Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

I ended up adding an additional 1/4 tsp of pumpkin spice to the keg after a few weeks and it was awesome! Do it!

Put a variation of this in the fermenter on 10-22 with a gravity of 1.072 and did a gravity check yesterday on 10-30 with a gravity of 1.016. Aroma was superb and sample flavor was great as well. I plan to rack to secondary in about a week over some mexican vanilla extract that my wife has. I tested it yesterday with this and it was very good. I will ad some polyclar to assist with clearing while it ages in secondary.

brew2enjoy said:

I ended up adding an additional 1/4 tsp of pumpkin spice to the keg after a few weeks and it was awesome! Do it!

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did you make tincture or just add spice directly to keg?

Just tapped my first keg for my first all grain, and this stuff is awesome. Mine came in at 7.6%, so it's a bit hot, but nice and bready with a nice aftertaste of spice and pumpkin. Very good!!

Served some last night to the parents of trick or treaters. It was a hit! I also had my jack O lantern, atop my keezer. Had a couple people taking pictures. Good times!

(trying to add pics, but the app crashes every time??? Pics are up at buikurt.blogspot.com )

tre9er said:

did you make tincture or just add spice directly to keg?

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I just tossed it right into the keg. I'm sure making a "spice tea" would have worked better but I like the result I got.

Reno/All:

Last night I served a few big plastic cups to a few moms that were walking around with us doing trick or treat with our kids. They told me they'd pay for this beer if it was on the shelf. Granted I changed up the recipe a little based on what I had, I wouldn't have known how much pumpkin or spice to use if it weren't for this recipe! Kudos!

Brewed this on 9/29, left in primary for about 3 weeks, then another week or so in secondary with gelatin added. Kegged and carbed for about a week. Tapped a few days ago and it's fantastic. I'm planning to do another round with a little more everything next time around to kick it up to a 'double'. Thanks for the great recipe!
I was a little unsure about how much spice to use - teaspoon vs Tablespoon, ended up going with 1.5 Tablespoons worth for a 5gal batch, was just about right and certainly not overpowering. Going to add 2.5T next time around for the double version.

I rarely secondary, and this was the first time I've used gelatin. Very pleased with the results and will be doing this more in the future when appropriate for the style.

Mine will be in the primary for 3 weeks monday. Was hoping to have it ready for Thanksgiving but I'm a bit nervous I'm rushing it.

cbehr said:

Mine will be in the primary for 3 weeks monday. Was hoping to have it ready for Thanksgiving but I'm a bit nervous I'm rushing it.

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Nah, started drinking mine at week 4 and it was great. Halloween I received a few compliments on it, that was about 5 weeks old.

I made this recipe as directed in the OP in early sept. It was 3 weeks in primary and almost 5 weeks bottle conditioned. The 3 bottles I've tried so far have been harsh and astringent, but not from spices. I think what happened is the ph of pumpkin along with the low alkalinity (~40 mg/l) in my water caused a less than ideal mash ph. I've had issues before when using roasted malts in the mash without any water treatment.

Just wanted to mention this in case you have low alkalinity water and were thinking of brewing this.

Brewed this one up (10/6) and just opened a bottle today. OG was 1.056 and FG was 1.004. I basically followed the same receipt, but only went with 1 tablespoon of spice instead of 1.5. I baked the pumpkin for about 65 minutes since I'm at a higher elevation. I also used a pound of rice hulls just to be on the safe side. My mash temp was a few degrees low, but the final product turned out great.

I haven't had many pumpkin beers, but I figured I'd make a batch for a fall party. Since brewing this beer I've only tried an oak aged pumpkin ale as well as a sour pumpkin, so I still don't really have any basis for comparison. But I have to say that just two weeks after bottling, it tastes pretty awesome. Great spice smell and flavor. I've avoided pumpkin beers in the past because I assumed they were going to be too sweet or overly spiced, but after this one I think this one will be on my fall rotation. Can't wait to serve this one up to my guests!

Walshy87 said:

Has anyone skipped secondary and went straight to bottle? I'm at 9 days and it's still bubbling. Im thinking about letting it sit for two or three weeks and bottling.

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Mine finished fermenting in a little over two weeks and then I bottled. I just opened one today after two weeks in the bottle and it tastes great. I'd skip the secondary unless you're trying to clear it up. I figure this one is just meant to be a little cloudy.

Well, it looks like I will be brewing batch #3 soon. Everyone that has tried this raves about it. Now all I ever hear is "when is the next batch of pumpkin beer going to be ready? ". This batch is going to be for me though!

