AHS Pecan Porter reviews???

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Ok Sammy75 it's time you tasted another one!!! I'm curious as to how yours is coming along since went a diff route than me
 
I have to say that my pecan porter has been bottled for about 6 weeks and it is the best beer I have brewed. Great taste, body and mouth feel and great head ! I try to drink just one a night cause I don't want to run out !
 
I'll have another one later today and/or tomorrow and post back for sure. So far though I'm really happy with it, with pokerfreak2, it might be my best yet. I still have some greenness to it, but it's otherwise really good. The pecan is nice and subtle, and very late on the finish. The oak/scotch hits immediately up front, but then fades out to the porter flavor.

duffman, in answer to your PM (your box is full) I roasted the heck out of the pecans first to try to get as much of the oils out as possible. I heard that the oils will spoil the head. So low temperatures for a fairly long time, until they look nearly burnt.

Then I just added them to my grain bag and mashed them right in with the grain. As mentioned above, be sure to get all that papery stuff off the pecans, it's really astringent and apparently can really come through in the beer if it gets in there. I didn't have to worry about that because I just bought shelled raw pecan halves. Oh I also broke them up a little more to expose more surface area.
 
Awesome Sammy, I am working on pecans right now as we speak which is a real pita!

How many lbs of pecans did you go with? And do you feel like you got enough of the flavor out of them?

I can't wait for this brew!
 
I did about 20 oz or so. I think you could certainly do more than that. That was one of the things that I really just didn't have a good idea of how much I should do.
 
Sweet, I was thinking that maybe 2 lbs might do it, but I really wanted to get a pecan beer that people can have a sip and say "Damn, that's some good pecan beer!"

So, we'll see how it goes!
 
Sammy75.. awesome man! I have read on here about mashing the pecans but didn't have the cajones to try, so i'm impressed. I bet letting it age will let all the intricate flavors find there mark. The hard thing is... well.... letting it age :)

I am a fan of the base ingredients and am planning a blackberry porter around it.

Duffman2- man, i really hope you post here to let us know how it goes!!!!!!!!!
 
sh00t said:
Duffman2- man, i really hope you post here to let us know how it goes!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Hey Shoot, I don't have my notes on hand right now, but........

This brew was tricky. I had my very first stuck sparge and that mother was stuck good! I had hell trying to clear it out. I dug through the grain to find out that my SS braid came off my ball valve in my mash tun. So I poured in 2 pots of near boiling water to free the grains from the valve. Didn't work. So I rocked the tun back and forth with the lid open and some sloshed out all over me and burned the piss out of my head. Then I took off my outer tube, felt the end of the valve and decided I would try to blow the stuff out. One short burst of air through the valve released the grains, and....out came the boiling wort right into my face! So yeah, this one kicked my a$$.

But it all ended up in the kettle, and then into the fermenter. Hydro sample tasted and smelled fantastic. Fermentation has been great, but I haven't messed with a gravity reading yet because I'm giving it some space and time. Maybe tomorrow I'll see where she's at and get ready for the bourbon and the oaking stage.

I'll keep you posted
 
Mine didn't want to push a head until I got to the bottom of the keg... so I guess it aged a little more... still delicious....
 
I made this for the girlfriend and she loved it. I also served it at a party last weekend and it was a big hit. I kept getting the comments that it tasted like pecan pie in a glass. I liked it as well but I could have done a little less on the pecan. More like 3/4 bottle instead of the full. I also needed to mash a little higher to get a little more body. But all in all its a great beer.
 
It's been about a month now, and mine is still fermenting away. Gravity was 1.026 last week and is still dropping very very slowly.

And I want to throw it on top of some bourbon soaked oak chips too and I have no idea how long that will take

Sweet sweet agony, this one's gonna test the boundaries of my patience.
 
Patience is a four letter word with this hobby. Racked this beauty off the bourbon and oak 6 days ago and I've been cold crashing it since then. It tasts heavenly right now. The whiskey and oak took over the pecan taste, but in time I know that will fade out and it should balance out nicely.

Bottling day is Thursday. I'm closer, but still so far away :mad:
 
man, I bet it does taste heavenly...... I think I'm gonna brew the porter up minus the pecan extract..... it tasted pretty dang good as I recalled w/o it!
 
