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

MMJfan said:

Damn, I thought I was fast going about 21 days from grain to glass. I usually wait about 10-14 days in primary before I bottle though...

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I used to be in this camp too. My new job at a brewpub lets me see a lot more about beer production and pick the brain of the brewmaster. We are usually on a 14 day schedule for most beers, with only the big high gravity things taking 3-4 weeks instead. Are they maybe a little better a week or so after we put them on? Sure. Are they fine to drink and enjoy right out of the gate? You bet

Made this again last night. Did an 10 gallon all grain batch. made a few adjustments. Added brown sugar(which I hope bumps up my ABV), along with a bunch of spices. Hopfully it turns out better then my first batch(which tasted great, just seemed a little light)

Brian

How long do you mash the pumpkin?

I typically mash for sixty minutes at 152-154. Make sure you use rice hulls or you'll have a white knuckle sparge (or worse a stuck one)

Ill try that. I guess I somehow missed this the first times I've made this. I have always boiled the pumpkin. Guess ill try the mash method for 60 mins this go round

I'm considering brewing this this year and can't decide AG or extract. I'm really not a fan of thinking about a stuck sparge or taking 8 hours to complete an AG brew. I'm also not a fan of thinking about boiling that much pumpkin and losing a gallon plus some in the fermenter if boiling it in an extract.

So my question: Has any one brewed this with and then without pumpkin to have a comparison to say whether in their opinion the pumpkin is even worth adding? I know you can't call it a real "PUMPKIN" beer without pumpkin...but in the end, it's the spices that give it the taste and if it's delicious, why not go for it?

Brewnoob1 said:

I'm considering brewing this this year and can't decide AG or extract. I'm really not a fan of thinking about a stuck sparge or taking 8 hours to complete an AG brew. I'm also not a fan of thinking about boiling that much pumpkin and losing a gallon plus some in the fermenter if boiling it in an extract.

So my question: Has any one brewed this with and then without pumpkin to have a comparison to say whether in their opinion the pumpkin is even worth adding? I know you can't call it a real "PUMPKIN" beer without pumpkin...but in the end, it's the spices that give it the taste and if it's delicious, why not go for it?

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Plenty of people leave the pumpkin out of pumpkin beers. I personally wouldn't because it seems lame to leave out the pumpkin.

Don't be afraid to mash the pumpkin. I mashed with 75oz of Libbys and about 3/4lb of rice hulls. It was the fastest sparge I've had in awhile.

Planning on brewing the extract version today/tomorrow! Can't wait.

brewing the AG soon ... sorry if this has been covered in the first 130 pp, but didn't find it on a search.

is there a favorite 2 row base malt for this?

are people using US 2 row? seems this would also work well with UK 2 row, maris otter, golden promise, halcyon, optic ... anyone have any comments on base malt, or point me to a page where it's been discussed?

temple240 said:

Plenty of people leave the pumpkin out of pumpkin beers. I personally wouldn't because it seems lame to leave out the pumpkin.

Don't be afraid to mash the pumpkin. I mashed with 75oz of Libbys and about 3/4lb of rice hulls. It was the fastest sparge I've had in awhile.

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I brew this with a extract. But I don't use the pumkin in a can. I get a full pumpkin, slice it up and roast it in the oven with pumpkin pie spices on it until its soft. Then I put it in a fine mesh hop bag and put it in the boil. I didn't lose anything and had the standard trub in the fermenter.

I brewed 5 gal AG batch of this last weekend. Im considering splitting it, dry hopping half of it and leaving the other half with just the spice additions. Considering 1/2 oz of willamette or Goldings, any thoughts?

Brewed this today. Used BIAB method. Came out right on the numbers. Thanks for a great smelling recipe! Cant wait to try this one.

Made a 5 gallon AG last night; second time brewing this recipe. I used four sugar pumpkins cubed and roasted at 350 F for an hour. Last time I used five, and it ended up being a little squash-y. I don't mash the pumpkins, just throw them in a grain bag and boil for an hour.

