Autumn Seasonal Beer Imperial Pumpkin Pie Ale

I'm also looking at WLP009, Australian ale. Sounds like a very interesting option with "bready" characteristics. Might get it that "crust" flavor that's so desirable in this style. Thanks for all your feedback, btw.

BudzAndSudz said:

I'm also looking at WLP009, Australian ale. Sounds like a very interesting option with "bready" characteristics. Might get it that "crust" flavor that's so desirable in this style. Thanks for all your feedback, btw.

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Glad to help, also glad that others like the recipe. Bready/Nutty/Toasty is exactly what I want in this beer.

Me as well, which is partly why I've been wanting to search around for a yeast that's appropriate for this style. A lot of the "bready" character yeasts have poor attenuation though which is tough. I think a FG of 1.030 would be almost undrinkably sweet.

I brewed this several weeks ago and kegged yesterday. WOW! I havent even added the vanilla yet and its awesome. I was really hoping that I would have something as good as Pumking and I did. Thanks alot for the recipe.

Oh and I used WLP0028 because I get it free and fresh. It took the beer to 1.023

jwible204 said:

Glad to help, also glad that others like the recipe. Bready/Nutty/Toasty is exactly what I want in this beer.

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Agreed 100%, I feel like that's exactly what makes real pumpkin pie so enjoyable as well.

BTW, have you seen the slew of new posts in the Pumking Clone thread? You might want to rethink that graham cracker extract thing before you ruin your whole batch. Apparently it's disgusting and undrinkable. There are bunches of people dumping out entire kegs worth of their beer thanks to the GC extract.

MacGruber said:

I just made this again today. 5 gallon batch and I hit 85% efficiency for the first time ever. OG was 1.100 PA 13%. I'm hoping that it finishes around the 1.033 mark for a respectable and sweet 9%er. This time, instead of actual pumpkin, I used two cans of Libby's Pure Pumpkin mixed with the spices and baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes. That went into two nylon paint strainer bags and steeped in the wort for the last 15 minutes and cool down. I also put a charge of 1/2 tsp each spice in at 15 minutes left as well. It still smelled great, just like last year. We'll see if it's as good or better than the one I made last year!

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MacGruber, what size cans of Libby's did you use? I'm brewing up a 5 gallon batch tomorrow with a similar grain bill. I was thinking of using a 30oz can and baking it at 350 for 30 minutes with a little brown sugar, then using a muslin bag to add it to the boil with 15 minutes remaining. I'm only trying to achieve a little extra flavor/color with the pumpkin. Based on your experience with this recipe, would this work or would you recommend tweaking my plan.

I used two of the 30 oz. cans. I would get a paint strainer bag because the mesh is super fine. You'll have less of a mss on your hands. I also added the pumpkin pie spices to the pumpkin as well before baking. You still add pumpkin pie spices to the boil as well.

Thanks for the advice. I had toyed with the idea of using a paint strainer bag in the past as a hop strainer, but have avoided it due to concerns about hop efficiency. It makes perfect sense for the pumpkin though! Out of curiosity, did you put your hop additions in separately or use the bag since it's already in your boil?

Thanks for the advice. I had toyed with the idea of using a paint strainer bag in the past as a hop strainer, but have avoided it due to concerns about hop efficiency. It makes perfect sense for the pumpkin though!

Out of curiosity, did you put your hop additions in separately or use the bag since it's already in your boil?

I used two separate cheese cloths for my hop additions.

I brewed this beer and it was awesome. I through in Libby's with about 15min to go in boil after baking and adding some pumpkin spice. Keg gone in under a week, amazing beer. This time, To mix up a bit thinking of smoking a few pumpkins in my smoker and then adding to the mash. Is this just too much, adding a smoke flavor to an already heavily spiced beer? Thinking of adding around 8lbs of cubed up smoked pumpkin to mash. How much in rice halls need to be added? 5 gal batch. Any thoughts, maybe I should stick with an already great beer and not mess with it.

