Autumn Seasonal Beer Samhain Pumpkin Ale

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WarrantedFED said:
It may be noteworthy to be aware that on the iPhone app you must go to the actual website to see this info. Not sure why.
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That's it! Weird... the whole bold print section doesn't appear unless I view it through the browser. Thanks!
 
Ordered everything for this today, NB had the Dennys yeast. Might try a half pound of roasted rolled oats maybe not. Also, im going to procure fresh whole spices from the natural food store, toast them in a small pan, grind them, and use that. Really excited, ill tell you how it goes.
 
What does anyone think about brewing this recipe as written - but with the Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast...to make it a Pumpkin Saison? I have a vial of it. I've never made a saison with golden promise/maris otter, but what would there be to lose, except maybe the DMS that can go with Pils malt?

Thoughts?
 
Rolly said:
What does anyone think about brewing this recipe as written - but with the Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast...to make it a Pumpkin Saison? I have a vial of it. I've never made a saison with golden promise/maris otter, but what would there be to lose, except maybe the DMS that can go with Pils malt?

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

That actually sounds really good. If you try it please report back because I'd love to hear how it turns out.
 
getting ready to brew this in a few days, I only have regular 2row for the base malt. Will that change the flavor much?
 
Done! Was a pretty tough lauter, a lot longer than any other beer I've done, but I sure am glad I used a pound of rice hulls. I ended up using the Libby's pumpkin pie mix, which has spices, only because that's pretty much all I could find. The taste of the mix was good and I liked the spice aroma, so I opted not to spice at all at this point. I will see how the spice level seems when primary is done and if I need to add more I will just add some spice tea the the bottling bucket when the time comes.

BTW, when I make my hangtag for the beer, it will claim "1 ounce of pumpkin per bottle". I know Sam Adams website makes a big deal of 11 pounds of pumpkin per barrel - this is about twice that amount!
 
I feel like I've read people have toasted their flaked oats and used them in this recipe, any feed back on that? I picked the grains today and hopefully my Wyeast 1450 comes today in the mail so I can brew this on Monday. I have a spare pound of flaked oats and thought about using that instead of the torrified wheat and thought about toasting it first. I'm guessing with all thats going on with this beer the change will probably be minimal but thought I'd ask anyway, I suppose it could increase my stuck sparge chances...
 
Man I should have read through this thread more thoroughly ... so when you toast the MO, your not supposed to use it for WEEKS afterward? That kind of throws a wrench. Should I just forgo the toasting, toast it for less time, or just not worry about it? I thought the whole purpose in toasting your own was to use it fresh. I can get special roast MO...
 
bottlebomber said:
Man I should have read through this thread more thoroughly ... so when you toast the MO, your not supposed to use it for WEEKS afterward? That kind of throws a wrench. Should I just forgo the toasting, toast it for less time, or just not worry about it? I thought the whole purpose in toasting your own was to use it fresh. I can get special roast MO...
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When do you plan on brewing? If you toast the grain ASAP and it gets at least a day or two to off gas some of the more volatile harsh compounds you'll probably be fine. I've also read that some people use the toasted grain the same day and swear it gives no harshness. So bottom line, I'd toast the grain and use it, trying to give it as much of a rest period as possible, but not stressing out if the rest period isn't very long.
 
KingBrianI said:
When do you plan on brewing? If you toast the grain ASAP and it gets at least a day or two to off gas some of the more volatile harsh compounds you'll probably be fine. I've also read that some people use the toasted grain the same day and swear it gives no harshness. So bottom line, I'd toast the grain and use it, trying to give it as much of a rest period as possible, but not stressing out if the rest period isn't very long.
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I toasted it last night, and im going to use it today. So it has almost a day to mellow. Just on a hunch though I think it'll be fine. It didn't darken by more than 5L, and in the Palmer how to brew it covers this, and says that the rest is really only critical for darker toasts. So im not worried
 
Brewed this up yesterday. I used the pie mix as well but most of the spice from that seemed to have cooked off. I can't imagine you wouldn't want to include the spices. Loved the smell of that toasted malt when i crushed my grains. I think the molasses will be a nice touch as well. I'm imagining some nice layers of flavor in this guy. If it turns out half as tasty as your caramel amber I'll be happy. Using the dennys as well. Will report back. Cheers!
 
dale1038 said:
Brewed this up yesterday. I used the pie mix as well but most of the spice from that seemed to have cooked off. I can't imagine you wouldn't want to include the spices. Loved the smell of that toasted malt when i crushed my grains. I think the molasses will be a nice touch as well. I'm imagining some nice layers of flavor in this guy. If it turns out half as tasty as your caramel amber I'll be happy. Using the dennys as well. Will report back. Cheers!
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I dont think you'll be disappointed. Definitely report back when youre drinking it.
 