Unfortunately, with a recent move I discovered too late that I lost my refractometer and hydrometer. I'm usually pretty good about hitting my targets, so we'll see! Tasted good, and after an unfortunate realization that ground water temperature is currently 80 F, got temps down to under 75 F for the packet of US-05. I've been holding it in a water bath in my BK; water temp is about 70 F.

Started bubbling about 8 hours after pitching, and after 12 I had a full krausen.

Brewed this about a week ago and I'm going to add the spices in the secondary later today. If I cold crash before I put it in the keg will I lose some of the spice flavor instead of cold crashing before the secondary?

Has anyone added Lactose? Do you think 1lb would be too much?

Just bottled my 3rd batch of this. I've made a few changes so far this is my best yet if the samples at bottling are any indication. I switched to Wyeast 1056. And I've added a Madagascar vanilla bean to the secondary with the "spice tea." I soaked the scraped and chopped bean in 2 oz of vodka for a week shaking up daily and then dumped the whole thing into secondary.

SevenFields said:

Has anyone added Lactose? Do you think 1lb would be too much?

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I think it would be a bit on the sweet side if you added lactose. If you want to, I would probably do it as a side batch by pulling about a gallon off and adding the lactose to that. Good luck

So I tried this the other night after brewing it back in July and it is baaaad. I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong (followed the extract recipe) and then I noticed in my notes I used 1 oz of pumpkin spices. Not 100% sure that is what I did but it's what my notes say so I'm guessing that is what is wrong since the recipe only calls for 1 tsp, therefore I roughly added 6 times the spices as necessary.

Assuming my notes are accurate, do you think these spices will ever temper?

cincybrewer said:

So I tried this the other night after brewing it back in July and it is baaaad. I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong (followed the extract recipe) and then I noticed in my notes I used 1 oz of pumpkin spices. Not 100% sure that is what I did but it's what my notes say so I'm guessing that is what is wrong since the recipe only calls for 1 tsp, therefore I roughly added 6 times the spices as necessary. Assuming my notes are accurate, do you think these spices will ever temper?

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I had a bottle from almost a year ago, the spices mellowed, but we're still there. May be a looong time before that much mellows!!

moscoeb said:

I had a bottle from almost a year ago, the spices mellowed, but we're still there. May be a looong time before that much mellows!!

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I hear they do eventually, but you may want to just put this one in a dark corner with an open date of 2 years from now. I'd set a calendar alarm too. Just sayin'

Did some pumpkin carving with my kids yesterday while brewing up a batch of Thunderstruck. Here is a pic of our jack-o-lanterns standing guard around my brew kettle!

Just checked on this. I was kinda rushed on brewday and ended a little under the numbers. Weighed out at 4.2% abv. Smells delicious though.

I kegged this brew 2 weeks ago and while it's delicious it also has a ton of sediment. It sat in the primary for over a month waiting for an open keg but it was still cloudy when I transferred it to the keg.

It starts to poor clear but then a rush of sediment starts coming through the lines, even after multiple pints. Next time I'll cold crash before kegging but is there anything I can do to help at this point?

temple240 said:

I kegged this brew 2 weeks ago and while it's delicious it also has a ton of sediment. It sat in the primary for over a month waiting for an open keg but it was still cloudy when I transferred it to the keg.

It starts to poor clear but then a rush of sediment starts coming through the lines, even after multiple pints. Next time I'll cold crash before kegging but is there anything I can do to help at this point?

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This is one beer that I do transfer from my fermenting bucket to a carboy once fermentation is done.

I usually have close to a gallon of trub on the bottom of my fermenter so transferring it off of that helps get rid of a lot of that sediment. Then I let it sit for another week or so in the carboy to let what sediment is left to settle out before I bottle.

Brewing this now. Rice hulls are a definite especially if you have problems with your sparge.

Used 1lb for a 5 gallon batch, never had such a clean sparge.

Brewed a slight variant of this on October 13th.

