Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Wild Pecan Porter

[WildGingerBrewing]

Finally brewed this today after a long winter. I had planned on drinking it during the winter, but that didnt happen.

Let us know how it turns out!

 

[46binder]

Bottled this today, sampled alittle, tastes great, slight pecan taste, hope more will come out.

 

[Fappasaurus]

Finally got around to brewing this today, I've always been nervous brewing with any nuts but i'm really excited to see how this turns out. I highly recommend that anyone else brewing this take care of de-oiling pecans a day/the night before you plan on brewing, smashing and baking these things was more work than you would expect. I also didnt expect the pecans to be as pricey as they were, the cheapest i found in my area was $4.99 for 6 ounces of pecans so I would recommend doing a price check before you commit to this brew if your on a budget. I'm very excited for my first nut brew thank's a lot for posting the recipe!

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Awesome. Hope it turns out well!

Pecans aren't cheap. I have found a couple different places where I can buy them from $9-$11/lb and I'm pretty happy when I can. Grocery store prices are high.I recommend flea markets or farmers markets.

 

[PackBrewer]

Is your batch size supposed to be 5 gallons instead of 6.5? I entered in this exact recipe to BeerSmith for a 5 gallon batch and I get the same OG, SRM, and IBUs?

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

At the time I posted this, yes, 6.5 gal batch was correct. Your grain absorption, boil loss, kettle loss, etc...could be different than mine and therefore the numbers could be coming up the same. Also, my efficiency for this recipe is 85%. In reality, that is probably a little high, but it is what I was averaging when I posted this recipe. All of my equipment and half of my processes have changed since then, so my numbers now would be different. Either way, adjust it for your system and process and enjoy!

 

[46binder]

Its been almost 6 months since I brewed this, and just to let everyone know, the beer has alot of head when I pour these, the pecan oil did not kill it. And the pecan taste is almost more pronounced now, if thats possible. Very tasty at this age.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Its been almost 6 months since I brewed this, and just to let everyone know, the beer has alot of head when I pour these, the pecan oil did not kill it. And the pecan taste is almost more pronounced now, if thats possible. Very tasty at this age.

Glad to hear pecan oils didnt kill the head. Hope you like it!

 

[diodeart]

I'm excited to brew this tomorrow, sounds very yummy. 2 lbs of pecans are $23 at Costco.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

I'm excited to brew this tomorrow, sounds very yummy. 2 lbs of pecans are $23 at Costco.

Hope you like it!

 

[mdbrewer1]

My wife picked up some pecans and maple syrup at Costco for me today and I'll be trying a maple pecan version of this in a couple weeks. Reading through a couple other recipes that have maple syrup, it looks like it generally gets added in the last 10 minutes of the boil (or thereabouts). Right now, I'm going to go with maybe 6 or 8 oz. of maple syrup. I don't want to overwhelm the pecan flavor.

Anyone have any thoughts on that proposed plan of attack?

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

I've never used syrup in a beer, but I would think it would be similar to honey and should boost the abv. No clue as to how much to use though. Good luck and report back on the final results!

 

[mdbrewer1]

Thanks. I'm looking forward to it. I'll definitely report back, but it will be a little while.

Reading a little further, I think I'm going to add it at flameout and maybe up the amount a little. I don't really want to boost the ABV all that much though. Is there any way to combat that?

I've also ready about priming with maple syrup, but I don't want to overdo it. If it is too light on the flavor, I'll stick have the tasty base recipe to drink and be "forced" to try it again!

 

[ncfield]

WildGinger: Do you happen to have a extract version of this recipe? Sounds amazing! I just started brewing two months ago and have only made extract w/speciality grains and ciders. Figured I'd ask

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

WildGinger: Do you happen to have a extract version of this recipe? Sounds amazing! I just started brewing two months ago and have only made extract w/speciality grains and ciders. Figured I'd ask

I do not have an extract recipe sorry. Maybe someone can convert everything for you. Since you do extract and steep specialty grains, it would probably not be too difficult to convert.

 

[mdbrewer1]

WildGinger: Do you happen to have a extract version of this recipe? Sounds amazing! I just started brewing two months ago and have only made extract w/speciality grains and ciders. Figured I'd ask

The flaked barley needs to be mashed. Never fear though. If you can do steeping grains, you can do a PM. It's just steeping in a set amount of water at a set temperature for a set amount of time, along with some base grain (2-row and Marris Otter for this brew). I'm going to be doing a PM in my 5 gallon pot. Here is my planned recipe for a 5 gallon batch.

