Lazy Mag pecan, when and how to use pecans?

I am going to brew a beer based on lazy magnolia's southern pecan. There is a great thread on it here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/lazy-magnolias-southern-pecan-58853/

Most of the respondants on this thread recommend using 8-10oz of roasted pecans in the mash. Those who have done this, by in large, say that the pecan, "was there, but wasn't as noticeable as I would have liked."
I have planned to remedy this by using an entire pound or even as much a 20oz of pecans. I want the pecan to be VERY forward.

Is this the correct route? Others on this same thread have also suggested: 1. adding them to the end of the boil 2. soaking them in vodka and adding to the secondary 3. Mashing with them but for only 15-20 min instead of the full hour.

Any thoughts?

P.S. I would've posted in the original thread mentioned above, but it has been my experience that when you post in a several year old thread you don't get many replies.

I'm wondering if there would be a way to roast them, crush them while still remaining a form of "sanitary" and put them in secondary and rack on them? That would seem to add a lot of flavor to me. Just a thought

I was planning doing this one myself. I was going to go the route you were amclai7 - using a pound or more in the mash. Of course I won't be doing this until I get back stateside as pecans are a bit much in Europe. Although chestnuts and walnuts are plentiful. Hmm, guess I will do it with chestnuts and a porter.

yep, I am planning to roast them. The link to the thread I posted has a roasting schedule.

I've made a clone of this twice and I think that both times came pretty close to the original, although the second attempt was slightly better. Both times I roasted the pecans (just the meat part) and chopped them into small pieces and added them to the mash. The first time I think I pretty much used the amounts suggested and then the second time I upped the pecans by about 25%. The real flavor from the pecans is vanilla like and while I liked that second attempt better I don't think I would add anymore. I roasted them 3 times and let them cool in paper bags to absorb some of the oils. I think that if I hadn't done that (removed some of the oil) then the original suggested amount would have been enough. Next time I want to try to add the pecan shells in the mash as well as I understand that is what the brewery does (although I do not know if they roast the shells).

One of my local brew pubs made a pecan ale but added pecan oil in the secondary and I did not think that is was nearly as good as the ones I made because it had too much of the oil/vanilla flavor.

This sounds like an interesting way to infuse more flavor:

http://qmixalot.com/how-to-make-pecan-extract

Use vodka or Everclear if you don't want any rum flavor. Using roasted pecans seems like a better idea than raw. Adding more pecans might be a good idea, also - 1 cup to 750 mL is relatively little, IMHO. If the flavor is strong enough, it may be a great way to get a natural pecan flavor into your beer. I may make a bottle of this and add it to taste to a glass of a rather neutral brown ale. I'll post a thread about it if I decide to try it.

I used some pecan extract from Austin Homebrew in a brew last year. The beer was awesome, but the pecan flavor was admittedly a little artificial tasting.

Why not send them a nice email asking for procedural tips? You might get the info you want straight from the source.

wailingguitar said:

Why not send them a nice email asking for procedural tips? You might get the info you want straight from the source.

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on the thread listed above many people did the same thing. What LM does is roast their pecans in the way dover97 described and then they use 8oz per 5 gallons in the mash.

I really like LM southern pecan but have usually found the pecan flavor to be just a bit lacking. I want the pecan flavor to be very, very, very forward. Instead of copying thier methods I want to do whatever enhances the flavor the most.

P.S. just finished roasting my pecans a few minutes ago and will hopefully start on the beer in a few days. I have pretty much decided to mash with them but I don't know if I should use them for the whole mash or just 15-20min of it as some have suggested. Would that impart more flavor? It seems counterintuitive but perhaps this would be the case. Im not looking to convert the pecans into fermentable sugar, just add tons of flavor.

There's an Austin brewery called (512) that makes a delicious Pecan Porter. I used to have an e-mail from him saying what % he used, but can't find it. He did say they roasted them and mashed 'em, had no head-problems from the oils like many people on HBT say you'll get. But you've already had the idea of mashing them, so I guess this isn't helpful

iijakii said:

There's an Austin brewery called (512) that makes a delicious Pecan Porter. I used to have an e-mail from him saying what % he used, but can't find it. He did say they roasted them and mashed 'em, had no head-problems from the oils like many people on HBT say you'll get. But you've already had the idea of mashing them, so I guess this isn't helpful

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No, this is helpful. Now I know there is another brewery who does the same thing with great results.

Was the pecan very noticeable in this beer you're mentioning?

Yes. It really hit you in the aftertaste.

I tried this beer a few weeks ago when I was in NOLA on vacation. I was wanting to try and brew this myself. amcclai7...how did your attempt come out? What did you do differently with the pecans? I was thinking about roasting a pound and throwing them in the mash and roasting 8oz or so, soaking them in vodka and throwing them in the secondary. Any suggestions?

I do a hazelnut brown ale quite often. Initially, I used a pound of roasted nuts, and like the op said, the flavor was very subtle. Now I roast two lbs of nuts, and toss the shells and all in the mash. Flavor is spot on, but not over powering.

Thanks for the info. I have a ton of shelled pecans but no shells. I might just up the pecans a little.