Autumn Seasonal Beer Imperial Pumpkin Pie Ale

Yakima 728
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Planning on brewing this beer today or tomorrow. Any major changes from original recipe that I should know about?
 
So there seem to be mixed opinions on whether to just add spices or to actually add pumpkin or pie mix. Anyone have a convincing argument either way?
 
I made it for the first time last weekend. I added the 60 oz of canned pumpkin (baked previously in the oven). I put it in the last 15 minutes of the boil in a paint strainer bag. It gave the beer a wonderful orange color, and even after 6 days fermenting, i can still smell some pumpkin aroma. It is a bit messy, and i would like to try it with real pumpkin sometime.

Sounds like it is awesome without the pumpkin too!

Tony
 
When adding the pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract at bottling, do you just add them to the bottling bucket or are you supposed to boil them with the priming sugar or something like that?
 
I add them right to the keg, then rack onto them. I'd suggest boiling up about 1/4 cup of water, then let it cool and add the spice once it reaches 180. The vanilla extract I use is literally just vodka with vanilla beans that have been soaking for a few years, so it is sterile by default.
 
Made this over the weekend. Some how I got the worst efficiency I have ever had and wound up with an OG of 1.074... My water calculations were off as well and I have 11.25 gallons of wort fermenting. None the less I'm still hoping it tastes as good as it smells...
 
NFryan said:
Made this over the weekend. Some how I got the worst efficiency I have ever had and wound up with an OG of 1.074... My water calculations were off as well and I have 11.25 gallons of wort fermenting. None the less I'm still hoping it tastes as good as it smells...
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Your water volume is the reason why your efficiency was so low. If you boiled that down to your 10 gallons, it would increase your OG by about 10%.
 
jwible204 said:
Your water volume is the reason why your efficiency was so low. If you boiled that down to your 10 gallons, it would increase your OG by about 10%.
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Yea I know I had a minor mishap in my calculations. I am going make it again soon. My fermentation however has been crazy so far with s04.

image-1433984189.jpg

Good thing I had garbage bags below them.
 
jwible204 said:
I add them right to the keg, then rack onto them. I'd suggest boiling up about 1/4 cup of water, then let it cool and add the spice once it reaches 180. The vanilla extract I use is literally just vodka with vanilla beans that have been soaking for a few years, so it is sterile by default.
Click to expand...

I always just add the spices to an ounce or so of bourbon or rum. That way the heat doesn't volatilize any of the aromatics, and the rum is a nice, but subtle, flavor addition that fits very well.
 
Excited to make this! Ill use actual pumpkin though. It'll be interesting cause I've never added anything else but grain to my mash
 
NicoleBrewer said:
Excited to make this! Ill use actual pumpkin though. It'll be interesting cause I've never added anything else but grain to my mash
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I'd recommend baking/roasting the pumpkin before mashing it with some brown sugar and spices, otherwise it doesn't lend much to the beer.
 
BudzAndSudz said:
I always just add the spices to an ounce or so of bourbon or rum. That way the heat doesn't volatilize any of the aromatics, and the rum is a nice, but subtle, flavor addition that fits very well.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea, and I've had some variants with Rum that I liked, but I personally just want the spices in this beer, so I'd probably use vodka.
 
jwible204 said:
I'd recommend baking/roasting the pumpkin before mashing it with some brown sugar and spices, otherwise it doesn't lend much to the beer.
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So how long do I bake canned pumpkin for?
 
I bake it for 60 minutes on a very shallow pan with spices and molasses. With canned pumpkin you nay not have to game it that long but I really enjoy that flavor myself.
 
Well, maybe I was a bit ambitious. This was my very first "non-Mr. Beer" homebrew. I spent a couple weeks reading up on HBT and convinced myself I could do an all-grain as my first real home brew. Boy, am I tired.

I scaled my recipe to 3.5 Gallons, substituted Saaz for Sterling because my local homebrew shop did not have any Sterling (and it was suggested on this thread). I did not really understand how much grain an "all grain" recipe encompassed.

I ended at 1.080 OG, which I'm thrilled with, all things considered. I let my boil go a bit longer because I felt my wort volume was a bit high. I didn't really know if a yeast starter was necessary, but I went ahead and made one anyways. This smelled delicious when I was finished.

I headed a bunch of other's advice and left myself tons of room in my primary because I *expect* a vigorous fermentation. I have about 3.5 gallons with 3 gallons of room. I also put in a blow-off tube, which may have been over-kill.