I like the idea of introducing smoke flavor/aroma, but I would do it with smoked malt because you have more predictable results. I think 1-2 lbs of weyermann smoked for 5.5 gallons of a beer this size would be good. It wouldn't be overwhelming but will come through in the nose and flavor.

I don't like the idea of adding smoke, but that's my taste. I couldn't imagine eating a smokey, pumpkin pie.

MacGruber said:

I don't like the idea of adding smoke, but that's my taste. I couldn't imagine eating a smokey, pumpkin pie.

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Yeah that's where I pretty much landed. I like to smoke foods so was thinking of maybe trying to make a smokey beer with the use of my smoker. Pumpkin is prob not the way. Leave this one as is, it's awesome.

Just about ready to keg this bad boy. I ended up @ 1.086 OG and it finished @ 1.022. Tasted my hydro sample, and its really nice. A little heat from the alcohol, but by no means overwhelming. Can't wait to taste it with the keg spice/ vanilla additions. Should be great for our halloween party this weekend. Thanks to the OP for the recipe!!!

Kegged tonight with 2 oz vanilla and 1.25 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. It's a little on the sweet side as of right now. I'm hoping that once it carbs up and has a few days to sit that the sweetness will die down a bit. Although I'm not too hopeful. I think the 1.022 FG may be the source of the majority of the sweetness. Anyone have a similar experience? Here is a pic. It's on the right. And I also kegged my IPA, which is on the left.

Ok just wanted to make sure I have this right. I kegged this tonight, a 5 gallon batch with 1.25 tsp of pumpkin pie spice and 2 ounces of vinilla. My question is the recipe said "At bottling - 1.25 tsp of Pumpkin Pie spice was added per 5 gallons as well as ~4 oz of real vanilla extract". Is that 4 ounces per 5 gallons or 4 ounces per the original 10 gallon recipe? I dont want to add to much vanilla to it and overwhelm the beer.

I would NOT use 4oz in 5 gallons. I almost feel that 2oz is too much (for my tastes anyways). Start with 2, and you can adjust up to fit your tastes as needed.

seedubxj said:

I would NOT use 4oz in 5 gallons. I almost feel that 2oz is too much (for my tastes anyways). Start with 2, and you can adjust up to fit your tastes as needed.

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It totally depends on the strength of your extract. I made my own, and the first year (just before I wrote this page) it was only sitting on the beans for a few weeks. I stress to add/stir/try until it's where you want it.

My current stash of extract has been sitting on beans for over a year now and is quite potent requiring much less.

I brewed this about a month ago and have been way to busy to transfer to a secondary. Think there's any point now? Or should I just go ahead and bottle it? Also, did you guys sanitize the bottling/kegging spice addition somehow before adding it?

J-Tho said:

I brewed this about a month ago and have been way to busy to transfer to a secondary. Think there's any point now? Or should I just go ahead and bottle it? Also, did you guys sanitize the bottling/kegging spice addition somehow before adding it?

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I didn't rack mine last year or this year, mine sat in Primary for about 6 weeks before kegging. It definitely cleaned up a LOT in the keg, it was still a bit cloudy going in.

I actually just add the spice without sanitizing it, I don't think it's that big of a risk considering the 9.5% ABV, but I tossed around the idea of boiling it very briefly in a small amount of water before adding.

I soaked it in a very small amount of vodka last year (just enough to get it wet) as a precaution and it was perfect.

I don't plan on kegging my batch because I want it to be easily transported during the holidays. I was planning on boiling my vanilla and spices along with my priming sugar as a precaution. I have some pure vanilla that was purchased for me as a gift south of the border that I was planning on using. I'm thinking I should use 2oz based on some of the previous posts.

What mash and sparge temp is working for everybody on this brew

TX-straggler said:

What mash and sparge temp is working for everybody on this brew

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I mashed it this year at about 154, sparged at 168 per usual.

Just wanted to post that this beer was entered into it's first contest and took home 2nd place! It wasn't sanctioned and was up against 20 Pumpkin style beers. I also recently entered it into a big AHA sanctioned event, we'll see how it does next weekend.