• 8lb 2-row
• 3lb canned pumpkin (roasted in the oven at 350°F for 1 hour)
• 1lb 12oz Crystal 60L
• 1lb biscuit
• 8oz flaked wheat
• 1lb molasses

I use BIAB, so I mashed all of this in about 6 gallons of water at right around 158°F for 60 minutes. Pulled the bag, let it drain, poured over another 1.25 gallons of 170°F on the bag to sparge, total preboil was about 6.5 gallons. Preboil gravity was 1.051. Even though the pumpkin was sticky, no need for any rice hulls with BIAB.

Once boiling, I added my Goldings. They're really old, so I upped it to 1.75oz (calculated potential alpha loss using BeerSmith). Had a larger boilover than I expected - maybe the wheat? Maybe the pumpkin solids?

60 minute boil, added whirlfloc at 15 minutes from the end. Post boil gravity was 1.067 (more than I calculated - expecting 1.058 - maybe pumpkin converted better than I thought?).

Chilled, racked, fermentation control drops and in to my fermenting fridge at 64°F. Pitched rehydrated US04. Ended up with right about 5 gallons in the fermenter - left behind about .25 gallons of trub and pumpkin matter.

3 weeks later (November 2nd), final gravity was 1.012 for a 6.8% ABV. Tasted quite nice!

Added 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice in to some preboiled water (probably at 200°F when I added it) and let it steep for about 10m. Racked the beer to another carboy leaving behind about .25 gallons of yeast cake/trub, added the spice tea.

Back in to the fermenter it went for a little more time while the kegerator gets finished up, then I plan on naturally carbonating in a keg and then serving at a mid December holiday party.

This looks just about exactly what I've been doing for the last three batches. I really like the molasses as an additional adjunct. You might want to bottle a few of these when you're kegging and lay them up until next December, I've had some nice results from long-term aging on this particular beer.

I brewed the all grain version from page 1, 5 gallon batch and jus used a third of everything. Mashed at 155 ish I think. 1/2 lb rice hulls, canned pumpkin in the mash, easy sparged with a manifold. Boiled for an hour. Really orange in color. O.G. Of 1.057 (bout 85% efficiency). Pitched washed Nottinham. Fermented 5 days each at 62/65/68. F.G. 1.009 6.2 % ABV. Made a cinnamon plus blend of spices. Ended up adding almost two tsp in 2 cups water and corn sugar for conditioning. I think my spices are old and weak. Tasted Really good at room temp with no carbonation!! We shall see in two weeks!!

Now, I have to wait two weeks! Ugh!!

When entering this into a competition (specialty beer in category 21A), what should I put as the base style for this beer?

I just realized that I never reported back. This is the second time I brewed this recipe. The first time brewed was last year and I followed the recipe as stated in the first page for a 5.5 gal batch.

2nd batch was 11 gal brewed on 9/20/2013. The recipe was adjusted slightly:

2 row - 18.63 lbs
C60 - 2 lbs
Bisquit Malt - 1.5 lbs
Flaked Barley - 1 lb (as that's what I had in hand)
Rice Hulls - 1 lb
Pumpkin, hops, yeast and spices as per recipe

Mashed at 159F, OG 1.055, FG 1.019. Cold crashed at 2 weeks for a few days, kegged with gelatin. Spices were added at flameout.

First keg is already kicked. Beer is surprisingly crystal clear, very malty due to the high mash temp. It is a very balanced beer, the spices are just right, slight cinnamon aroma and flavor that is not in your face but more in the background, where it should be. I thought the high FG would affect this beer but it works well for me. I like it much better than how I remember it from last year.

I am hoping the 2nd keg makes it to Thanksgiving. As much as I enjoy this beer, I am not sure that I'll brew 11 gal again. That's a lot of spiced beer on hand!

Just brewed a 10 gallon batch of this recipe. Please for the love of all that is holy, USE LOTS OF RICEHULLS! I made the mistake of only using 1lb of rice hulls and had the slowwwwesst sparge ever. Seriously, like a 5 hour sparge. Next time I brew this I will be using about 3-4lbs of rice hulls.

rjthomas21 said:

When entering this into a competition (specialty beer in category 21A), what should I put as the base style for this beer?

