Using pecan nuts in fermentation?

[DarkMerosier]

So I was thinking about making a pecan pumpkin amber ale, but don't want the flavor of the pecans to be very high. Is it reasonable to put them as a layer on the bottom of a secondary? Would anything actually seep out of them during this? I see people recommending crushing them and putting them in the wort, but the idea of a layer at the bottom of my carboy got me wondering. Any advice or thoughts on this?

 

[BootstrapBill]

I just finished up a Pecan Porter that came out awesome. I threw 1 1/2 lbs in the secondary for a couple of weeks. You have to roast them, which you can do by rough chopping them in half and then putting them in the oven at 350 for fifteen minutes, rotating every five minutes so they don't burn. With the porter, it added a little bit of sweetness but didn't make an overpowering taste. Afterwards, I took my pecans and used them to make Pecan Porter Chocolate Muffins. Think about what you want to do with all those pecans when you are done.

 

[GDRMaille]

I had a similar thought for a summer wheat using almonds. This will help me a lot! Was the 1.5 pounds for 5 gal?

 

[Kaleco]

Did you have issues with oils/head retention? When I tried using pecans, the roasting process brought out so many oils.

 

[Copbrew133]

I did a maple pecan porter. I also toasted the coarsely crushed pecans, which extracts the oils, and then cooled them in a paper bag allowing some of the oils to soak into the bag itself. Three repetitions of this to try and avoid the oils screwing up the head on the beer as I had read it would do. I used a pound in the five gallons during mash and the flavor is very slight and the head on the beer is very good.

 

[BootstrapBill]

Like CopBrew just stated, the oils are going to be taken out by the roasting. I threw mine in a bowl in the freezer for a little bit to cool down. There was no problem with head retention. That was 1 1/2 lbs for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[BootstrapBill]

CopBrew, did you use the maple to condition it and if so how much did you use? I would be keg conditioning a corny. I was really close to doing it but I didn't want it to be too much.

 

[Copbrew133]

I usually use corn sugar for bottle cond., however I was so hopeful of getting that residual maple sweetness from the syrup. I put in a cup & a half into the bottling bucket for the five gallons. I had used about 36 ounces during the last 20 of the boil. Regretfully I didn't get any of that sweetness, however the porter ended up with that woody flavor. Kinda like if you taste "pancake syrup" and then taste real maple syrup you know you get what I think is the real deal flavor of the tree. I love what I ended up with, bot it took a good three months of bottleconditioning to come into its own. When I brew it again I'm going to use a maple flavor or extract if possible and add more pecan. I am very interested to see the results if they're used in primary or secondary. Cheers.

 

[DarkMerosier]

Thanks a bunch for the responses guys. Looks like I'll be roasting the nuts first to get rid of those oils you speak of, and then I'm going to let them hang out in the secondary and do their thing. Hopefully it turns out delicious and makes a great fall beer!