My batch has been sitting in bottles now for 3 weeks. At 2 weeks I tried one and there was an off taste present, however, I cracked one open yesterday (at the 3 week mark) and it has cleaned up nicely. I'll probably let it sit in the bottle a week or two before cracking the remaining bottles open. It seems like they're still a tad young, but even at 10.2 abv there isn't really an overwhelming taste of alcohol in the beer, as the spices really mask that. And it finished around 1.022 so it's nice and sweet. I don't think my vanilla extract turned out to be that potent but there is still a hint of vanilla in the after taste.

I had it in the primary for 5 or 6 weeks and did not transfer to a secondary. Mashed @ 154.

bump

jwible204 said:

Spice Additions - 1.0 heaping tsp of the following added @ 5 minutes -
nutmeg, cloves, alspice, ginger, cinnamon

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Is that 1.0 heaping tsp of each ingredient?

For example: 1tsp nutmeg, 1tsp cloves, 1tsp all spice, 1tsp ginger, and 1 tsp cinnamon?

I am excited to try this.

What size mash tuns do you guys have? 38 pounds of grain is a ton. I wish I could make a 10 gallon batch of this but i sure won't be unless I make another mash tun other than my 10 gallon drink cooler.

DUNDASJ said:

What size mash tuns do you guys have? 38 pounds of grain is a ton. I wish I could make a 10 gallon batch of this but i sure won't be unless I make another mash tun other than my 10 gallon drink cooler.

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70 qt, it's quite full when i mash this grist.

yourhuckleberry said:

Is that 1.0 heaping tsp of each ingredient?

For example: 1tsp nutmeg, 1tsp cloves, 1tsp all spice, 1tsp ginger, and 1 tsp cinnamon?

I am excited to try this.

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1 tsp of each ingredient.

Wake this thread up!

Fall will be here before we know. Finally gonna brew this recipe, should be in its prime Oct-Dec, pumped!!

Anymore thoughts on when the pumpkin should be added and why, seen so much back and forth on the subject, guess Ill just add it to the boil.

TX-straggler said:

Fall will be here before we know. Finally gonna brew this recipe, should be in its prime Oct-Dec, pumped!!

Anymore thoughts on when the pumpkin should be added and why, seen so much back and forth on the subject, guess Ill just add it to the boil.

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If you feel compelled to use pumpkin, you should bake it with sugar/spices then add it to the mash. I personally don't use it.

I plan on giving this a shot. The feedback sounds amazing, but I'm still a little leary on adding 2 pounds of crystal to a 5 gallon batch. And also, 40 IBU's seems a little excessive for a pumpkin ale. Can someone please ease my mind on these probably minute issues I'm having with it? I'm still having night terrors from the "Pumking clone" I brewed last year and need assurance this won't break my heart.

MacGruber said:

Any more than half a tsp of each in a five gallon batch would be way too much. Half tsp each in 5 gallons at 15 min left in the boil and another half tsp each at kegging is PERFECT!

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So just to be clear, you added another 1/2 tsp of each of the spices again at kegging instead of using Pumpkin Pie Spice? Making this on Saturday, looking forward to it!

Thanks!
Tony

tfratzke said:

So just to be clear, you added another 1/2 tsp of each of the spices again at kegging instead of using Pumpkin Pie Spice? Making this on Saturday, looking forward to it!

Thanks!
Tony

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No, I use a pre-blended pumpkin pie spice at kegging.

Chug said:

I plan on giving this a shot. The feedback sounds amazing, but I'm still a little leary on adding 2 pounds of crystal to a 5 gallon batch. And also, 40 IBU's seems a little excessive for a pumpkin ale. Can someone please ease my mind on these probably minute issues I'm having with it? I'm still having night terrors from the "Pumking clone" I brewed last year and need assurance this won't break my heart.

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I would agree, but with a beer this big/malty/sweet, it's just fine. It attenuates down to 1.020 without issue, I've even had it drop further than that.