TasunkaWitko
Well-Known Member
Brooklyn Brew Shops Pecan Pie Amber Ale - Tips and Advice
Today, 29 October 2016, I brewed a Pecan Pie Amber Ale, by Brooklyn Brew Shop.
As always, Ill start with the particulars:
Informational Link:
http://brooklynbrewshop.com/pecan-pie-amber-ale-mix
Instructions:
http://brooklynbrewshop.com/directions/Brooklyn_Brew_Shop_Pecan_Pie_Amber_Ale_Instructions.pdf
This amber ale strikes me as a wonderful idea for an autumn beer, when the crisp leaves, blustery evenings and frost-cracked mornings call for warm, toasty, nutty flavours. Brooklyn Brew Shop describes this beer as an easy-drinking amber ale [that] will make you forget pie ever existed (in solid form). They go on to say that this beer embraces the nutty and sweet flavors of pecan pie without being too sugary, resulting in a beer that is full-bodied, flavorful and fun to make. At 5.5% ABV, it sounds just right to me, and I am looking forward to enjoying it during the magical time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The recipe for this beer is in neither of Brooklyn Brew Shops books; therefore, I am not totally sure of the grains that are used. I presume that they would be the typical malts employed for amber ales, with perhaps some specialty grains added in order to enhance the nutty aspects that are to be expected with this variety. The total weight of the grains is approximately 2.5 pounds, necessitating 2.5 quarts of water for the mash.
This beer uses Northern Brewer Hops added @ 60, 30 and 10 (0.1 oz per addition). I have never used these hops before, but they are described in good detail here:
http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/hop-of-the-month-northern-brewer/
I am anxious to see how well this profile plays with the Pecan Pie theme.
At the end of the boil, 1/4 cup of light brown sugar is added along with 1/2 cup of shelled pecans. These of course are the primary components of the Pecan Pie profile. I had dark brown sugar on hand, so I used 1/3 cup of that.
Since I dont have the actual recipe for this ale, I am using Brooklyn Brew Shops standard yeast, which is a fast-acting, clean-fermenting, middle-of-the-road yeast that I am assuming is similar to S05, but that would only be a guess. I briefly considered trying Nottingham for this, but ultimately decided not to stray too far from the original intent. I have about half a dozen packages of these Brooklyn Brew Shop yeasts remaining; once I use them up, I intend to delve into the necessary reading involved to understand how different yeasts work with different situations and beer varieties.
The mash went completely without incident; I had no trouble keeping my temperatures within the 144-152-degree range. Because this is described as a fuller-bodied beer, I tried to keep the temperatures at the upper end of that range, with fair success.
The sparge went similarly well; the grains drained easily and I appear to have captured all of the wort that I was supposed to get.
The boil had one anomaly: I didnt quite get the rolling hot break that I am used to seeing; however I was stirring it right as the boiling started, so this might account for that. When the boil was finished, I added the brown sugar and pecans as described above.
I chilled down the wort to 70 degrees, then transferred it to my fermenter. I decided to run the worth first through a medium mesh filter on my funnel, then the fine mesh (twice) after that. This seemed to work pretty well, capturing a lot of hop and break material. Ive done this before, and the beers seemed to be a little clearer in the end; also, it seems that my yield was a bit higher, which is very important when the batches are only a gallon to begin with. In this case, the mash and boil resulted in just a hair over a gallon; I added it to the fermenter in the hopes of accounting for some of the trub loss.
I pitched the yeast as usual, then capped the fermenter and agitated the wort for a little over two minutes. After that, it was a simple matter of fitting the blow-off tube and tucking the fermenter away in my closet.
The wort looks great, at the moment; its a beautiful, caramel colour and has a nice, nutty aroma from the malts and pecans. The Northern Brewer hops appear to be a great fit for this amber ale, and I think were going to end up with a great beer.
I expect fermentation to be in full swing tomorrow; after three days, Ill swap the blow-off tube for an air-lock as the most active period of fermentation should be finished.