Bringing this thread back to life....

Any updates on how more bottle conditioning treated your pecan porters? I've got a brew weekend coming up in July and this kit is on the short list.

I was also wondering how soaking the oak in port would taste?
 
This was still to date my best beer I think. I've been sitting on the last bottle for quite a while now. :)
 
Philip_T said:
Bringing this thread back to life....

Any updates on how more bottle conditioning treated your pecan porters? I've got a brew weekend coming up in July and this kit is on the short list.

I was also wondering how soaking the oak in port would taste?
Click to expand...

I brewed this up in November and still have about a half case left. I've been taste testing about 1 or 2 a month, with intentions on bringing a sixer or so this Christmas. I ended up low in volume so the beer ended up being around 8.25% ABV. Its been tasting better and better every time we've tried it. I have to hide it from the wife because she loves butter pecan ice cream and this tastes just like it.

Actually, now to think about it I'm due for a tasting. Maybe tonight or tomorrow.
 
i kegged mine 3 weeks ago and boy did it have a lot going on. Too much too early, and Im afraid i might have over-oaked it. The growler that I took to beer club (right after i kegged it got) got alot of comments. The smell is absolutely incredible. It smells like dessert. Everyone agreed that the oak gave it a very dry finish and they also agreed that again will allow the flavors to marry and that it would be a great beer in a few months. I have buried this keg in the back for now and hoping that it may be ready for MN State fair time. I think it may be a good competition beer.
 
Thanks guys, I think this may be the one to get. Plus, it will have plenty of time to age for the colder months ahead. I wonder if a little vanilla would be over the top in the dessert department (love vanilla porters).
 
Update: Although I did my recipe different than the Austin one, it had a lot of the same stuff going on (but instead of the pecan extract I mashed with 1.5 pounds of pecans from the back yard).

Me and my brother tried one out a couple weeks ago and it is already really good. He thinks the whiskey is still too strong and he might be right. It's good but the pecan taste is still very subtle compared to the oak and whiskey. The smell is great however and I can only think that this will get better and better with age! We are very excited

This beer is being loosely called the "John Boy Walton's Midnight, Hell-raising, Pecan cracking, Prohibition defying Porter". Or something like that

Cheers
 
Update 2

Well, this is the best beer I've done. No question. It is smooth, silky, and simply wonderful. I'm gonna have to ration this out slowly or brew it again quickly!
 
I'm getting pumped to brew this one up. Target brew date is July 23rd and I'll update at that time. I plan on using the ABV bump and soaking the chips in port....and possibly adding a vanilla bean or two...but not sure I want to create too many flavors with the 1st batch. Can't wait!
 
I found this review on the AHB page. Does adding the American Honey sound like a good idea? I'm new to brewing (have only made one batch, and that was last weekend) and think i may make this one this weekend.

We made this one and it is AMAZING. Left in primary and secondary 1 1/2 weeks each and then kegged. As we kegged, added 1/2 cup of Wild Turkey's American Honey Bourbon Whiskey. Nice head, sweet pecan smell, smoooooth taste with a nice bourbon finish. This is going to happen every winter and fall every year from here on out.
 
This was one of my first few kits I brewed - still have a little left in the keg, and it's definitely a very nice beer. One of the best I've brewed thus far.

A couple things worth noting:

- This one calls for oak chips in the secondary. I soaked mine in bourbon for a few days then dumped them (bourbon and all) into the secondary and racked the beer onto that. Chango - this could be a perfect use for that American Honey! The alcohol content of the bourbon sanitizes the oak AND imparts some flavor.

- I read a lot of cautionary tales here about leaving things too long on the oak, so I was careful to sample frequently to see how it was coming along, and I think I bailed out on the oak too early... The oak seemed to come through much more strongly in the flat beer than it does in the carbonated beer - If I had it to do again I'd not be so gun-shy with regards to time on the oak chips!

- Lastly, while I love having this stuff available to pull a pint from the kegerator, I bottled up a few bottles with coopers carb tabs to share with a few friends and I can tell you: everyone who's tried it both ways seems to agree the bottle-conditioned beer is noticeably better than the kegged and force-carbed beer. If you plan to keg, this might be a good one to prime and keg-condition, rather than force carb.
 
