Bootleggers Brown Ale

Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

Pecan Ale is made with real Louisiana roasted pecans for a subtle, nutty flavor and aroma. It's brewed with pale, Munich, biscuit and caramel malts, and Willamette hops. The roasted pecans are added in the brewhouse.

Mill or crack the grains if not pre-crushed. Heat approximately 4.0 gallons of strike water to 164°F (to target mash temperature ~152°F accounting for grain-temp).

Mill and Heat Strike Water

Add the pale malt, Munich, biscuit and caramel malts to the mash tun. Dough in with the strike water to reach a mash temperature of 150–154°F (target 152°F). Stir to eliminate dry pockets and ensure good enzyme contact.

Mash In

Hold the mash for 60 minutes at 152°F. Gentle recirculation or stirring once after 20–30 minutes helps uniform conversion. Perform an iodine test near the end of the rest to confirm starch conversion.

Mash Rest

Raise mash temperature to 168°F (mash out) for 10 minutes to reduce viscosity and improve lautering.

Mash Out

While mash is finishing, spread the pecans on a baking sheet and roast in a 350°F oven for 8–10 minutes if not already roasted. Allow pecans to cool slightly and coarsely crush (not into fine powder) to increase surface area while avoiding excessive oil release. Place crushed pecans in a sanitized stainless steel mesh bag or hop bag for brewhouse addition.

Prepare Roasted Pecans for Brewhouse Addition

Lauter and sparge with enough water to collect roughly 6.5–7.0 gallons of pre-boil wort (adjust based on system losses to yield ~5.0 gallons finished). Target a pre-boil gravity around 1.046–1.050 depending on efficiency.

Sparge and Collect Wort

Bring the collected wort to a vigorous boil. At the start of the boil (60 minutes remaining), add 1.0 oz Willamette hops for bittering. Add any water salts (CaCl2/Gypsum) at this stage if using.

Start Boil & Bittering Hops

With 45–30 minutes left in the boil, add the sanitized mesh bag of coarsely crushed roasted pecans to the kettle. Let the pecan bag steep in the boil for 30–40 minutes. This timing extracts nutty flavor and aroma while minimizing excessive oil extraction which can cause haze or stability issues.

Add Roasted Pecans in the Boil

With 10–15 minutes remaining, add the second 1.0 oz Willamette hops for flavor/aroma and the Irish moss (if using). Continue to boil the wort for the full 60 minutes.

Late Hop Addition and Clarifier

At the end of the boil, remove the pecan bag and disposed solids. Turn off heat and whirlpool for 10–15 minutes to help trub settle, aiming for a clear center for chilled wort removal.

Remove Pecans and Whirlpool

Chill the wort rapidly to yeast-pitching temperature (65–68°F) using a wort chiller. Transfer to a sanitized fermenter, leaving behind trub as much as possible.

Chill Wort

Aerate or oxygenate the cooled wort adequately. Pitch the ale yeast (1 pack or appropriate cell count) at about 65–68°F. Close fermenter and attach airlock or blow-off tube.

Aerate and Pitch Yeast

Allow fermentation at 65–68°F for 5–7 days until vigorous activity slows. Then allow a diacetyl rest by raising temperature to 68–70°F for 2–3 days to clean up off-flavors.

Primary Fermentation

Optional: rack to a secondary or leave in primary and condition for an additional 7–14 days for clarification and flavor development. Total fermentation/conditioning time ~2–3 weeks.

Secondary / Conditioning (optional)

If bottling, dissolve 3.5 oz priming sugar in 2/3 cup boiling water, cool and add to bottling bucket, then rack beer onto it and bottle. If kegging, carbonate to approximately 2.2–2.6 volumes CO2 and condition cold for 1–2 weeks.

Packaging

Cold crash to near-freezing for 24–48 hours to improve clarity. Serve chilled. Expect a subtle nutty aroma and light pecan flavor with a medium malt backbone and Willamette floral/herbal notes.

Cold Conditioning and Serving

Pale ale / 2-row malt

Munich malt

Biscuit malt

Caramel / Crystal malt (40L)

Roasted pecans, coarsely crushed (lightly toasted/roasted in oven)

Willamette hops (bittering)

Willamette hops (flavor/aroma)

American ale yeast (e.g., Safale US-05 or White Labs WLP001)

Water (strike + sparge + boil to yield final batch)

Irish moss (optional, clarifying)

Priming sugar (for bottling, if bottling)

Calcium chloride (optional, to round malt)

Gypsum (optional, minimal)

Abita Pecan Ale

Dark & Stormy

Vodka, Cynar, Coffee Liqueur, Cream, Chocolate Bitters

Let's Towpath Go

Silver Rum, Dark Rum, Lime, Orgeat, Orange Curacao

Mai Tai

Raspberry Lemon

Silver Rum, Maraschino Liqueur, Lime, Grapefruit

Hemingway Daiquiri

Gin, St Germain, Dolin Génépyle Chamois

Towpath Classic

Make Abita Pecan Ale Recipe in just 24h . Pecan Ale is made with real Louisiana roasted pecans for a subtle, nutty flavor and aroma. It's brewed with pale, Munich, biscuit and caramel malts, and Willamette hops. The roasted pecans are added in the brewhouse.

Abita Pecan Ale Recipe

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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