Help? I need some other eyes on this recipe before I brew.

[Arlen]

O.K. I'm putting together a beer that I wan to get brewed and ready to drink for Passover. As such, time is of the essence. Now just for understanding - there are certain grains that can't be used during Passover. So I'm putting together a Chestnut brew that I think will make a half decent Beer. I just can't stand wine and I don't want to spend another Passover drinking nothing but grape juice.

Here is my recipe and a couple of questions.

Ingredients:

2.5 Lbs Medium roast chestnuts
2.5 Lbs dark roast chestnuts
(OR – 5 Lbs of Medium.)
2 Lbs Rice Flakes or 2.5 Lbs Brown Rice Syrup
2 Lbs honey
10oz Maltodextrin before boil
1 Tsp Irish moss @ 15 Min
0.5 Oz Fuggles @ 30 Mins.
0.5 Oz East Kent Goldings @ 55 Mins.

To Mash – Using Igloo cooler – 3 Gallons of water at 140 or so with Chestnuts suspending in mesh bag.
Add Enzyme Mix.
Add another two Gallons at 170 for a final temp of 165 or so.
Sparge and boil.

So – Here are my questions:
Is there any particular way I should process the honey before using it? (Such as making it into a syrup, first.)
If I use Rice flakes, should I just put them right into the Mash or is there an optimal point to add them? (I’ll probably go with syrup if it ends up easier.)
Should I add any sort of Pectin compounds to the carboy when I start fermentation?


Thanks a bunch for any help you guys can offer.

 

[igliashon]

Honey doesn't need to be processed, just toss it in at the end of the boil. You can immerse the jar in a pot of boiled water to warm the honey and make it more liquid if necessary. Use rice syrup, not rice flakes. It'll be easier and you won't taste the difference. Pectinase is worth adding if you want a haze-free beer, but if you don't mind the haze, it's no big deal.

 

[Arlen]

Fantastic. Thanks!
I actually just got off the phone with Lee at Chestnut trails and he was really helpful. What a nice guy!

I might switch up the recipe a bit and use Corn Sugar instead of honey just because I do have a bit of a time constraint.

My aim is to get the darkest beer I can without sacrificing it to too much bitterness. I'll stick to the Rice syrup just for the ease of things and go from there.