I'm brewing the all grain kit in the next few days. I'm really excited about it. My plan is to follow with one possible exception... soaking the chips in American Honey Bourbon.

Any new comments or advice about this beer?

Thanks in advance!
 
seatbelt123 said:
I'm brewing the all grain kit in the next few days. I'm really excited about it. My plan is to follow with one possible exception... soaking the chips in American Honey Bourbon.

Any new comments or advice about this beer?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Well a bit late but I finally brewed it today. Looks and smells great.

Anybody else have any updates before I get to the oak chips?
 
I brewed the all grain kit on 1/18/12. Was a bit high on the OG (1.057 vs 53) and am now at 1.018... that's a 70%+ attenuation so I'm probably about done. I fermented at about 64.

I have not added the oak chips yet.

The sample already tastes great! I could keg and serve it as is. But I'm going to do the chips and pecan flavoring. Here's my plan:

1. Soak oak chips in whiskey for a few days.
2. Rack to keg with 1/2 oz of pecan flavoring (based on comments that 1oz is too much).
3. Put oak chips in hop bag.
4. Pressurize and store in the 60s.
5. Sample after a few days and remove oak when it has the right balance.

Okay... I'll probably sample a early and often! :)

Any other updates or comments?
 
Well I FINALLY got around to brewing mine. It's in the primary now, and when it gets to the secondary, I'm going to introduce it to rum soaked oak chips.
 
Changoborracho said:
Well I FINALLY got around to brewing mine. It's in the primary now, and when it gets to the secondary, I'm going to introduce it to rum soaked oak chips.
Click to expand...

Did you do extract or all grain?

Keep us posted. It will be interesting to compare our results. I'm going to try to keg min this week with the oak chips in the keg. I'll put the chip in a bag w/ a string so I can pull them when the taste is on target.
 
I am thinking about trying to make this as an extract batch I just had a couple questions on the chips... If soaking them in a bourbon first how much would you use, second for how long do you soak, and third would it be beneficial to add some roasted pecans to the soak or just before siphoning in from the primary? I am assuming its ok to just do the soak in the secondary, or should I use a different sterilized container??

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie out!! :)
 
Larzean said:
I am thinking about trying to make this as an extract batch I just had a couple questions on the chips... If soaking them in a bourbon first how much would you use, second for how long do you soak, and third would it be beneficial to add some roasted pecans to the soak or just before siphoning in from the primary? I am assuming its ok to just do the soak in the secondary, or should I use a different sterilized container??

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie out!! :)
Click to expand...

I've heard people report that they've used just enough to cover the chips. Some drain the liquor before putting the chips in the beer... others dump it all in.

On the Jamil show they did a segment about using chips/cubes. They indicated that the alcohol is not strong enough to sterilize the chips and that you would need to pasteurize by exposing them to 150+ water for a few minutes. That's what I'm going to do.
 
Well, here's the first pour. Fantastic! My best batch yet. I did the all grain. No special treatment for the oak chips. I used about 2/3 of the pecan flavoring.

With out the additives it would be a great robust porter (check out BJCP 12B). With the additions it's irresistible.

Bartender! Bring me another! :)

image-1210052912.jpg
 
I brewed this awhile back and it needed some aging. Definately too much going on when it was young. Let it bulk age in a keg. Bottled up a couple for the Great Northern BrewHaHa and took second place in the specialty beer category. Score sheets were very good, pecan flavor was still great and this beer is over a year old. I followed the recipe and i used about 2 cups of makers mark to soak the wood chips before they went into secondary.
 
Thanks for the update buckfan and congrats on the score. I used only 2/3 of the pecan flavoring and definitely recommend that others do the same. Next time I might only use 1/2 the flavoring.
 

Similar threads

F
Brewing with extract (flavoring) - can't get it right
Replies
7
Views
384
rmchair
rmchair
leedspointbrew
Irish moss worthwhile in Irish Red?
Replies
3
Views
311
BongoYodeler
BongoYodeler
S
New to brewing beer with adjuncts Christmas ale maybe off flavor? Save or dump?
Replies
5
Views
645
sampling6391
S
D
Extract Brewing high original specific gravity
Replies
5
Views
568
mac_1103
mac_1103
David Kilduff
Mini-Kegging for St.Patricks day!
Replies
4
Views
172
fluketamer
F
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top