Mash ingredients:
2 lb. 2-row
1.5 lb. pecans
.75 lb flaked barley
.75 lb Marris Otter
.5 lb roast barley
.5 lb C60
.5 lb C120
.25 lb choc malt
.25 lb carapils

Mash all of this in 2 gallons of water (5.5 lbs of grains * 1.5 qt. water/lb. of grain = 8.25 qts or ~2 gallons) at 153 for 60 minutes. I'll get my strike water up to 164 and stir my grains in my 5 gallon paint strainer bag and then wrap the kettle up with a hunting jacket and moving blanket.

For the boil, add ~ 1.5 gallons of water (I'm going to be doing a mini pour-over sparge of 170 degree water) to get to 3.5 gallons in the pot (highest I usually go for boil volume).

Boil additions:
.25 oz. Northern Brewer at 45 min.
1 oz. Northern Brewer at 15 min.
1 tsp. Irish Moss at 15 min.
.75 oz. Cascade at 5 min.
2 lb. Light DME at 0 min.

Top off to 5 gallons.

Aerate and pitch WLP023 starter at 63F.

I want to make mine a maple pecan porter like the Sam Adams version, so I'm going to add 1 lb. of Grade B maple syrup at high krausen (~2 days into fermentation).

Ferment in swamp cooler at 63 for about 7 days. Bring up to ~70 for another 2 weeks. Bottle at 2.2 vol. CO2.

That might sound a little daunting, but I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

 

[wapitiscat]

Just read the Brew & A with Jason and then saw this thread got a tickle so I figured I'd post some questions. Is it possible to crush the pecans too fine? I was thinking of using a food processor to crush the nuts. With the rolling pin method, what's a good target size for the nut pieces? Should they be about the same as the crushed grains?

Love Porters, love pecans .... what could possibly go wrong?

Todd

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

The flaked barley needs to be mashed. Never fear though. If you can do steeping grains, you can do a PM. It's just steeping in a set amount of water at a set temperature for a set amount of time, along with some base grain (2-row and Marris Otter for this brew). I'm going to be doing a PM in my 5 gallon pot. Here is my planned recipe for a 5 gallon batch.

Mash ingredients:
2 lb. 2-row
1.5 lb. pecans
.75 lb flaked barley
.75 lb Marris Otter
.5 lb roast barley
.5 lb C60
.5 lb C120
.25 lb choc malt
.25 lb carapils

Mash all of this in 2 gallons of water (5.5 lbs of grains * 1.5 qt. water/lb. of grain = 8.25 qts or ~2 gallons) at 153 for 60 minutes. I'll get my strike water up to 164 and stir my grains in my 5 gallon paint strainer bag and then wrap the kettle up with a hunting jacket and moving blanket.

For the boil, add ~ 1.5 gallons of water (I'm going to be doing a mini pour-over sparge of 170 degree water) to get to 3.5 gallons in the pot (highest I usually go for boil volume).

Boil additions:
.25 oz. Northern Brewer at 45 min.
1 oz. Northern Brewer at 15 min.
1 tsp. Irish Moss at 15 min.
.75 oz. Cascade at 5 min.
2 lb. Light DME at 0 min.

Top off to 5 gallons.

Aerate and pitch WLP023 starter at 63F.

I want to make mine a maple pecan porter like the Sam Adams version, so I'm going to add 1 lb. of Grade B maple syrup at high krausen (~2 days into fermentation).

Ferment in swamp cooler at 63 for about 7 days. Bring up to ~70 for another 2 weeks. Bottle at 2.2 vol. CO2.

That might sound a little daunting, but I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

This looks good. Let me know how it turns out.

Just read the Brew & A with Jason and then saw this thread got a tickle so I figured I'd post some questions. Is it possible to crush the pecans too fine? I was thinking of using a food processor to crush the nuts. With the rolling pin method, what's a good target size for the nut pieces? Should they be about the same as the crushed grains?

Love Porters, love pecans .... what could possibly go wrong?

Todd

Woo hoo! I have thought about using a food processor on the pecans, but I'm not sure how you would remove the oils if you crushed them up so fine. With the rolling pin, I crush them as small as I can get them, with them still being "pieces". Big enough that there is still some surface area from which to absorb oils. I know that doesn't tell you much, but to me it was just trial and error till I found a size I liked. Good luck with it.

 

[wapitiscat]

Maybe find someone with an oil press?

I may try food processing some then lay them on paper towels and heat in the oven. Sounds like just knocking the oil down even a little may be enough. I've got a couple off color head retention comments that I'll keep to myself. Probably NSFF (Not Suitable for Forum).

