Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Wild Pecan Porter

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WildGingerBrewing

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Recipe Type
All Grain
Wild Pecan Porter V3.0
Style: 12a. Brown Porter

Batch Size: 6.5 gal
Boil Size: 8.0 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Efficiency: 85%
SG: 1.046
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.013
ABV: 5.6%
Bitterness: 24.7 IBU
Color: 26.8 SRM

Pale 2 Row - 7lbs
Pecan - 2 lbs
Flaked Barley - 1 lb
Marris Otter - 1 lb
Roasted Barley - 10 oz
Crystal 60 - 10 oz
Crystal 120 - 10 oz
Chocolate Malt - 4 oz
Cara-Pils - 4 oz

Northern Brewer - .25 oz @ 10.6 AA - 6.9 IBU @ 45 min
Northern Brewer - 1 oz @ 10.6 AA - 15 IBU @ 15 min
Cascade - 1 oz - 2.8 IBU @ 5 min

Irish Moss - 1 tsp @ 15 min

Wyeast Thames Valley 1275

Mash 5 gal @ 153F for 60 min
Batch Sparge 2.5 gal for 10 min
Batch Sparge 2.5 gal for 10 min

Use rolling pin to crush pecans. Roast pecans on a large cookie sheet @ 300F for 15 min. Remove from over, cover with paper towels to soak up oils and crush. Repeat 4 times. Add pecans directly to mash for full mash time.

Ferment at 63F for 2-3 weeks. Cold crash at approx 36F for 1 week. Once bottled it will be ready to drink in 2 weeks but gets better with age. I have had samples of this beer at 1 year after bottling and although the pecan had become very subtle, the beer was still very good.

This is the #1 favorite of any beer I make. I can't keep enough of it on hand. The pecan flavor and aroma is outstanding, but not overpowering. If you like porter, I highly recommend that you try this beer.

Cheers :mug:
 
This beer is amazing!

Ginger sent me some in an HBT swap awhile ago, and it's great!

A subtle pecan aroma and finishes with a very balanced roasty, nutty, pecan flavor.
 
The reason i cold crash is for clarity. Some people think its not a big deal in a dark beer. Add some irish moss to boil and you will fine. I add it to every beer. I forgot to cold crash my last two brews and they were both perfectly clear. Brew away and enjoy!
 
Hey Ginger, this recipe looks awesome. Just what I've been looking for.
Quick question about the pecan roasting. Are the pecans that you're starting with raw?

I ask because a full hour of roasting (4 x 15min) seems like a lot. I've toasted pecans for 10 min (not for a beer recipe) and they come out tasting very different than they went in, even in that small time.

Using your method, should I expect the final product (ground-pecan) to be very dark in color after roasting?
 
Yes they are raw. The roasting is more to dry them out than "cook" them. The oils from the pecans will kill your head retention. They do get a little darker and it will have a slight affect on the flavor, but a raw pecan doesn't taste as good as a roasted pecan anyway, if you ask me. The beer comes out a nice brown, not a black, so I assume that the roasting is not having a huge affect on the color. Hope that helps. Let me know how you like it!
 
Ginger, thanks for sending a couple of bottles my way. This is, without a doubt, one of the best home brews I've ever had and is on my short list of what to brew next. Good luck at the comp this weekend!
 
Ginger, thanks for sending a couple of bottles my way. This is, without a doubt, one of the best home brews I've ever had and is on my short list of what to brew next. Good luck at the comp this weekend!

Thanks, Whut! I appreciate that. Especially since I know your taste in beer! haha
 
WildGingerBrewing said:
Good luck with it! I brewed it Saturday!

Everything went smoothly today. My only change was adding 1/2 ounce of perle and tradition hops at 60 to increase the bitterness a bit. Hopefully the increase in bitterness won't overpower the pecan flavor. I couldn't really tell for sure if I could taste pecan after the boil. I will update in a few weeks...
 
This sounds really good!! I've been looking for a recipe to make a clone of Sam Adams Maple Pecan Porter. This sounds like a great start. If I were to add maple syrup to this, when should I do it and how much should I add.
 
Im not sure i can answer that. Ive never added syrup to a beer. I would think if you add it to the boil it will give you more sugar content but might not extract the maple flavor. Adding after fermentation, secondary maybe, would probably be the best way to impart flavor. Do a little research and let me know how it works. I would be interested in the results.
 
I just got some pecans and was wondering how I could include in beer and now I stumble across this...seems like a sign from the beer gods.
 
I'm brewing this one next. :)

Though I dont have 1275 on hand, I do have 1469 and 1099. I think I might go the 1469.
And I'll use Challenger instead of Northern Brewer.

