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thanantos · 09-09-2012, 06:55 PM

Good idea igliashon. I have a bunch of 1 gallon and growlers sitting around. I think an experiment is needed here!

mtbskier · 09-16-2012, 08:57 PM

How long did your pumpkin beer to carbonate? Mine took 10 weeks to get good. I have found that the longer I age my GF beers the better they are

thanantos · 09-17-2012, 06:19 PM

I just racked it to secondary about 8 days ago. I will bottle it this weekend I think.

thanantos · 09-22-2012, 04:00 AM

I brewed this again today with the following:

5 gallon boil and 6 gallon final:
6lbs BRS @ 60
2.5lbs Sorghum @ 5
2lbs honey boiled for 20 minutes and added at flameout. Here is a pic of how the honey came out. It had a nice nutty flavor in the end:

1 oz of Columbus @ 60 for bittering
32 oz. each of pumpkin puree and pie filling carmelized @ 30
1lb Maltodextrin @ 15
1 tsp Irish Moss @ 15
3 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 15
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice @ 10

These pics show the difference in color the carmelized pumpkin pie filling and puree made. Here's just the BRS and hops:

Here's post pie filling:

OG 1.060 @ 78 degrees and pitched a packet of S-04.

thanantos · 10-02-2012, 12:41 AM

UPDATES TIME!

I bottled the first batch a few days ago. It's good, but light. Sadly, I think so light that the hops seem a bit much, and that's from a hop freak! We'll see if the bitterness mellows with time. Although, it is definitely drinkable, that's just a critique. There is some decent pumpkin flavor and color there, but this one is a BIT more yellow and less pumpkin orange than I would like. Again, a critique, it's still pretty good beer.

I racked batch #2 (Bigger, Bolder, better?) to secondary tonight, and the flavor was great with a nice sweetness that comes from the FG of 1.020 no doubt. I hope and assume this was done fermenting and the high FG is due to the heavily caramelized honey. I will however admit that I did not take multiple hydrometer readings. I counted on time and airlock activity to tell me it was done. I'll report back if I get a lower gravity at bottling time.

More importantly, it tastes great. The hops to malt is nicely balanced, and IMHO a sweet harvest/fall/halloween ale is not all bad.

ChasidicCalvinist · 10-02-2012, 12:06 PM

Well, the good and bad is you just perfectly described the autumn ale I made. It is light--as light as water. And the hops overshadow the spices by far. It is very disappointing. I'm hoping maybe it'll come into its own in a year. We'll see. But the sample I had in the secondary....the only thing that could improve is the hops mellowing. It isn't going to get more body sitting in a bucket. I'm hoping this mead will satisfy my fall flavors desire...but it was the first mead I ever made so if it is bad I wouldn't be surprised either. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/fall-harvest-mind-crusher-317341/

Safa · 10-02-2012, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thanantos

UPDATES TIME!

I bottled the first batch a few days ago. It's good, but light. Sadly, I think so light that the hops seem a bit much, and that's from a hop freak! We'll see if the bitterness mellows with time. Although, it is definitely drinkable, that's just a critique. There is some decent pumpkin flavor and color there, but this one is a BIT more yellow and less pumpkin orange than I would like. Again, a critique, it's still pretty good beer.

I racked batch #2 (Bigger, Bolder, better?) to secondary tonight, and the flavor was great with a nice sweetness that comes from the FG of 1.020 no doubt. I hope and assume this was done fermenting and the high FG is due to the heavily caramelized honey. I will however admit that I did not take multiple hydrometer readings. I counted on time and airlock activity to tell me it was done. I'll report back if I get a lower gravity at bottling time.

More importantly, it tastes great. The hops to malt is nicely balanced, and IMHO a sweet harvest/fall/halloween ale is not all bad.

I've been following this thread closely, this looks great and I'm going to brew a cope of your second batch tonight!

Just a question, the sorghum you used in the second batch, why did you throw it in the boil and not steep it before the boil like you normally would with a grain? The only thing I can think if is that in the recipe you meant sorghum syrup instead.

thanantos · 10-02-2012, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Safa

I've been following this thread closely, this looks great and I'm going to brew a cope of your second batch tonight!

Just a question, the sorghum you used in the second batch, why did you throw it in the boil and not steep it before the boil like you normally would with a grain? The only thing I can think if is that in the recipe you meant sorghum syrup instead.

It was sorghum syrup. Sorry about that. Good luck with the batch!

thanantos · 10-02-2012, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChasidicCalvinist

Well, the good and bad is you just perfectly described the autumn ale I made. It is light--as light as water. And the hops overshadow the spices by far. It is very disappointing. I'm hoping maybe it'll come into its own in a year. We'll see. But the sample I had in the secondary....the only thing that could improve is the hops mellowing. It isn't going to get more body sitting in a bucket. I'm hoping this mead will satisfy my fall flavors desire...but it was the first mead I ever made so if it is bad I wouldn't be surprised either. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/fall-harvest-mind-crusher-317341/

Sorry about your Autumn ale, but mead is becoming more and more interesting to me. That one sounds great. Maybe I will adjust the spices and brew that soon as a Christmas mead.

Safa · 10-02-2012, 03:50 PM

Thanks! I'll let you all know how it goes.