Multiple - Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale (AG and Extract versions) - Page 26

k1200rsvt · 10-10-2009, 03:35 PM

I just tapped my keg last night and this is an incredible beer and to add to the excitement it was the first beer I have ever kegged. I think another batch is going to get started this or next weekend.

I used 7.25# of fresh pumpkin and you can definitely taste the pumpkin in the beer. Much more so then any commercially made Pumpkin I have had.

g13092 · 10-11-2009, 01:10 PM

Did any of you who tried the AG version make any temperature adjustments for the pumpkin in the mash? I'm afraid I will miss my temp due to the large, unaccounted for mass of pumpkin...

Starter is bubbling away right now, I plan to brew this later today and this little tidbit hit me while lying in bed this morning

Thanks,
Mark

jajabee · 10-11-2009, 04:26 PM

I poured the hotter-than-necessary water into the cooler, as usual, added ice until it was down around 170, then added the pumpkin, which was hot from the oven. It instantly liquified, so I had an orange soupy mixture in there. I waited a minute to make sure the temp was still around 170, then added the grain and rice hulls and stirred like mad till it was down to the mid-150's, just a few minutes.

dracus · 10-12-2009, 02:54 AM

I am happy to report. 7 days in the fermentor I tested the gravity and it was spot on at 1.015. Pre-spice tea it was awesome...Spice tea thrown in...Doesn't seem like the spice tea is all that much but I guess time will tell.

Bowtiebrewery · 10-12-2009, 01:58 PM

I made this guy on saturday morning: here are the results so far:
The two on the left are Thunderstruck and the conical and the smaller carboy are a Roxy Rolles Clone.
Oh look there's my dog being inquisitive...

You can see that Thunderstruck has a bit more activity going on in it than the Rolles clone:
Hey I know that grain bag shouldnt be on the floor but it was only there during the pics... So no worries there guys...

I originally tried for a 10 gallon batch but as I was checking my gravities I was coming up short so I made sure that I boiled a bit longer to hit my target so I ended up with about 8 gallons of Thunderstruck and about 8 gallons of the Roxy Rolles... I will say though that both tasted and smelled wonderful upon final samples...

McBrewski · 10-12-2009, 11:38 PM

How did you guys steep the spices to make the spice tea?

dracus · 10-13-2009, 01:28 AM

I wasn't sure how to do this either, so I just put the 1 1/2 tsp in the hot water mixed it up and then later threw the whole thing in carboy. I figured there was no easy way to "strain" the spices even a tea ball would have leaked the cinnamon out.

Not sure this is right, but since one recipe had you boiling the spice in the mix I figure there was no harm in having it in the fermenter. Now I do have bits of orange peel floating on top. I have no idea if it will eventually sink or what. Not used to "Seeing" inside the fermenter. I opted do make an investment in a glass carboy since I had to buy a new bucket anyway. Didn't want to secondary in the bottle bucket.

I did notice the spices did darken up the ale a bit. It was YUMMY pre-spiced so I can only imagine it later going to let it do its thing.

dmbnpj · 10-13-2009, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomwirsing

The "tea" refers to boiling the spices in some water to sanitize. The boiling water extracts the spices flavors and you have a sanitized, spice flavored, solution you can safely add.

I asked that earlier in the thread and this was the answer I got...

g13092 · 10-13-2009, 03:08 AM

To follow up, my attempt at Thunderstruck seemed to go well.

Regarding the temps, I added the pumpkin as it was still warm and it didn't bring down the water temp more than a few degrees. Note, that 'few' is not a precise number. I should have checked to see if it was still hot enough before adding grains, but it didn't click. DOH! It ended up 7 degrees low after adding grain. I had to add another 3 qts of water to bring things up to temp. I think the grain and tun were colder than I told Beersmith. I had left them out in the garage since Friday and it's been in the low 30s overnight, 50 during the day.

I did end up with a stuck sparge, but was able to break it up with the paddle. I think the pumpkin to grain ratio was too high, even with a pound of rice hulls. I used three 29 oz cans for a six gallon batch (72oz was the intended amount). Next time, just 2 cans for me, please.

Spices I just tossed into the boil 5 min before flame out, no magic. Smelled great!

**FuelshopMcgee** · 10-14-2009, 12:16 AM

I bought a spice grain bag and threw that in the boil the flavors all came out fine and I left all the mush in the bag.