Autumn Seasonal Beer Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale (AG and Extract versions)

Williams 728
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whitehause said:
Is anyone finding this beer is finishing on the high end of the Fg? i just racked on to my spices and was a little surprised at the gravity reading. I got good efficiency(1.066), but it seems to have stopped at about 1.025. I added the pumpkin to the mash and did a standard 60 min boil, I've just never had one finish this high before. I used a pack of S-04, and also some Bell's that I had washed the night before( I like the Bell's profile). Fermented the first week at 62, then pulled it out of the chamber and have had it at 68 for about 2 weeks.

It tastes good, and there are no signs of any off flavors, so I'll just let it on the the spice "dry hop" for a week and keg her on up. Just didn't know if mashing and boiling the pumpkin added un-fermentables that would keep the Fg on the high side.
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Also, remember that S-04 is not the most attenuative yeast out there and tends to end a little high. I went from 1.056 to 1.014 at 68 degrees in two weeks then bottled. If you boiled the pumpkin without a bag it's likely to add some unferemntables. However, 1.025 seems high still.
 
I didn't actually boil the pumpkin( had a few when I wrote that post), I do BIAB, and added the pump to the mash. I pulled the bag,let it drain, then did my boil. I know S-04 can finish a bit high, that's part of the reason I put some of the Bell's yeast in there. I agree the higher mash temp added to the unfermentables, and I want it a bit on the sweet side anyway, so I guess I'll just roll with it the way it is. It tastes good to me so :mug:

If every one else is starting at 1.056 and finishing around 1.015 I'm not too far off with 1.066 and 1.025.
 
This is my 2nd batch and my OG was 1.057. I racked it to secondary after 1 week and now day 15, I'm at 1.020. Mine may not go any lower.
 
OMG. A pumpkin ale that tastes like pumpkin pie! Yuri, thanks so much for this recipe. I cracked one open over the weekend after 2 weeks in the bottle and it is great. I can see pairing this with a grilled pork tenderloin or a grilled ham steak. :mug:
Susie
 
I brewed this on Saturday and all smelled and tasted delicious. Unfortunately this photo is what it looks like today.....Infected y'all think?? Or should I just pitch another sachet of yeast?

Untitled by carlspurgeon, on Flickr
 
Mine didn't start all that well with just the S-04, when I added the Bell's it started up pretty well, but never had a great krausen.

I wouldn't worry about infection....It looks like Co2 bubbles, and an infection usually takes longer than 2 days to really show signs anyway.
 
brettwasbtd said:
What yeast did you use? S-04 drops like a brick. I concur you are fine
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Cool, good to know. I did use S-04 but it was my first time. I actually rarely use dry yeast at all. I have just never seen yeast fall out in 2 days.

I suppose then I will just check the grav in a couple of days and see if it's dropping. If not, dump another pack on it.
 
Just finished another batch of my version. It's on tap now, it's delicious! Hopefully will be well received at a Halloween party, and for the holidays. I was able too use home grown pumpkin and nuget hop, so I call it my estate harvest pumpkin ale, LOL. I'm using my own blend of spices though, I didn't like the results of the pre made blends.I go with a blend I use for pies and only use as much as this recipe calls for. Much milder I find, it allows the pumpkin to comethrough better. Cheers!
 
I brewed the extract version of Thunderstruck about 3 weeks ago. I didn't use a full starter, but had quick action. It sat in the primary for about 3 weeks, then kegged and force carbed it. I have thunderstruck, Requiem Raspberry and a Honey Wheat on tap right now. Thunderstruck is still green, but it has quite a high abv. I didn't measure this batch but just one glass leaves me with a nice warm glow. It's much better than the pumpkin I did last year. So far the top brews have been this and Centennial Blonde.
 
I had been going with about an oz per gallon but I'd been finding that my brews were getting a little too carbonated? I've cut back to about 4 oz for my last few 5 gallon batches and that seems to be working so far.
 
