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

Yuri_Rage said:

I got to try DFH Punk'n last night - it was VERY good. It may be a bold statement, but I think a good batch of Thunderstruck is quite similar in flavor and texture.

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Thanks for this recipe. Gonna finally make it this year!

Make a batch for me. I'm brewing vicariously through HBT. I don't have my rig set up at the new place yet, and I'm probably not going to be able to get a batch going until next year sometime (life happens).

FuzzeWuzze said:

Hmmm, so mine is 2 weeks old...finally got around to racking it to a carboy on top of the spice tea.

I used the Cinnamon plus "clone" recipe that was posted above and on previous pages, it does smell amazing but with 1tsp for my 4.5ish gallons it seemed really mellow...maybe i was expecting more of a kick from it.

Im guessing with this kind of spice tea, the flavor you taste right after mixing is the one you get, and its not a taste that builds in the beer over time? Or will it get stronger over the next week or two?
Regardless im not going to mess with it just yet, once i keg it and its cold and carbonated i'll determine if i like the spice level...

Thats another perk of kegging i suppose...if its not enough i can throw some more spice tea in there, pressurize it, shake the crap out of it to mix and try again.

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I just had the EXACT same experience about an hour ago. I used the Cinnamon Plus clone recipe and racked about 4.5 gallons onto a tea with 1tsp. I too was expecting more spice flavor than what I am getting right now. I'll be bottling and plan to be prepared to add a little more spice tea to the bottling bucket if necessary. I too am wondering if the spice flavor will come through more with time?

FuzzeWuzze said:

Not really that big of a pain? Take all of the amounts for the 15 gallon and multiply them by 2/3rds...whala, 10 gallon recipe...

Thats what everyone is doing for the 5 Gallon AG amounts...

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Oh. No reason to battle with BeerSmith then. Thanks

So, I transferred this to my secondary the other day. For reference, I was the one who got the ridiculously high OG of 1.089. The gravity has dropped to 1.017, which if my OG was correct would give me a beer with 9.6% ABV. The beer certainly doesn't taste very imperial (in fact it tastes pretty bland and neutral,) and I'm more inclined to believe that something was off the day I took my initial gravity. Is there another way to measure alcohol content? Knowing the actual alcohol content would help me decide whether to just bottle after a couple weeks, or let it sit in the secondary for a few months.

BrettV said:

So, I transferred this to my secondary the other day. For reference, I was the one who got the ridiculously high OG of 1.089. The gravity has dropped to 1.017, which if my OG was correct would give me a beer with 9.6% ABV. The beer certainly doesn't taste very imperial (in fact it tastes pretty bland and neutral,) and I'm more inclined to believe that something was off the day I took my initial gravity. Is there another way to measure alcohol content? Knowing the actual alcohol content would help me decide whether to just bottle after a couple weeks, or let it sit in the secondary for a few months.

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There is a device that gives estimated abv by how many drops remain in it. It looks like a pipette. I think it's only 5-10$, and I don't know how accurate it is. But might get you in the ball park. Liquor barn sells them here locally.

So I brewed the extract version today. Holy moly the trub on this. I think I am gonna lose 3 liters on trub alone.

Dutch218 said:

So I brewed the extract version today. Holy moly the trub on this. I think I am gonna lose 3 liters on trub alone.

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It will pack down some, but you will lose quite a bit. I had 6gal and got about 4.5 when I racked it.

I am brewing the extract version of this on Saturday and have a few questions.

1) Do I strain the pumpkin out of my wort when adding to the primary to help reduce the turb?

Or will that remove something that will contribute to the taste and or finished product.

I was just thinking that this might help cut down on turb and the loss of head space in the primary.

I'm also worried the build up of turb will clog my tap when racking into the secondary.

2) Is it best to add the spice tea (Pampered Chef recipe) to the secondary?

3) Thoughts on using 120 oz of pumpkin vs the 30 oz called for?

Cant wait to brew this!

Thanks

I did a biab and used the pumpkin in the mash. I know this recipe calls for it in the boil but most others say mash. I needed to use another clean pot and smaller lid to push the wort out of my bag and then pour it back into my kettle. What a P.I.T.A. I never fully understood stuck sparge until I made this yesterday.

BeerArchitect54 said:

I am brewing the extract version of this on Saturday and have a few questions.

1) Do I strain the pumpkin out of my wort when adding to the primary to help reduce the turb?

Or will that remove something that will contribute to the taste and or finished product.

I was just thinking that this might help cut down on turb and the loss of head space in the primary.

I'm also worried the build up of turb will clog my tap when racking into the secondary.

2) Is it best to add the spice tea (Pampered Chef recipe) to the secondary?

3) Thoughts on using 120 oz of pumpkin vs the 30 oz called for?

Cant wait to brew this!

