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

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just ordered my ingredients to brew this next weekend! so excited!

My ingredients to brew two batches of this arrived on Monday. Have three beers going in fermenting buckets now but should be ready to brew batch one sometime around the 1st of August. Can't wait! :mug:
 
MMJfan said:
My ingredients to brew two batches of this arrived on Monday. Have three beers going in fermenting buckets now but should be ready to brew batch one sometime around the 1st of August. Can't wait! :mug:

Just got my stuff today. Gonna brew Saturday. I guess I have to read past page 3 by the.
 
Just got my stuff today. Gonna brew Saturday. I guess I have to read past page 3 by then.

I read several pages of this thread, but nothing really helped me past the first 3 posts from Yuri Rage. I'm using the extract recipe which he's been updating any changes he's made over the years and there are also directions in making the spice tea in the 3rd post. Pretty much all I'm going by to make this brew.

Save yourself some time because I don't really see any need to read this entire thread. Most of what I've read is that those that have followed Yuri's recipe seem to always turn out a good brew and I see no reason to tweak anything.
 
I read several pages of this thread, but nothing really helped me past the first 3 posts from Yuri Rage. I'm using the extract recipe which he's been updating any changes he's made over the years and there are also directions in making the spice tea in the 3rd post. Pretty much all I'm going by to make this brew.

Save yourself some time because I don't really see any need to read this entire thread. Most of what I've read is that those that have followed Yuri's recipe seem to always turn out a good brew and I see no reason to tweak anything.

Thanks for the heads up. I could be wrong, but I'm still a little confused by some of the changes over the years. I guess the biggest questions I have are:

1. If I'm doing the extract version, should I mash the pumpkin with the grains, then leave in with the boil, then try to strain out before loading into the fermenter?

2. Based on the updated recipe, Should I top off to 6 gallons of water including the pumpkin taken out, or left in?

Thanks for the heads up.

Tuck
 
Quick question, I have a brewers best 5gal bucket but u could fit 6.5 gal in, but would need a blow off tube. I've also got a better bottle 6 gal. Should I primary in the better bottle and secondary(sorry Yuri, clarify!) in the brewers bucket? Would I still need a blow off tube? Would this work?
 
Ok brewed this tonight and did a full boil. Should have just done the all grain version as I have a mash tun built and everything else, but I had already ordered the extract stuff. My OG came in right on. I just needed to add a little top off water only because I hadn't measured how much I had going into the boil, but it's done. My friend Tmooka (on this forum) and I had a great time brewing this tonight. All the while trying to kill my keg of Abita amber so I can make room for the 5 brews I have in the pipeline.

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Tuck, did you end up mashing the pumpkin with the grains? And did you have much success straining the pumpkin out when you were transferring the wort to primary?
 
I steeped the grains for 30 minutes in a bag as per the recipe, and I added the pumpkin to the boil after baking on a sheet pan for 1.5 hours at 350. It was completely suspended in the wort and I didn't even try filtering it out. I am kicking myself for not doing that, because even though fermentation has kicked off in only a few hours, it seems as though almost half of my 6.5 gallons is pumpkin sediment.


image-86557173.jpg
 
Also, it was sweet, but I didn't get a lot of pumpkin flavor from my hydrometer sample, I'm sure the bulk of the flavor will come from the spice tea. Oh btw, I bought the pampered chef cinnamon plus online and it smells fricken amazing. Totally worth the $7 + ~$7 for shipping. Plus my wife can use some for her famous pumpkin cheesecake she does around holiday time.
 
tuckferrorists said:
Also, it was sweet, but I didn't get a lot of pumpkin flavor from my hydrometer sample, I'm sure the bulk of the flavor will come from the spice tea. Oh btw, I bought the pampered chef cinnamon plus online and it smells fricken amazing. Totally worth the $7 + ~$7 for shipping. Plus my wife can use some for her famous pumpkin cheesecake she does around holiday time.

Mmmm pumpkin cheesecake!! That sounds awesome!

Would the beer sitting on and fermenting on the pumpkin sediment pick up more taste than if it was filtered off? Or does it make no difference as all the flavor is imparted during the boil?
 
moscoeb said:
Mmmm pumpkin cheesecake!! That sounds awesome!

Would the beer sitting on and fermenting on the pumpkin sediment pick up more taste than if it was filtered off? Or does it make no difference as all the flavor is imparted during the boil?

I have no comparison since I haven't brewed a pumpkin ale before. I'm hoping that it will settle more and really cake down at the bottom and the beer will rise up. It looks like I can only get about 3 gallons of actual beer at this point.

Anybody else who brewed this didn't strain the pumpkin out before putting in the fermenter?
 
I've been seriously questioning brewing this beer without pumpkin. That's a hell of a lot of trub and I've read numerous posts that make mention of the pumpkin not really giving off all that much flavor and that most of the pumpkin pie flavors come from the spices added.

Keep us posted if your trub settles down at all. I really would like to brew this with pumpkin, but not at the expense of having that much trub.

