I know there are extracts. Isn't quite the same thing, but for a experimental batch, might be worth trying in 1 of the 2 primaries.
 
Now you're talkin! I was talking with a friend about mashing pecans and it sounded awesome, but didn't know how the flavor would translate. So if we mashed for a 2G batch, how much pecan? Whole/crushed..... So many choices.

I may add a dash of pecan extract to one of the 1G primaries so we'll have a better experiment, see how the flavors come through.
 
Might also try roasting them first to bring out a bit more of the flavor and dry out some of the oils. Sounds interesting.
 
Okay, here goes:

Chop them.
Roast them.
Add them to the mash in layers so they don't float up on you.
Add some wheat and/or Carapils to compensate for the oil.


Easy.

:cross:
 
Spyk'd said:
Chop them.
Roast them.
Add them to the mash in layers so they don't float up on you.
Add some wheat and/or Carapils to compensate for the oil.

Roast meaning in the oven? How long-ish? I know we're not talking rocket science, but I've never home-roasted any ingredients before.

Are we talkin' like 1/2 cup? 1/2 pound? I'm thinking kinda more towards 1/2 lb.

Finally, bout how much wheat-or-Carapils do you think might be necessary? 1/2 lb? More than that?

Sorry to keep askin questions, but I think I'm gonna do this too for a Scottish 80/- and want to make sure I don't bork it all up.

Thanks for all the advice!
 
The trick to roasting nuts is to make sure they are in a thin layer on a sheet pan (maybe 1/2 inch thick) and to slow roast them (350 for 20-30 mins). Depending on your open, you may need to stir the nuts to roast them all. Roast them until they taste "roasty". Stirring will also help the edges from burning as they tend to do.

On a side note, you can toast (or roast) your own grain the same way as above.

1/2 a pound of pecans for a 5 gallon batch should be fine.

Also, a half a pound of Carapils and a half a pound of wheat is what I'd do, or a full pound of either.


Good luck!

:mug:
 
Let us know how it turns out. I'm a big fan of pecans and would LOVE to add some to beer. I'm thinking a pecan pie beer would be mmmm-mmm good!
 
rdwj said:
Let us know how it turns out. I'm a big fan of pecans and would LOVE to add some to beer. I'm thinking a pecan pie beer would be mmmm-mmm good!

I can see it now, amp the Biscuit and Caramel malts up to 11, just bittering hops, and sweet, sticky brown sugary pie goodness...

Mmm... pie...
 
I definitely second (or third? Fourth?) the roasting concept. You'll get a lot more flavor that way. Let us know how it goes!
 
Absolutely, roasting is the plan for sure. I have an angle on some real quality nuts for the experiment. I love the idea of a little wheat too, I'll toy with it in ProMash over the holiday and post what I come up with. I purchased some pecan extract as well. Both primaries get pecans in the mash and 1 gets a wee spot of extract as well. What's the worst that can happen? :)
 
OK, So I roasted 'em this afternoon, 400F, only were in for 10 minutes maybe.... They were fine, smelled good, checked again, still fine, checked again, AHH SMOKING!

Pulled 'em out, put 'em out to air. Here's what they look like:
roastpecan1.jpg


A closeup of my nuts:
roastpecan2.jpg


Think that's sufficiently roasty? Too roasty? Pitch 'em, buy a new bag, and roast 'em less?
 
I'd chop them finer and roast them a bit more. They will definitely smoke a bit when they are reaching their optimal roast point.


Remember, you are roasting them to impart a roasty, nutty flavor to the beer, not to eat them alone. You can take them into 'burnt' territory and be fine.


I would, however, lower my oven to around 350. It's easier to control the roast.

:mug:
 
I roast a lot of nuts in my own oven and have gotten reasonably good at it. It's very easy to do. In fact, I don't buy roasted nuts any more because the ones you roast yourself taste so much better and fresher. I do filberts and almonds, mostly, but I love a roasted pecan; it carmelizes out a certain sweetness that goes away if you overroast. I roast at 275 degrees and check and stir the nuts at 15-minute intervals. This allows a fair amount of fine-tuning.

I suspect the starch content in the mash will absorb a lot of the nut oil. Like making gravy.

Now I'm going to have to try this too. First, though, I have to get started making all-grain beer. I've still got my malt-extract training wheels on.

Let us know how this turns out!

--Finn

p.s. one other thing: Not sure if I'd chop 'em before or after roasting. You might try both and see what you like better.
 
If you're going for roasty and nutty, then more surface area means more of that roasty flavor.

Remember, we're brewing with these, not eating them plain. Plain, good tasting nut will not impart as much to a brew. Think of this as making your own roasted barley!

:cross:
 
Brewed 12/29, OG was 1054 ... today on 1/8 it's still at 1020. Still has a krausen too. Huh. Tastes good though! Definitely can taste the pecan! :D
 
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