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I'd have to check the stats, but I would probably go with American Amber ale. That's what it seems like to me from when I made it.

TheOnionKnight said:

Just brewed a 10 gallon batch of this recipe. Please for the love of all that is holy, USE LOTS OF RICEHULLS! I made the mistake of only using 1lb of rice hulls and had the slowwwwesst sparge ever. Seriously, like a 5 hour sparge. Next time I brew this I will be using about 3-4lbs of rice hulls.

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Really? Interesting. I've brewed this recipe twice. First time was 5.5 gal with 60 oz of Libby's Pure Pumpkin and second time was 11 gal with 120 oz. I used 1 lb of rice hulls on both batches. I typically open the valve between 25% and 50% for all my brews. No problems for me.

Did you pre-rinse the rice hulls? I soak mine in a couple of gallons of water for a few minutes, then drain, rinse and add to the mash. Not sure if that makes any difference but it works well for me.

It could also be the design of the MT. I use a 60 qt Igloo cube cooler with a SS braided hose.

hio3791 said:

Really? Interesting. I've brewed this recipe twice. First time was 5.5 gal with 60 oz of Libby's Pure Pumpkin and second time was 11 gal with 120 oz. I used 1 lb of rice hulls on both batches. I typically open the valve between 25% and 50% for all my brews. No problems for me. Did you pre-rinse the rice hulls? I soak mine in a couple of gallons of water for a few minutes, then drain, rinse and add to the mash. Not sure if that makes any difference but it works well for me. It could also be the design of the MT. I use a 60 qt Igloo cube cooler with a SS braided hose.

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I'm convinced that SS braided hose setup is the easiest overall sparge setup.

+1 ^

I also have the ss braid setup in an igloo 54qt. Made this batch for the fifth time yesterday with only 6oz of rice hulls, never had an issue with sparging this one on my rig

I use a rectangular cooler with a slotted pvc manifold. Forgot about the rice hulls everyone recommends, but was surprised to have no issues. I added the pumpkin last, and even though I stir and batch sparge, most of it stayed in the upper half of the mash. I ended up opening the valve wide open after vorlauf just like normal. Maybe I was just lucky.

hio3791 said:

Really? Interesting. I've brewed this recipe twice. First time was 5.5 gal with 60 oz of Libby's Pure Pumpkin and second time was 11 gal with 120 oz. I used 1 lb of rice hulls on both batches. I typically open the valve between 25% and 50% for all my brews. No problems for me.

Did you pre-rinse the rice hulls? I soak mine in a couple of gallons of water for a few minutes, then drain, rinse and add to the mash. Not sure if that makes any difference but it works well for me.

It could also be the design of the MT. I use a 60 qt Igloo cube cooler with a SS braided hose.

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10 gal batch with 120 oz of libbys pure pumpkin mashed in a 10 gal orange rubbermaid cooler with a false bottom. No I didn't pre-soak the hulls. I've done it before but didn't bother with it this time around as I already upped my water volumes to compensate for the pumpkin absorption. You know, I brewed a 5 gal batch of this last year and didn't have the same problem. I think the weight of the pumpkin in the cylindrical cooler was too much for the false bottom this time around.

TheOnionKnight said:

I think the weight of the pumpkin in the cylindrical cooler was too much for the false bottom this time around.

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I've never made this actual recipe, but one like it.

I used real pumpkin, baked, peeled, and whipped in a food processor.

I poured the pumpkin mush on top of the mash in progress and batch sparged through it. I just agitated the top during the sparges and used the grain bed as a filter.

I made this for the first time several weeks ago. Tonight is the night to keg and bottle. I have read a pretty good portion of this thread and either missed or didn't see how much priming sugar to use. Thinking about priming with light brown sugar but have corn sugar in hand just in case I change my mind.