Todd

 

[diodeart]

Kegging this tonight. Will report back with results. It was a little work doing the oil removal, but smelled fantastic.
I wanted to rub the paper towels all over my body.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Maybe find someone with an oil press?

I may try food processing some then lay them on paper towels and heat in the oven. Sounds like just knocking the oil down even a little may be enough. I've got a couple off color head retention comments that I'll keep to myself. Probably NSFF (Not Suitable for Forum).

Todd

Kegging this tonight. Will report back with results. It was a little work doing the oil removal, but smelled fantastic.
I wanted to rub the paper towels all over my body.

 

[mdbrewer1]

Life got in the way of my earlier plans, but I've got my 5 gallons in the fermenter. My starter took off a little slow so I'm going to pitch it in the morning.

 

[mdbrewer1]

This was only the second time I made a starter, and since I wasn't sure about the yeast since it was a little darker than any others I've used, I ended up letting it ferment all the way. It left behind a nice white layer of good looking yeast, so I cold crashed last night, decanted, and pitched in my 1.047 wort. It had been two full days since I'd brewed, but the wort looked fine when I pitched and I didn't notice any off flavors in the hydro sample. I checked this morning and there is activity in the airlock after just 8 hours.

The plan is to pitch the grade B maple syrup at high krausen as suggested by another poster. I think I'll try 10 oz. and see what kind of flavor that gets me. I don't want it to overpower the pecan flavor.

 

[mdbrewer1]

I did my standard airlock sniffing earlier and the smell is fruitier than most of the brews I've sniffed in the past. Can I attribute that to the WLP023 yeast? I've used WLP004, Notty, S-04, and S-05 in the past, and this one strikes me as different.

 

[mdbrewer1]

Well, the yeasties are really going at it this morning. Constant bubbling while sitting in a 62 degree water bath. With the higher temperature inside the bucket, that should put it right at the low end of the suggested range. I'll bring it upstairs after about a week to warm up to about 70 for 2 weeks.

I looked back and my OG was less than the OP, but the syrup will bump the total sugar up, so I'm guessing it will be fairly close by the end.

I'm so excited about this one. I can't help posting about it.

 

[mdbrewer1]

I added 12 oz. (by weight) of Grade B maple syrup last night at almost exactly 48 hours since pitching the starter. The bubbling had started to slow and I figured it was close to high krausen.

Turns out that yeast REEEALLLYYY like Grabe B maple syrup. We're talking Buddy the Elf kind of like. When I came down at 7, the airlock was completely plugged, some liquid had escaped at the grommet/airlock connection, and the lid was bulging like nobody's business. I yanked the airlock out with surprisingly minor leakage and put a new one in. That one started clogging in less than a minute. I ended up removing the lid and just resting it on the bucket, and putting a piece of sanitized foil on the grommet hole. The entire headspace was filled with something that looked exactly like the foam you get when you pour the root beer into a root beer float.

I'll try sealing it back up this afternoon and see how it goes. This was a first for me. My wife got pretty freaked out about it.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Sounds great. Put the lid back on, and stick a blow off tube on it. Cant wait to hear how it turns out.

 

[mdbrewer1]

Soooo, it's been about 2 weeks since I pitched the starter and I'm still getting airlock activity every couple minutes. It sat in the basement for a week at 62 and it has been sitting in my office for the past week. We have a programmable thermostat that goes from 69 during the day to 66 at night. I have the bucket wrapped in a blanket in an upstairs closet to try to prevent temperature swings, but it likely varies a bit over the course of a day.

I was wondering if anyone experienced anything similar with this yeast strain. Would the temperature swings cause it to offgas? Would an infection cause it to keep bubbling like this? The plan is to bottle next weekend so I'll take my first hydro reading today or tomorrow, and I realize those numbers should help provide some answers, but I also wanted to see what others thought. I'm always trying to learn so I can be more dangerous going forward. Thanks!!

 

[mdbrewer1]

I took my first hydro reading tonight. Came in at 1.011. It was a bit thin, with a good porter flavor, and a hint of pecan at the finish. I see in other posts that it comes through even more with aging. Hopefully it does the same for me since I'd like it a bit more pronounced. I'll let it sit for a while before breaking into them.

The big downer though was that there was no maple flavor at all. I don't know if I added it too soon or maybe just didn't add enough. I don't know if the maple flavor will show up more as it ages or carbonates, but even if it doesn't it's still a tasty brew. If the gravity is the same on Sunday I'll be bottling then. I'll report back if the maple flavor starts to show up at some point, but I'm not holding my breath.

My Flapjack Porter name will have to wait.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Hope it turns out good.