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone. :mug:
 
What kind of yeast were you using? With a lower volume lime that you might be OK with a single smack pack and you will be fine if it was a dry yeast. With liquid cultures your best bet is to always make a starter a day or two in advance of brew day. It does make a difference
 
BeerMeDuffMan said:
What kind of yeast were you using? With a lower volume lime that you might be OK with a single smack pack and you will be fine if it was a dry yeast. With liquid cultures your best bet is to always make a starter a day or two in advance of brew day. It does make a difference
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I used WLP013. I made the starter 24 hours in advance.
 
Nompton said:
Well, maybe I was a bit ambitious. This was my very first "non-Mr. Beer" homebrew. I spent a couple weeks reading up on HBT and convinced myself I could do an all-grain as my first real home brew. Boy, am I tired.

I scaled my recipe to 3.5 Gallons, substituted Saaz for Sterling because my local homebrew shop did not have any Sterling (and it was suggested on this thread). I did not really understand how much grain an "all grain" recipe encompassed.

I ended at 1.080 OG, which I'm thrilled with, all things considered. I let my boil go a bit longer because I felt my wort volume was a bit high. I didn't really know if a yeast starter was necessary, but I went ahead and made one anyways. This smelled delicious when I was finished.

I headed a bunch of other's advice and left myself tons of room in my primary because I *expect* a vigorous fermentation. I have about 3.5 gallons with 3 gallons of room. I also put in a blow-off tube, which may have been over-kill.

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone. :mug:
Click to expand...

Despite your lower volume, at 1.080 yeastcalc.com suggests 164 billion cells, so were correct in making a starter.
 
Do you guys have photos of the finished beer? I'd love to see how it turns out for everyone! Here's mine from last year.

1331083905.jpg
 
Hmm I may be able to post pictures of finished finished beer but that may be a bit nasty. The color was spot on to your though.
 
I guess i'll go ahead and get my first post out of the way by saying that im brewing this right now!!! cut it back to a 2.5 gallon batch though, and i am adding canned pumpkin that i roasted with some brown sugar. Cant wait until this is done!
 
Nice!! Im from NJ but ive been working in NE philly for about 6 years or so now. Wort is about 97f and cooling nicely. Smells fantastic!!
 
Made this two days ago. Used sf 05. I like a cleaner profile, and added 3 cups puréed pie pumpkin to the boil. Also added 1lb brown sugar at flameout. Effenciey was a bit low, got 1.083 but its happily fermenting away at around 65.
 
Thinking of adding a Vanilla bean soaked in some kind of alcohol when i transfer into secondary in 2 weeks or so. I know vodka is usually the standard booze of choice when soaking beans, but has anyone use anything else?
 
I just chuck in the beans myself. You might getter better flavor compliments if you used a spiced rum if you wanted to add the booze as well to the secondary.
 
ill4delph said:
Thinking of adding a Vanilla bean soaked in some kind of alcohol when i transfer into secondary in 2 weeks or so. I know vodka is usually the standard booze of choice when soaking beans, but has anyone use anything else?
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My friend made his last year with spiced-rum soaked oak cubes, it was a great combo of flavors.
 
Hmm, i actually just got back from San Juan and brought back a couple bottles of local rum. Maybe i'll throw in a bean and a bit of the oak aged rum i got. Stoked to try this. Thanks for the suggestions!
 
Yea man no problem. I like to use Pyrat Rum with pumpkin ales. It brings a lot of raisin, oak, dark fruit and vanilla flavors...the two go hand in hand IMO.
 
Racked into 2d fermenter today. Attenuated down to 1.020, I am stoked. I had the typical worry of any new brewer that low air-lock activity meant something was wrong, but I left it alone, and everything went great. I don't think I had much over-flow activity because I way over-compensated for what I though was going to be a raging fermentation (~3 gal in 6.5 gal fermentor w/ overflow).

Sampled what was in the hydrometer test tube, tasted great. The pumpkin pie flavor was much more subdue from what I expected. I have a vanilla bean soaking in liquor, which I'll add in a day or two.

For being my first all-grain, I think I did pretty well. Already planning out my next brew. :mug:
 
Haha you guys really didn't read much of this thread, did you? I suggested Bourbon or Rum not more than 2 pages back.
 
BudzAndSudz said:
Haha you guys really didn't read much of this thread, did you? I suggested Bourbon or Rum not more than 2 pages back.
Click to expand...

I think that note was seen, but we were discussing what to soak vanilla beans in. Most sources state that vodka is best as it takes in a lot of the flavor from the beans, essentially making a home made vanilla extract. BUt if you were going to throw in the liquid with the beans, your best off going with the bourbon or rum.
 

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