Ground up cashews in your mash.....

[travlinScott]

Anybody on here ever try putting crushed (ground) cashews in the mash of an AG brew? I was thinking about trying it and wondered if anyone else done it before. Any thoughts or observations would be appreciated.

Thanks folks.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Lazy Magnolia Brewing co has a Nut Brown Ale that they do it with pecans. They mention how it was hard finding the rights nuts to use because of all the oil in them so I dont know how cashews would work. Heres the link http://www.lazymagnolia.com/ourbeer.php

 

[travlinScott]

Thanks for the link.... I never even thought about the oils. I imagine cashews would have the same issue. I wonder how they fixed that problem.

 

[Geordan]

Thanks for the link.... I never even thought about the oils. I imagine cashews would have the same issue. I wonder how they fixed that problem.

I've heard it said that baking the nuts beforehand minimizes their overall oil contribution, though I have no practical experience in the matter. Additionally, Palmer and Jamil recommend on an early Brew Strong episode that gently racking/draining wort from your kettle without disturbing the top of the wort itself helps in reducing how much oil is transferred to the fermentor, as lipids, fats and oils tend to rise to the surface during the boil. Good luck!

 

[Heatwaves]

I'm going to be trying the same thing in a brew with pecans next month. The funny thing is that I've roasted them 'low and slow' multiple times and they actually appear to be oilier than when they first started! If I lose a head, but gain flavor, it would be worth it. This could completely backfire though. In addition to adding to the mash, I've also steeped another cup of pecans in vodka for 2 months to make an extract for the secondary.

 

[Proboscidea]

I was just gonna say that too. In an unrelated radio story about making a meringue with nuts in it (yesterday, coincidentally), they mentioned that nuts' oils can kill the ability of egg whites to form a good meringue, so you have to toast them. I would imagine that you'd want to grind them as finely as possible, to maximize the surface area getting toasted/de-oiled.

 

[travlinScott]

All very good thoughts and info. So glad I started the thread. Thanks guys.