Brewing it now!

image-3737152931.jpg
 
Just reporting to all that my brew took place last weekend and I was a little stressed when I didn't see fermentation activity for nearly 7 days. Glad to report that today we have lots of activity. King Brian...am I correct that this is a three week primary and a two week secondary? I assume it's due to the molasses...but as a relative noob, I've never had a fermentation take that long...anyone care to explain? Thanks...super excited to drink this in time for Halloween and watching my Chargers beat KC!
 
Man its a good thing the spices and a little hop bitterness are going into this. That pumpkin hit me like a train on the first runnings. Tastes delicious though, can't wait for it to be in beer form.
 
Daryl said:
Just reporting to all that my brew took place last weekend and I was a little stressed when I didn't see fermentation activity for nearly 7 days. Glad to report that today we have lots of activity. King Brian...am I correct that this is a three week primary and a two week secondary? I assume it's due to the molasses...but as a relative noob, I've never had a fermentation take that long...anyone care to explain? Thanks...super excited to drink this in time for Halloween and watching my Chargers beat KC!
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The molasses won't slow the fermentation down at all. Three weeks is just a guideline but you can ferment it for whatever time your beer likes. If it is done in two weeks then you can take it off then, or let it set and continue to condition. Just listen to your beer and it'll let you know when it's time.
 
Doing a ten gal batch next weekend. Half is gonna be with Denny's and the other half will be with 3711 French Saison. Can't wait to see bow this turns out.
 
bottlebomber said:
What would you call the underlying style of this beer, for the BJCP nazis?
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American Amber Ale probably is the closest thought the hop character is too low. Should be a close enough description for entering a beer in the spice/herb/vegetable category though.
 
Ok, brewing this now, but I only baked the pumpkin for 30 minutes. Think that will have a big effect on anything? The mash went well and about to add the molasses and spices.
 
nate201 said:
Ok, brewing this now, but I only baked the pumpkin for 30 minutes. Think that will have a big effect on anything? The mash went well and about to add the molasses and spices.
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As long as the pumpkin got hot enough to gelatinize the starches it should be fine. You may just not get as much caramelization and the flavors that come from it.
 
Ok, well I spread it out on a pizza pan ~3/4"-1" thick. It all got decently hot with the edges getting that nice brownish tan color to it.
 
Yeah, I just finished a little bit ago and it smelled awesome going into the conical. I'm pretty excited about getting to taste this one. I brewed my Oktoberfest a little early for here (Saturday was still 100+), but the temperatures seem to be dropping over the next week.
 
I read through 17 pages and nobody had asked this question.

The stuff that I bought is pumpkin pie mix. Is this the right stuff? Seems like it would already have spices in it.
 
cfonnes said:
I read through 17 pages and nobody had asked this question.

The stuff that I bought is pumpkin pie mix. Is this the right stuff? Seems like it would already have spices in it.
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Some people have used that for lack of unsweetened unspiced pumpkin. Its seems like they said the spices in the can were too wimpy to sub in for the spices added in the recipe. Just add the spices as called for IMO
 
I can attest to the spices from the pie mix being too wimpy. I used two 30 oz. cans of Libby's and its been 10 days in primary now. The smell was nice during the mash and boil but when I tasted it today it was evident I will need to make the spice tea. The spices it currently has were only barely perceptable, it does need a little booster. And I'm looking for subtle not over the top.
 
cfonnes said:
I read through 17 pages and nobody had asked this question.

The stuff that I bought is pumpkin pie mix. Is this the right stuff? Seems like it would already have spices in it.
Click to expand...

I think they get blown out after a 60 minute boil. I used some organic pumpkin pie filling. Made the mash smell good but I doubt much of those spices made it to the end of the boil. I did another recipe but I added more spice in the last couple minutes of the boil all the same.

It is in secondary and I'm happy with the spice level. I decided I'm not going to spice it up this year just to see what the base recipe is like. Maybe next year if I decide that this is too weak. I like that pumpkin spice in the background. I've had a number of commercial beers this year where the spice is in your face too much. To each their own.
 
Brewed 11 gallons on Saturday.
Added a 15min. Willamette addition, and used 2.5 TBSP of pumpkin pie spice instead of the individuals.

Missed my mash temp of 154, and hit 152.. something to do with the pumpkin addition I guess.

Decided then to split between US-05, S-04 just in case it dries out too much.

Smells awesome, and S-04 needed a blowoff!
 
Brewed this on the 3rd following the recipe exactly except used WY1272. Scaled for my efficiency and hit my numbers exactly, even the FG.

This will be my first beer that I'll keg with my new setup, can't wait! I think I'll add about 2 teaspoons of real vanilla extract at kegging time as well to add a touch of whip-cream like flavor.
 
Hmm... its missing something. Its only in the secondary now, but I definitely think it need something. I love the flavor, but for some reason the spices came through very little. I think I may add some spice tea to juke it up a notch. In the future I may add 8 ounces of caramel 60, I will definitely brew this again.
 

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