Well, I couldn't wait to Halloween and tapped the keg this past weekend. I brewed 5 gal AG around 6 weeks ago. I followed the recipe as posted except I used an ounce of Cluster that I already had. OG: 1.054, FG: 1.019 (high FG possibly due to the high mashing temp of 158). The beer is smooth, with a very subtle pumpkin spice aroma and flavor, which I prefer. It has a silkiness texture to it and it tastes "bigger" than the numbers would otherwise suggest. Maybe that's attributed to the pumpkin itself or the higher FG. I like it better than other commercial representations of this style that I've had in the past. Great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
 
S3NTYN3L said:
Just pitched on the following variant:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/th...ract-versions-26699/index118.html#post4459173

My OG is sitting about about 1.061!?

Hmm, well, here's to hoping...
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Sorry I didn't post back sooner. You're higher OG could just be that more pumpkin material in your fermenter. Did you end up with 6 gallons and not less? If you followed my variant recipe and end with less than 6 gal you'll have a higher OG.

I had another couple of these last night and the flavor has really mellowed out. The spice mixture is not nearly as dominant as it was a couple weeks ago. It's still good just not quite as complex as before. The OP mentioned this as well. Just like an IPA, make sure you drink this one fast!
 
I have a couple of questions for those using a real pumpkin for this.
1) did you use a regular ol' carving pumpkin or a pie pumpkin (up until a few weeks ago I didn't know there was a difference)
2) how do you prepare your pumpkin for this recipe? Do you cook it, or just cut it up into chunks and let it go?
 
ajohnson153 said:
I have a couple of questions for those using a real pumpkin for this.
1) did you use a regular ol' carving pumpkin or a pie pumpkin (up until a few weeks ago I didn't know there was a difference)
2) how do you prepare your pumpkin for this recipe? Do you cook it, or just cut it up into chunks and let it go?
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I haven't made this recipe, but this is easy to answer.

a) I wouldn't recommend carving pumpkins. If they're not good enough for pie, why would they be good enough for beer? Use pie pumpkins, or even butternut squash, which is often used to give things a better, more pumpkin-y taste than even actual pumpkins.

b) pumpkin is generally used in beer (including this recipe) by roasting it in the oven first. I'd discourage using raw pumpkin, as it would give too much of a vegetal flavor.
 
Bottled this up today. I added the spices near flameout and then added almost another tsp to the bottling bucket. I tasted it, and it has a nice pumpkin pie flavor. The fg was a little lower than expected at 1.01, but everything looks good so far.
 
emjay said:
I haven't made this recipe, but this is easy to answer.

a) I wouldn't recommend carving pumpkins. If they're not good enough for pie, why would they be good enough for beer? Use pie pumpkins, or even butternut squash, which is often used to give things a better, more pumpkin-y taste than even actual pumpkins.

b) pumpkin is generally used in beer (including this recipe) by roasting it in the oven first. I'd discourage using raw pumpkin, as it would give too much of a vegetal flavor.
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Ok, I'll have to look up how to prepare a pumpkin for brewing. I was thinking that if I used a pumpkin cut up instead of smashed I could use my hop spider to keep it from entering the fermenter. Less trub= more beer is what I am thinking. Since everyone is saying that canned pumpkin means a lot of beer lost when racking to clear.
 
ajohnson153 said:
Less trub= more beer is what I am thinking. Since everyone is saying that canned pumpkin means a lot of beer lost when racking to clear.
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But if its worth it..... I brew AG so I put the pumpkin in the mash. I didn't measure what I got but it nearly filled a corny keg.
 
jeepinjeepin said:
But if its worth it..... I brew AG so I put the pumpkin in the mash. I didn't measure what I got but it nearly filled a corny keg.
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I might convert this one to a PM recipe and then put the pumpkin in the mash. Not sure how that would work since I wouldn't be doing AG. I figure it might be worth a shot.
 
ajohnson153 said:
I might convert this one to a PM recipe and then put the pumpkin in the mash. Not sure how that would work since I wouldn't be doing AG. I figure it might be worth a shot.
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It would work. Be sure to keep some base grain in the PM to convert the pumpkin and other grain starches.
 
