nut additions - ever done it?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by good_gracious, Nov 30, 2012.

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  1. good_gracious

    good_gracious Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2012 Maryland

    I've been experimenting a lot recently with adding extra flavors (peppers, coffee, herbs, etc). My favorite method by far is making a tincture with vodka and adding it to a fraction of the batch at bottling time. This way I can control flavor profiles, etc.

    Anyone ever do this with nuts? I'm thinking it should be straightforward, but some nuts have skins that taste extremely astringent to me (pecans for example). I'd rather not extract that crap! Thoughts?

    I know some malts offer nutty flavors but I'd like to go the more direct route if possible.
     
    #1 good_gracious, Nov 30, 2012
  2. good_gracious

    good_gracious Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2012 Maryland

    I should also say it was hard to come up with a title that didn't generate responses like "always wash your nuts". Maybe I'm not giving you classy dudes and dudettes enough credit though :wink:
     
    #2 good_gracious, Nov 30, 2012
  3. jmw

    jmw Initiate (0) Feb 4, 2009 North Carolina

    #3 jmw, Nov 30, 2012
  4. good_gracious

    good_gracious Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2012 Maryland

    Sweet! Thanks. I'd also welcome any thoughts from people if they've used this method
     
    #4 good_gracious, Nov 30, 2012
  5. benetoh

    benetoh Zealot (536) Feb 2, 2008 New Jersey

    I recently did a nut brown with apples and pecans. At the end of the boil, I put 5 lbs of chopped apples and about 4 ozs chopped pecans in a hop sack. Allowed to steep for 20 minutes. No problems with head retention, and a nice hint of pecan.
     
    #5 benetoh, Dec 1, 2012
  6. good_gracious

    good_gracious Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2012 Maryland

    That's kind of what I'm going for minus the apples. Just don't want to overdo it with the nuts. How did you arrive at the 4oz mark?
     
    #6 good_gracious, Dec 1, 2012
  7. loony4lambic

    loony4lambic Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2012 California

    Ive used almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, chestnuts. Flavors are hard to obtain and they leach out hella oils into your fermenters and are hard to clean. If you really want to it can be worth while, but definantly takes trial and error
     
    #7 loony4lambic, Dec 1, 2012
  8. match1112

    match1112 Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2011 Illinois

    I did a Nut Brown Labor Day weekend. In the secondary I added a cup of Pecans, a cup of walnuts and a cup of hazelnuts, all freshly roasted and placed in a paper bag to cool and soak up oils. I also added a pound of Georgia peaches my father-in-law brought back with him. Head retention was poor but there was some. A little oily and a lot of nut flavor, too much hazelnut made it a little buttery. It was a kit that I had done before so i knew what the results of the base beer should of been. Peach flavor and aroma were great. Just took a guess at the amount of nuts to use. Was kinda going for a peach pecan pie type of thing and like I said the only thing I was not thrilled about was the buttery flavor and feel from the hazelnuts.
     
    #8 match1112, Dec 1, 2012
  9. good_gracious

    good_gracious Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2012 Maryland

    That's why I love the "make a tincture" approach for these circumstances. I'm willing to waste 25% of a batch on a potentially bad idea, so that if its good I'll be able to make a full batch of it next time (if so desired--actually half the time I'd rather NOT have 5gal of some off the wall thing). That way I'm not wasting 5gal on a test run that has either to little or way too much flavor.

    at least with this approach I can do many more test runs beforehand. If nothing else i'll be able to make some interesting mixed drinks
     
    #9 good_gracious, Dec 1, 2012
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  10. loony4lambic

    loony4lambic Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2012 California

    Thats the way to go. Awesome
     
    #10 loony4lambic, Dec 1, 2012
  11. good_gracious

    good_gracious Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2012 Maryland

    Would you change your process next time or just the amount of hazelnuts?
     
    #11 good_gracious, Dec 1, 2012
  12. match1112

    match1112 Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2011 Illinois

    I don't think I would hazelnuts again and putting the nuts in the secondary made for a hell of a time when trying to bottle and clean up. It also took something like two months in the secondary before it was ready to bottle. Other than that it had great flavor and aroma.
     
    #12 match1112, Dec 1, 2012
  13. koopa

    koopa Initiate (0) Apr 20, 2008 New Jersey

    The research I've done on this topic in the past suggested:
    roast them first - helps release oils (where flavor is)
    roast 1 - 1.5 cups of them in oven
    steep them in vodka for 1 month
    use the extract in the bottling bucket or keg
     
    #13 koopa, Dec 1, 2012
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  14. good_gracious

    good_gracious Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2012 Maryland

    I'll probably do exactly this with the addition of freezing the extract and skimming the off the top (a la drewbage's nib tincture method mentioned in another post)
     
    #14 good_gracious, Dec 1, 2012
  15. ArchEnemyBrew

    ArchEnemyBrew Initiate (0) Mar 21, 2010 Washington

    About a year ago I made an imperial oatmeal maple nut brown. I used cashews and pecans in the mash and "dry hopped" after primary was done. I toasted the unsalted nuts in the oven until they were a nice light brown color, cooled them, crushed them up into rough chunks and put them into paper bags to soak up the oils. I had no issues with head retention and the beer was really damn good.
     
    #15 ArchEnemyBrew, Dec 1, 2012
  16. JebediahScooter

    JebediahScooter Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2010 Vermont

    I mashed a pound of pecans in a brown ale this fall. Roasted them at 300* or so for 10 minutes, put them in a brown paper bag, roasted again, and put them in a clean bag. Thr paper took care of a good amount of oil, and head retention wasn't really an issue. The beer was really good...a nice subtle nuttiness that wasn't obviously pecans.
     
    #16 JebediahScooter, Dec 2, 2012
  17. good_gracious

    good_gracious Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2012 Maryland

    Interesting, that's the first (and second) I've heard of someone putting them in the mash. I was thinking a pound sounded like a lot, but with it only being in contact with the liquid for an hour or so I guess I could see how that might work. Both sound delicious in any case!
     
    #17 good_gracious, Dec 2, 2012
  18. JebediahScooter

    JebediahScooter Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2010 Vermont

    Yeah, it wasn't super prominent. People drinking the beer were asking about it, and when I told them it was pecans, almost everybody was like, "ooooh, that makes sense." I talked to the brewer at Olde Hickory because they did a pecan brown this year, and he mashed his pecans too.
     
    #18 JebediahScooter, Dec 2, 2012
  19. good_gracious

    good_gracious Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2012 Maryland

    Hey JS, just saw that you're from Raleigh--i went to State and moved up to md for work after that. Miss that place like crazy! Its hella expensive up here.
     
    #19 good_gracious, Dec 2, 2012
  20. hopdog09

    hopdog09 Initiate (0) Sep 6, 2012 Michigan

    I just made a walnut porter that turned out really good. I used the extract method using vodka with about a pound of crushed nuts. in addition to freezing the extract first I also ran it through a coffee filter which I think helped.
     
    #20 hopdog09, Dec 3, 2012
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