More as it happens, etc. &c .
Ron
Today, 29 October 2016, I brewed a Pecan Pie Amber Ale, by Brooklyn Brew Shop.
As always, Ill start with the particulars:
Informational Link:
http://brooklynbrewshop.com/pecan-pie-amber-ale-mix
Instructions:
http://brooklynbrewshop.com/directions/Brooklyn_Brew_Shop_Pecan_Pie_Amber_Ale_Instructions.pdf
This amber ale strikes me as a wonderful idea for an autumn beer, when the crisp leaves, blustery evenings and frost-cracked mornings call for warm, toasty, nutty flavours. Brooklyn Brew Shop describes this beer as an easy-drinking amber ale [that] will make you forget pie ever existed (in solid form). They go on to say that this beer embraces the nutty and sweet flavors of pecan pie without being too sugary, resulting in a beer that is full-bodied, flavorful and fun to make. At 5.5% ABV, it sounds just right to me, and I am looking forward to enjoying it during the magical time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The recipe for this beer is in neither of Brooklyn Brew Shops books; therefore, I am not totally sure of the grains that are used. I presume that they would be the typical malts employed for amber ales, with perhaps some specialty grains added in order to enhance the nutty aspects that are to be expected with this variety. The total weight of the grains is approximately 2.5 pounds, necessitating 2.5 quarts of water for the mash.
This beer uses Northern Brewer Hops added @ 60, 30 and 10 (0.1 oz per addition). I have never used these hops before, but they are described in good detail here:
http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/hop-of-the-month-northern-brewer/
I am anxious to see how well this profile plays with the Pecan Pie theme.
At the end of the boil, 1/4 cup of light brown sugar is added along with 1/2 cup of shelled pecans. These of course are the primary components of the Pecan Pie profile. I had dark brown sugar on hand, so I used 1/3 cup of that.
Since I dont have the actual recipe for this ale, I am using Brooklyn Brew Shops standard yeast, which is a fast-acting, clean-fermenting, middle-of-the-road yeast that I am assuming is similar to S05, but that would only be a guess. I briefly considered trying Nottingham for this, but ultimately decided not to stray too far from the original intent. I have about half a dozen packages of these Brooklyn Brew Shop yeasts remaining; once I use them up, I intend to delve into the necessary reading involved to understand how different yeasts work with different situations and beer varieties.
The mash went completely without incident; I had no trouble keeping my temperatures within the 144-152-degree range. Because this is described as a fuller-bodied beer, I tried to keep the temperatures at the upper end of that range, with fair success.
The sparge went similarly well; the grains drained easily and I appear to have captured all of the wort that I was supposed to get.
The boil had one anomaly: I didnt quite get the rolling hot break that I am used to seeing; however I was stirring it right as the boiling started, so this might account for that. When the boil was finished, I added the brown sugar and pecans as described above.
I chilled down the wort to 70 degrees, then transferred it to my fermenter. I decided to run the worth first through a medium mesh filter on my funnel, then the fine mesh (twice) after that. This seemed to work pretty well, capturing a lot of hop and break material. Ive done this before, and the beers seemed to be a little clearer in the end; also, it seems that my yield was a bit higher, which is very important when the batches are only a gallon to begin with. In this case, the mash and boil resulted in just a hair over a gallon; I added it to the fermenter in the hopes of accounting for some of the trub loss.
I pitched the yeast as usual, then capped the fermenter and agitated the wort for a little over two minutes. After that, it was a simple matter of fitting the blow-off tube and tucking the fermenter away in my closet.
The wort looks great, at the moment; its a beautiful, caramel colour and has a nice, nutty aroma from the malts and pecans. The Northern Brewer hops appear to be a great fit for this amber ale, and I think were going to end up with a great beer.
I expect fermentation to be in full swing tomorrow; after three days, Ill swap the blow-off tube for an air-lock as the most active period of fermentation should be finished.
More as it happens, etc. &c .
Ron