Holy carp, three batches already?! Awesome

Just took a sample it taste great, but there's almost no pumpkin flavor. I had a og of 1.064 and finished at 1.008. I'm at three weeks in primary and planning on bottling next weekend. I used 1.5 tbs at 5 min.

Should I boil some water and more spice and throw it in now or add it to the bottling bucket?

If so how much?

Walshy87 said:

Just took a sample it taste great, but there's almost no pumpkin flavor. I had a og of 1.064 and finished at 1.008. I'm at three weeks in primary and planning on bottling next weekend. I used 1.5 tbs at 5 min.

Should I boil some water and more spice and throw it in now or add it to the bottling bucket?

If so how much?

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Give it time in the bottle/keg, the spice will come through.

Ok, I'm glad I didn't make any irrational decisions.

YAY finally kegged this one. Can't wait until it's ready.

5g of mine was gone by week 5. A Halloween party (preceded by me drinking it that week prior) and then a few pints last wednesday, gone. I bottled the other 3g or so with brown sugar. Been maybe 3 weeks in bottles. I threw two bombers in the fridge Saturday. Probably have one tonight.

Hmm.... so I never got to taking the hydrometer reading last night because I was tired after a double brew day. Took a sample and it got really dry. It's slightly more alcohol-hot that last year but I'm sure that will mellow a bit.

But then again the sample was taken from the tap and some CO2 may have dissolved into solution... so who knows if I can trust my hydrometer.

tre9er said:

Nah, started drinking mine at week 4 and it was great. Halloween I received a few compliments on it, that was about 5 weeks old.

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Same here! My keg is almost empty and it's time to do another batch already. This was an amazing beer.

I've read this entire thread before I brewed a few weeks back but can't remember what level you guys are carbing this at?

cbehr said:

I've read this entire thread before I brewed a few weeks back but can't remember what level you guys are carbing this at?

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I can only speak for myself. I carbed the keg to about 2.5vol.

Same here, about 2.5 volumes

Finally brewed my rendition for myself, after bottling a batch last Thursday I brewed at a friends house. 1.078 gravity, before the brown sugar, its going to be a monster!

Tasting the sample was like an even better version of Southern Tier's!

Brewed this yesterday. My OG was 1.082, which I felt was too high, so I added boiled/cooled water until I got the OG down to 1.072. Was this a bad thing? Used dark brown sugar and Sweet potatoes in lieu of pumpkin (store was out)...Sweet Potato Pale should be ready just after Turkey Day!

Eh I tend to let it ride if OG goes too high. There's nothing wrong with awesome efficiency. Adding water has the potential to throw off the balance of flavors. But I'm sure it'll be fine. Whatever you're making is still going to be beer

Reno_eNVy said:

Eh I tend to let it ride if OG goes too high. There's nothing wrong with awesome efficiency. Adding water has the potential to throw off the balance of flavors. But I'm sure it'll be fine. Whatever you're making is still going to be beer

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I was concerned the ABV would be too high. iBrewmaster was estimating nearly 9% and I thought it would end up too dry and too hot. Good to know it won't be wasted and its bubbling away right now! It's a long wait...

Bottled mine yesterday, OG was 1.070 and FG was 1.015 so it may be a tad dry? I was surprised at how pronoucned the small amount of spice I added was, but I'm sure it will mellow in the next few weeks. Can't wait to try it!!

I think 99.9% of the population would be hard pressed to tell a difference between 1.018 and 1.015, the latter still being a really good FG for this brew.

And yeah, that spice will mellow in due time.

Brewed this this morning. Boiled off a little bit before i started my boil because my preboil gravity was low. I didnt take into consderation the brown sugar adjustment and ended up with 4ish gallons with a OG of 1.069. Im looking forward to trying this in a few weeks

anyone have any luck adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract along with the 5 min spice additions?

jdgapc said:

anyone have any luck adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract along with the 5 min spice additions?

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Better off adding it at bottling, or even better add a vanilla bean to secondary.

brewmaster12 said:

Better off adding it at bottling, or even better add a vanilla bean to secondary.

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This

I add an ounce of pure vanilla extract, and some lactose at bottling. Gives it that somthing special

thanks for the tips

I've never tried that before. Maybe I should bottle half the keg and hit the other half with vanilla and lactose... hmmmm...

I usually end up finishing at a FG around 1.008ish, and like the slight extra body and sweetness from the lactose.

Getting ready to brew this guy up tomorrow--couple of questions though.

Is it really necessary to pitch 2 packets of US05? Wouldn't this be over pitching?

How much pumpkin spice should I add to adjust for using Libby's SPICED pumpkin mix?

Thanks for the recipe. This is my first pumpkin ale attempt. Very excited!