All-Grain - Richard's Pumpkin Ale - Page 11

valacech · 09-15-2011, 08:47 PM

I just brewed this last week. It is presently sitting in the primary and has been for about a week. Bubbling was aggressive for the first 3-4 days and has gradually slowed. I am curious as to the length of additional fermentation. Did you leave it in the primary fermenter and just move it to a chilled environment so it could clear up and settle before bottling (or in your case kegging)?

I transferred this to a secondary fermenter to allow it to continue fermenting without all the additional yeast. I'll probably move it to the fridge soon to stop the fermentation process and allow it to condition and clear up. When I siphoned it off, I ended up with about 3 gallons in the secondary and a whole bunch of sludge left over (about 2 gallons). Anyone else experience this same thing?

trebor · 09-19-2011, 08:06 PM

Me?...Don't be in too much of a rush. I let my pumkin ale sit in the primary for at least a week. The lack of fermentation isn't a serious thing at this (a week) point. I then get it into a secondary fermenter for at least two weeks, not chilled, but at a resonable temp, typically at the temp the primary experienced. (all of this can get "touchy" depending on the focus you and the yeast manufacture recommend). You don't need to move it to a chilled enviroment to settle and clear. It'll be fine at room temp. My last batch settled in the secondary for four or so weeks. A lot of trub is realistic when brewing a pumpkin ale. You need to manage the issue. The use of a nylon bag, during the boil is a huge benefit. Going into the primary with six or more gallons, is a good practice. I condition my ale in the bottle, at a "room" temp 69-71 degrees for 4-5 weeks..I then cool it for another 2-3 weeks. don't rush.

nwbrewdude · 09-21-2011, 08:18 PM

I am planning on brewing this weekend, I had planned on using the original recipe but after reading the entire post I think I am going to bump up the grain bill instead of adding molasses. Any suggestions on grain addition?

My current grain bill:
10 lbs Organic 2 Row
2 lbs German Munich
.5 lbs Crystal 60

Thanks to all for the input on the recipe, cant wait to brew it

trebor · 09-22-2011, 07:38 PM

Go back to page 9 for a full grain bill. Molasses....no.

nwbrewdude · 09-26-2011, 11:59 AM

I typed molasses, but I meant maple syrup ... my bad

valacech · 10-04-2011, 07:11 PM

Update:

I moved the entire carboy into the fridge to stop fermentation and it cleared up nicely after about 10 days in there. I pulled it out on Saturday, primed with 1.5oz of brown sugar boiled in 2 cups of water and bottled it. It's conditioning now in the bottles. Ended up with 32 12oz bottles (about 3 gallons) :/ I have to say, I tried some of this and it was tasty! Can't wait to pop one of these puppies.

For the record, I more than doubled the spice amounts in this batch and added ground ginger and used whole cinnamon sticks instead of ground. I left the cinnamon sticks in the primary the whole time. It's a pretty tasty brew.

I also did the math and figured that a 32oz bottle of pure, grade A maple syrup was perfect. I found some on sale for $9 at Shop Rite. I bought 2. : )

lewybrewing · 11-15-2011, 07:32 PM

I brewed this a couple of weeks ago and it was a huge hit.

A couple things that I noticed and or changed:

I used the Ralphs store pumpkin pie filling. 2 cans.
I went a little heavy on the spices...but my wife loves getting cheap spices from BigLots so I am sure they were old and cheap.
I brewed this as my 3rd beer for the day. I really don't remember much about the process other than a beer in my hand and a great time.

Now I ended up with 5.5 gallons of wort. With Trub loss I netted about 4 gallons of beer. I did notice that this beer fermented quickly but had way to many spices to it. So I let it sit in the fermenter for a couple of weeks. Not long just about 3 total after primary fermentation. This left me with a very dry clean pumpkin ale. Most of my homebrewing friends and craftbeer loving friends loved it.

I will brew this again.

Beerzilla · 12-27-2011, 11:24 AM

Excellent recipe.

I followed exactly except for the pumpkin amounts. I used 1 can American pumpkin puree in the mash and 1kg cubed and baked Japanese kabocha squash.

All my friends loved this one. Thank you for the great recipe!!

VandalEngr · 01-15-2012, 01:43 AM

Great recipe. I brewed this a few months back and followed the original recipe, but I substituted honey in place of the maple syrup. Everyone loved it for Halloween.