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BeantownR6 · 10-13-2010, 02:52 AM

i just cracked open a bottle after 1.5 weeks i just had to sneak a taste since i made it 1.5 months ago... its carbed enough it tastes great. i made 10 gallons and mashed with 7 lbs of butter nut squash. added the tea spice at bottling and kegging. 5 gallons each. the bottles are sitting for turkey day and gifts, and the keg is gonna be tapped next week. this beer is awesome!

**jturie** · 10-13-2010, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erikrocks

When did you brew it?

Sorry, missed this. Can't find my notes, but I did 3 weeks in primary and force carbed for two days.

It's even better now...subtle pumpkin nose, nice amber/orange color, absolutely clear as a bell.

EDIT: I ran into a BJCP guy at my LHBS last week and was discussing this recipe with him. He made an interesting suggestion: instead of using water to make the spice "tea", try mixing the spices with a half cup of vodka. He says the alcohol does a better job of dispersing the spice and keeps it suspended in the beer. Water tends to drag the spices to the bottom of the keg/bottling bucket. I used water and did notice a definite reduction in the spice flavor after the first few pints.

elproducto · 10-13-2010, 05:19 PM

OK last minute question, as I'm ready to bottle this tonight.
Hydro sample tasted awesome but the spice was really subtle which is nice. Will the spice fade out? I'm just wondering if I should add a little bit more spice tea at bottling.

jar234psu · 10-13-2010, 07:53 PM

I kegged this about a week ago and have been tasting it consistently since it left primary (about 3 weeks ago). I have to say , this is probably the best beer I have ever made. It was relatively bland after fermentation, at which point i added the spice "tea". It remained bland until just recently when everything really started to bind together.

I used Wyeast - 1099 Whitbread instead of the yeast recommended on page 1.

I also used 5 lbs of baked pumpkin (350 F for 1 hour) instead of canned pumpkin. No problem sparging at all.

Although I cant say for sure whether it was the 1099 that produced this... I get this wonderfully creamy taste that is so similar to whipped cream on top of this really nice pumpkin pie spice blend.

I give this recipe 5 stars for sure.

jar234psu · 10-13-2010, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elproducto

OK last minute question, as I'm ready to bottle this tonight.
Hydro sample tasted awesome but the spice was really subtle which is nice. Will the spice fade out? I'm just wondering if I should add a little bit more spice tea at bottling.

I added some spices to the boil, and had the same reaction at the end of fermentation.

I added the spice tea, very conservatively (about 60% of what was recommended), and it is really wonderful now, after about a week in the keg.

Sounds like you might want to add a bit, but just dont go overboard.

elproducto · 10-13-2010, 11:45 PM

Alright got this in bottles. Got about 42 regular size bottles.
Decided not to add any more spice tea.

duffman2 · 10-14-2010, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mojotele

My suggestion:

Wait until fermentation is complete and taste it.
If it is too thin or dry, calculate how much lactose will be needed to bring the entire volume up to the desired gravity.
Pull one to two cups of the beer and prepare a proportional amount of lactose in a small amount of hot water. Let the water cool, and add a measured amount to the beer.
Repeat last step until beer is at desired sweetness or until you're out of water/lactose mix.
Calculate how much lactose is needed for the entire volume proportional to the amount of lactose you added to the small glass of beer.
If you want more body without the sweetness, supplement with enough maltodextrin to reach desired final gravity after adding the lactose.

That's what I did. I ended up adding 7.5 oz of lactose and 3 oz of maltodextrin or something like that. The beer is still too dry, but it's good beer.

Great call Mojo, my sample tasted decent but too thin and too dry. Thanks a lot for the feedback brotha

Cheers!

mojotele · 10-14-2010, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duffman2

Great call Mojo, my sample tasted decent but too thin and too dry. Thanks a lot for the feedback brotha

Cheers!

Glad to be of help!

SourHopHead · 10-14-2010, 11:11 PM

Kegged mine up today just shy of 3 weeks. Final gravity of 4.5P and Mighty Tasty!

natural · 10-17-2010, 07:53 PM

For the extract version should I be using whole hops or pellet hops for the .75 goldings? or will it even make a difference?