Trying to make a Pecan Flavored ale

[Ragman]

Hey, can you guys check my friends recipe?
He is looking to make an amber colored ale and all he wants is a full bodied beer with a taste of pecans.

Im pretty satisfied with the hops and yeast. Concerned about the grain bill and pecan addition.

As far as the grain bill, we orginally had 10lbs of Victory and no honey - I pulled back on the Victory and added 1 lb of honey malt. - wondering if this is the right choice.

As far as the pecans, we plan to add 1lb of crushed pecans to the mash. The second pound will be crushed and sitting in some vodka and vanilla. - I plan to add the 2nd pound right into the fermenter before adding the beer and yeast - will this be a problem? - I dont really want to do a secondary.

Anyway - here is the recipe

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Scottish Light
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 12 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 13.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.049
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

Hop Utilization Multiplier: 1

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.014
ABV (standard): 5.38%
IBU (tinseth): 11.54
SRM (morey): 17.68
Mash pH: 0

FERMENTABLES:
15 lb - Standard 2-Row (56.6%)
1 lb - Flaked Wheat (3.8%)
1 lb - Flaked Oats (3.8%)
7 lb - Victory Malt (26.4%)
0.5 lb - BlackSwaen Chocolate B (1.9%)
1 lb - Caramel Malt - 20L (3.8%)
1 lb - Honey Malt (3.8%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Fuggles, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 7.18
1 oz - Nugget, Type: Pellet, AA: 14, Use: Whirlpool for 10 min at °F, IBU: 4.37

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 lb - pecans, Time: 0 min, Type: Flavor, Use: Mash
1 lb - pecans, Time: 0 min, Type: Flavor, Use: Primary
1 lb - Lactose, Time: 10 min, Type: Flavor, Use: Boil

YEAST:
Wyeast - American Ale II 1272
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 74%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 60 - 72 F
Pitch Rate: 0.35 (M cells / ml / deg P)


Let me know - Thanks

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Keep in mind the oil from the pecans will kill head retention.

I have no idea as to how much flavor contribution the nuts will provide.

 

[DonT]

I wouldn't put pecans in the boil, as stated it might kill head retention. Try this instead...
Pecan Pie Flavor

 

[BongoYodeler]

I can attest to Apex/Silver Cloud flavorings as I’ve used various of their products in different home brews. While I’ve never used the Pecan Pie I have used the straight Pecan flavoring Pecan Extract Flavor for Beer Cider Wine and Spirits - TTB Approved - Apex Flavors
In fact it’s in a Pecan Porter I currently have on tap.

 

[Ragman]

excellent guys, thank you. My friend wants to try to re-create a brown ale he had at the Carolina Ale House. Cant find it on their website tap list so it was probably a specialty brew. He kept saying that it tasted of pecans.

 

[DonT]

I can attest to Apex/Silver Cloud flavorings as I’ve used various of their products in different home brews. While I’ve never used the Pecan Pie I have used the straight Pecan flavoring Pecan Extract Flavor for Beer Cider Wine and Spirits - TTB Approved - Apex Flavors
In fact it’s in a Pecan Porter I currently have on tap.

I've used the Peanut Butter flavor in a stout and it was good... not too strong.
A local brewery has a pecan maple stout that is off the hook! All this talk and now I want to a pecan beer... lol.

 

[BongoYodeler]

You have to be careful with the flavorings though. For my apricot wheat I use half a tsp per 5 gallon keg. One full tsp for my pecan Porter. And 3 TBS of toasted coconut flavoring for my coconut milk stout.

 

[D.B.Moody]

Ferguson Brewing Company in St. Louis County, Missouri, brews Pecan Brown Ale. This is their flagship ale. I think it's been around since 2010 when Ferguson began. They say the pecans are added directly to the mash and that they use seven malts. It's a good beer. I'm not aware of any clone recipes. Don't worry about the head; you can't drink the head.

 

[Jag75]

You guys are making me want to brew a German chocolate cake porter!

 

[OLBrews]

If you want to use real pecans instead of flavoring, I'd suggest a multi-step roasting process to pull as many oils out of the nuts as possible. This is the method (don't recall the original source) I've used on a pecan brown ale:

Pecans toasted 300F for 10 mins
Paper bag overnight to collect oils
Roast again at 400F for 10 min
Paper bag overnight to collect oils
Roast again at 350F for 8 mins

I used 8 oz in a 3 gallon batch at 10 min left in the mash. I was happy with the pecan flavor.