MMJfan said:
Anyone ever make this recipe using BIAB?
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Can't think of why it wouldn't work. Reduce your efficiency by 10 or so then add enough base grain to get the OG back up. I've not tried BIAB myself but that seems to be the most popular way to convert recipes to it.
 
Just tapped the keg of this. Pretty tasty! I was worried that 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice at kegging wasn't going to be enough, but its just where it should be! You can smell it in the nose, taste it in the beer, but it is not overpowering. Thanks for the recipe Yuri!
 
Just bottled this weekend. Time is your best friend on this recipe. I tasted out of the secondary about 2 weeks after racking onto the 1tsp spices and thought it tasted like crap. Just poorly balanced. Due to lack of empty bottles, it sat in that secondary for about 5 weeks and when I tasted it Saturday prior to bottling it was a whole different animal. Very smooth, nicely balanced with a subtle yet distinct nose and a great maltyness (156 mash) to accompany the extra body from the pumpkin made this slide down like a piece of pie. Really looking forward to having it cool and carbonated.

I did a slightly amped up version that Yuri posted mid thread. about 14lb grain all in the same proportions.
 
I highly recommend not adding it the mash. I have read most or all of this entire thread. From my perspective the amount of conversion you get is not worth the hassle. I threw mine in the boil kettle and aside from having more trub than usual, the brew day was very typical. There are posts on here that will make you cringe regarding stuck sparges and the like. Lastly, when people who have brewed this multiple times start asking if you can leave out the pumpkin all-together, you have to wonder if it is worth the risk of mashing.

As far as prep, I spread my canned pumpkin on a cookie sheet and baked for about 45min. I also spread about 1/2 lbs brown sugar on top thinking it would improve things. All it did was dry my beer out. My final gravity was 1.009. I did 10 gal and bottled half as-is but I added 2oz of malto-dextrin to the second half at bottling time. The difference is substantial. Adding only 2 oz really improved the beer in making it less dry.
 
And so I properly disclaim myself and respond to MMJfan, I brewed it BIAB. If you don't put the pumpkin in the bag (i.e. the mash for the BIAB method) it's a piece of cake. Or in this case pie. Pumpkin pie to be exact. Thank you...I'll be here all night...
 
brewed this up yesterday, used a leftover uncarved Halloween pumpkin and rasted in the oven, and also for the spice, I grabbed Trader joes pumpkin pie spice mix, then used your method in steeping the spice.
Bubbling away happily this morning, so can't wait to try it
 
MMJfan said:
Anyone ever make this recipe using BIAB?
Click to expand...

Basically I took the main all-grain recipe (15 gal), divided by 3, and made a few small adjustments. Also, adjusted the hops for No-Chill brewing. The recipe has changed since I brewed it, so the recipe below is a little different from current, but the numbers are almost spot-on.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

5 lb 11 oz Maris Otter
1 lb 5 oz Vienna
13 oz Biscuit
1.5 lb Crystal 60
3 oz Special B
5 oz Flaked Wheat

60 oz canned pumpkin, baked then added to mash
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Plus in the no-chill cube

3/4 oz Tettnang 4.7% AA, 40 min (adjusted for No-Chill - with chilling, 60 min)
2 packs Nottingham

Mash: 8.5 gallons @ 158 F for 75 min
Mash-out: 170 F for 15 min
Boil: 90 min

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.016
ABV: 4.9%

My biggest concern was that fermentation temps were a little high, resulting in fruity flavors. Next time I might mash a little lower (156 F), ferment cooler.
 
BullGator said:
And so I properly disclaim myself and respond to MMJfan, I brewed it BIAB. If you don't put the pumpkin in the bag (i.e. the mash for the BIAB method) it's a piece of cake. Or in this case pie. Pumpkin pie to be exact. Thank you...I'll be here all night...
Click to expand...

I added the pumpkin to the bag and found that it nearly dissolved in the mash water. I didn't really have a lot more trub than any other beer.
 

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