BTW, I'm planning on getting that Pampered Chef spice as well. My wife used to sell that stuff so I know how good it is!
 
It has been about 48 hours after pitching and all that pumpkin that settled is now dancing in the fermenter and my blow off valve is a constant stream of CO2. Not an extreme amount of kreusen yet.
 
I just brewed this tonight, I was not able to strain it either. So I just poured it all in there! The wort tasted awesome!! I have high hopes for this one.
 
So what I read in these last 2-3 pages is that people who are doing the extract version are seeing a large amount of trub at the bottom of their carboy.

I assume since in All Grain, you mash the pumpkin, so do you still get a large amount of trub? I plan on doing this this weekend.
 
Well, fermentation has been kicking for another 24 hours, no sign of slowing, but a lot of the trub has settled even more and it appears as thought i have closer to 5 gallons of beer again.
 
That's good to know that the trub lowered a bit. Will be brewing tomorrow if I can find some cans of pure pumpkin, pumpkin pie filling is all I can find this time of year. Arghhhh
 
That's good to know that the trub lowered a bit. Will be brewing tomorrow if I can find some cans of pure pumpkin, pumpkin pie filling is all I can find this time of year. Arghhhh

Ah good point, I'll have to look tomorrow ahead of time to see if I can find some. I'm pretty sure I see canned pumpkin all year, I'll give it to my dog if he's hungrier than usual as a filler
 
HootHootHoot said:
So what I read in these last 2-3 pages is that people who are doing the extract version are seeing a large amount of trub at the bottom of their carboy.

I assume since in All Grain, you mash the pumpkin, so do you still get a large amount of trub? I plan on doing this this weekend.

tuckferrorists said:
Well, fermentation has been kicking for another 24 hours, no sign of slowing, but a lot of the trub has settled even more and it appears as thought i have closer to 5 gallons of beer again.

My trub has already dropped by at least an inch if not more in 24hrs. Looks awesome, tasted good from hydro reading, and smells great! I've got high hopes for this one.
 
Did you guys use a starter? Mynstarter jug already has lager yeast going for a Munich helles I'm doing Friday, with pumpkin ale on Saturday. I've never had a problem pitching my yeast into ales without a starter. I don't want to do this incorrectly though




Thanks
 
HootHootHoot said:
Did you guys use a starter? Mynstarter jug already has lager yeast going for a Munich helles I'm doing Friday, with pumpkin ale on Saturday. I've never had a problem pitching my yeast into ales without a starter. I don't want to do this incorrectly though

Thanks

I personally did not as I didn't have the time or a grommet to even make a starter. So I just pitched my yeast. I used WLP002. Good krausen and lots of activity in less than 24hrs.
I do plan on trying starters and see if I notice a difference. I know almost everyone on here recommends a starter for all fermentations.
 
I personally did not as I didn't have the time or a grommet to even make a starter. So I just pitched my yeast. I used WLP002. Good krausen and lots of activity in less than 24hrs.
I do plan on trying starters and see if I notice a difference. I know almost everyone on here recommends a starter for all fermentations.

Thank you. I never brew two at once, my buddy is getting some gear so we will be making a second batch. I plan on using starters for all my recipes from here on too after reading about how much better it is fro the taste and overall quality
 
I didn't use a started either, and I had activity much earlier than I usually do. pretty excited to spice and keg. I plan on transferring to a secondary after ten days, then holding for three weeks before I keg.
 
I'm going to try a recipe somewhere between the thunderstruck pumpkin ale and it's big brother lady rumpkin pumpkin rum ale. So here's what I came up with after reading both threads. Let me know what you think



SMASHED RUMPKIN: PUMPKIN RUM ALE (PM)

6 gallon batch OG around 1.066

MASH:

(mash @154 degrees 60 min)

2 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L
1 lb Belgian Biscuit Malt
8.0 oz Wheat, Flaked
1 lb Floor Malted Mars Otter, ( pre-toasted on a cookie sheet for 20 min @ 350 degrees)

FERMENTABLES:

6 lbs organic light LME (60 min)
1 lb Brown candy Sugar (60 min)
58oz Pumpkin, Canned, baked (see notes, half 60 min and other half 30 min)
¼ cup Molasses (baked with pumpkin)

HOP SCHEDULE:

1.5 oz Goldings (5.0% AA 60 min) 15 IBU
0.5oz Goldings (4.0% AA 5 min)
0.5 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)

NOTES:

Pumpkin "pie": 2x29 oz cans of pumpkin baked at 350 for an hour with 1/4 cup molasses and two teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice

Pumpkin spice tea: 1.25 tsp of quality pumpkin pie spice mixed with 6 ounces of spiced rum prepared on brew day but added at secondary along with a vanilla bean or two that has been split and soaked in rum for few days.
 