I have heard that the woody fibres that come in the nuts, but arent actually part of the nut cause astringency. Has this been noticeable? Im guessing if they don't make their way into the kettle then no.
 
Never experienced any astringency. And I've never used anything other than 1275 and S-05 on the last batch. Turned out pretty good. Let me know what you use and how it turns out.
 
Well I've just tapped the keg, and it's awesome! There's a subtle pecan aroma on the nose, good roasty hit on the first sip then bam! there's pecan that lingers on like you've just eaten a nut. I used WY 1469 and Challenger instead of NB as mentioned earlier.

I have to say, this was one of the most labor intensive brews I've ever done. In my local supermarket shelled pecans were $40 / kg (2.2lb) yet unshelled were $5 / kg. Right, so I thought I would grab the unshelled ones to save some $$ and get cracking on these bastards. Well I certainly wont be doing that again! Then the process of roasting, rollling, roasting etc felt like it took hours again and my wrists were damn sore by the end of it lol. I took out as much oil as I could yet on the top of the fermenter by the end of the cold crash was an oil slick like you get in chicken soup. I think I managed to avoid most of by steering it away from the tap though, and the head retention is fine.

All in all it's a fantastic beer, and I will most likely brew it again, but with all the work involved I may just knock out some simple ones for the near future.

Cheers for sharing.
 
Well I've just tapped the keg, and it's awesome! There's a subtle pecan aroma on the nose, good roasty hit on the first sip then bam! there's pecan that lingers on like you've just eaten a nut. I used WY 1469 and Challenger instead of NB as mentioned earlier.

I have to say, this was one of the most labor intensive brews I've ever done. In my local supermarket shelled pecans were $40 / kg (2.2lb) yet unshelled were $5 / kg. Right, so I thought I would grab the unshelled ones to save some $$ and get cracking on these bastards. Well I certainly wont be doing that again! Then the process of roasting, rollling, roasting etc felt like it took hours again and my wrists were damn sore by the end of it lol. I took out as much oil as I could yet on the top of the fermenter by the end of the cold crash was an oil slick like you get in chicken soup. I think I managed to avoid most of by steering it away from the tap though, and the head retention is fine.

All in all it's a fantastic beer, and I will most likely brew it again, but with all the work involved I may just knock out some simple ones for the near future.

Cheers for sharing.


Ha great story but mostly glad you like the beer! In my area i can usually get 1lb of shelled pecans for $9-$11. Its not a cheap beer, but in the end, i find it very worth it! As far as the work goes, i dont usually roast and crush more than 4 times. 3 if i am getting a good crush and soaking of oils. Again, really glad you like the beer! Enjoy it! Happy new year!
 
I brewed this back in the fall and enjoyed it over the last few months. It's a good beer. Really nice and subtle pecan flavor that woke up a little more with time. I will brew again next fall.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Finally got around to brewing this today, I've always been nervous brewing with any nuts but i'm really excited to see how this turns out. I highly recommend that anyone else brewing this take care of de-oiling pecans a day/the night before you plan on brewing, smashing and baking these things was more work than you would expect. I also didnt expect the pecans to be as pricey as they were, the cheapest i found in my area was $4.99 for 6 ounces of pecans so I would recommend doing a price check before you commit to this brew if your on a budget. I'm very excited for my first nut brew thank's a lot for posting the recipe!
 
Awesome. Hope it turns out well!

Pecans aren't cheap. I have found a couple different places where I can buy them from $9-$11/lb and I'm pretty happy when I can. Grocery store prices are high.I recommend flea markets or farmers markets.
 
Is your batch size supposed to be 5 gallons instead of 6.5? I entered in this exact recipe to BeerSmith for a 5 gallon batch and I get the same OG, SRM, and IBUs?
 
At the time I posted this, yes, 6.5 gal batch was correct. Your grain absorption, boil loss, kettle loss, etc...could be different than mine and therefore the numbers could be coming up the same. Also, my efficiency for this recipe is 85%. In reality, that is probably a little high, but it is what I was averaging when I posted this recipe. All of my equipment and half of my processes have changed since then, so my numbers now would be different. Either way, adjust it for your system and process and enjoy! :mug:
 
Its been almost 6 months since I brewed this, and just to let everyone know, the beer has alot of head when I pour these, the pecan oil did not kill it. And the pecan taste is almost more pronounced now, if thats possible. Very tasty at this age.
 
Its been almost 6 months since I brewed this, and just to let everyone know, the beer has alot of head when I pour these, the pecan oil did not kill it. And the pecan taste is almost more pronounced now, if thats possible. Very tasty at this age.


Glad to hear pecan oils didnt kill the head. Hope you like it!
 
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