When I plug the AG recipe fermentables into BeerSmith, and convert to what I am looking to brew (only 3.0 gallons as a test run), I get:

OG Est 1.053
FG Est 1.014
ABV Est 5.11%

The Color, IBUs are spot on though

I obviously didn't add the pumpkin to the recipe, so I think this is where I am missing some sugars? I don't really see how to add it so I am curious if this is an Actual OG/FG or if I am just not as savvy with BeerSmith
 
I'm going to try a recipe somewhere between the thunderstruck pumpkin ale and it's big brother lady rumpkin pumpkin rum ale. So here's what I came up with after reading both threads. Let me know what you think

I like the idea of the spiced rum. I highly doubt you'll get much flavor of it in the beer, but maybe that'll turn out very nicely with just a hint of spices

Seems like it will be high in alcohol content, which might take away from the spice flavors. You should be modeling this off of an Amber, which it's highest OG should be 1.060, I would even see if you could get down to 1.055. I would just worry that when you taste all you'll get is a strong alcohol/somewhat cinnamonny beer. You don't want to overpower what you're trying to do: bottle pumpkin pie! The alcohol is just an added bonus

I would take out the candied sugar, which would lower your OG estimate. I'm not a big fan of using it in the first place. I've used it once and I think it should only be used if you're shooting for a very high ABV, and even so, there are other (better) ways to get sugar present. I just don't like the flavor it seems to put into the beer.

Good idea with the molasses. I may try that with my pumpkin ale.
 
Update after 72 hours since fermentation began, this is what the trub has settled to.


View attachment 69627

Thank you for the picture. It gives me a good idea of what to expect. That's still an awful lot of trub and I wouldn't expect it to go down much further. I think if I brew 3.0 gallons I should be able to get 2.5 out of it. I could go on the safe side and just brew 3.5 too- that way I won't siphon any of the trub during bottling trying to get every last drop!
 
I don't mean to overwhelm this thread with my postings, but I thought this might be a useful tool for people.

Many have said on here that they've had a hard time finding pumpkin around this time of the year, since it's not really a hot seller at the moment. I went to the website for the product that the OP used for this recipe and there is a store locator for you to see where you can buy it

http://www.verybestbaking.com/General/WhereToBuy.aspx
 
HootHootHoot said:
I like the idea of the spiced rum. I highly doubt you'll get much flavor of it in the beer, but maybe that'll turn out very nicely with just a hint of spices

Seems like it will be high in alcohol content, which might take away from the spice flavors. You should be modeling this off of an Amber, which it's highest OG should be 1.060, I would even see if you could get down to 1.055. I would just worry that when you taste all you'll get is a strong alcohol/somewhat cinnamonny beer. You don't want to overpower what you're trying to do: bottle pumpkin pie! The alcohol is just an added bonus

I would take out the candied sugar, which would lower your OG estimate. I'm not a big fan of using it in the first place. I've used it once and I think it should only be used if you're shooting for a very high ABV, and even so, there are other (better) ways to get sugar present. I just don't like the flavor it seems to put into the beer.

Good idea with the molasses. I may try that with my pumpkin ale.

I may cut the sugar by half but I still want it to be a little bigger ABV beer. I'm not exactly sure what the OG was I plugged it in last night but was at work when I put this online today so I'll have to double check when I get home
 
What is the AG Mash profile to use? I just went with Medium body and it saying 158* is that correct or is 154* what I should shoot for. I didn't see your mash temps.
 
Yuri_Rage said:
Single infusion mash at 158° F for 45-60 mins
Mash out at 168°F
Sparge with 178°F water to collect 17.5g of wort
Boil 60 mins

From the all grain section,
 
Update after 72 hours since fermentation began, this is what the trub has settled to.


View attachment 69627

Did you just pour your entire boil in or did you try to filter through the pumpkin? I'm going to brew this up next weekend and I'm thinking I'm going to just dump it all in.

Also thinking of adding 1/4 cup or so of Molasses spread over the pumpkin bake? Has anyone tried something similar with success?
 
clydo said:
Did you just pour your entire boil in or did you try to filter through the pumpkin? I'm going to brew this up next weekend and I'm thinking I'm going to just dump it all in.

Also thinking of adding 1/4 cup or so of Molasses spread over the pumpkin bake? Has anyone tried something similar with success?

Can't say about the molasses, but I do remember reading that you do want the pumpkin to caramelize some to aid in something or another...I forget! I think it hat do do with making the sugars more usable. So you may want to mix the molasses in or put on after the bake. Hopefully someone who knows better will speak up soon.
As far as filtering, I tried with a filter in my funnel, and didn't get even a half gal in before it was clogged. So I jut pulled it and poured it all in there.
 
clydo said:
Did you just pour your entire boil in or did you try to filter through the pumpkin? I'm going to brew this up next weekend and I'm thinking I'm going to just dump it all in.

Also thinking of adding 1/4 cup or so of Molasses spread over the pumpkin bake? Has anyone tried something similar with success?

I poured the entire boil minus what you'd typically leave behind of a hop cone.
 
How reliable is the OG reading? I assume it may read way higher than what it actually is due to 60 oz of pumpkin sediment floating in the wort.
 
I did the extract yesterday at it was .052. Blow off tube is going nuts still. Smells amazing!
 
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