Thanks

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I just dumped my wort straight to the fermenting bucket without trying to strain it. When I racket it to my carboy after fermentation, I used an auto-siphon and was just careful to not get into the large amount of trub on the bottom and it worked pretty good for me!

As for your question regarding the spice tea, this is a quote from Yuri on the first page that should answer your questoin:

Yuri_Rage said:

I've added the spices at flameout, when racking for clearing (yeah, I mean "secondary" - I simply despise that term!), or even when kegging. The results are remarkably similar. The later in the process that you add the spices, the stronger and fresher/sharper the flavor. The spice flavor does fade over time, and the difference can be quite significant over a long period of aging.

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I added mine at bottling and I must say, it is really damn good. Can't attest to adding the spice tea any other times, but I think Yuri does a pretty good job of addressing that.

Hope this helps...

I'm going to BIAB this recipe on Saturday, and was thinking about using two bags. One for pumpkin one for grains... does that sound like a good idea?

Thanks MMJfan!!! This did help!

Do you mean "Brew In A Bag"?

I guess that could be an option. I could use a grain bag to hold the pumpkin and then remove when I cooled and poured into my primary.

My main question is if I would be losing anything if I filtered out the pumpkin before fermenting?

Thanks
Andrew

I think the canned pumpkin sort of dissolves during the boil? If you were using fresh pumpkin cut into chunks, then a mesh bag would work well. I just don't see it as being too effective with canned pumpkin...

And also, I wouldn't think you would lose anything by trying to filter the pumpking out when racking it to your fermentor. The spices are what give this beer most of the flavor and the pumpkin is more for texture and slight flavor. I've read several posts about people skipping the pumpkin altogether. I just couldn't do that because then it wouldn't be a true pumpkin ale in my opinion...

I really wish I would have practiced patience when I made this batch last year. I drank most of it before it was ready. I found a bottle of it last week (so if had aged for close to 8-9 months), and it tasted great.

I would like to get a batch going now and let it sit until the holidays.

BeerArchitect54 said:

Thanks MMJfan!!! This did help!

I guess that could be an option. I could use a grain bag to hold the pumpkin and then remove when I cooled and poured into my primary.

My main question is if I would be losing anything if I filtered out the pumpkin before fermenting?

Thanks
Andrew

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I did the extract version about 2 weeks ago. I put 30oz of canned pumpkin in a nylon paint strainer bag for the entire 60 minute boil. In the end, there was very little pumpkin left in the bag. Most had dissolved through the bag and into the wort. After primary ferm was done there was quite a bit of pumpkin settled in the bottom of the fermentor. I started with 5.5 gallons in primary and probably have about 4.5 gallons in secondary now where I added the spice tea.

bradford0113 said:

I did the extract version about 2 weeks ago. I put 30oz of canned pumpkin in a nylon paint strainer bag for the entire 60 minute boil. In the end, there was very little pumpkin left in the bag. Most had dissolved through the bag and into the wort. After primary ferm was done there was quite a bit of pumpkin settled in the bottom of the fermentor. I started with 5.5 gallons in primary and probably have about 4.5 gallons in secondary now where I added the spice tea.

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I think this clears up the pumpkin in a bag question... I will just add the pumpkin to the boil. I'm going with 120 oz of pumpkin to really boost the flavor up (fingers crossed).. I am also thinking I will wait to add the spiced tea to the secondary.

Just for the sake of asking; How many gallons did you start the boil with? I input all this information into Brew Smith and have a print out of directions. However, I'm really concerned that I did this right.

Anyone that can share there Brew Smith instructions, and or any print out of their instructions?

Thanks
Andrew

I started my boil at around 7 gal so that I would have enough to finish with 6 gal. in the fermentor. When I racked it to the carboy for clearing, I lost about 1 gal. to trub. Still happy to get 5 gal. on bottling day though!

letmeholleratya said:

I really wish I would have practiced patience when I made this batch last year. I drank most of it before it was ready. I found a bottle of it last week (so if had aged for close to 8-9 months), and it tasted great.

I would like to get a batch going now and let it sit until the holidays.

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That's why I ordered 2 batches worth of ingredients!

Once I down the first case, I'm going to start up round 2 of this! There is NO WAY I would make it to Thanksgiving on just one batch. Plus, my wife is loving this brew too so it will go twice as fast!

BeerArchitect54 said:

Just for the sake of asking; How many gallons did you start the boil with? I input all this information into Brew Smith and have a print out of directions. However, I'm really concerned that I did this right.
Andrew

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I started with a little over 2.5 gallons before adding the steeping grains. The grains soaked up a lot but then when I added the pumpkin and extract I was back up to a little over 2.5 gallons. After the 60 minute boil, I probably had about 2 gallons of wort. Added that to the fermentor and topped off to 5.5 gallons before pitching the yeast. I ended up with an original gravity of 1.050. After 10 days, it was down to 1.010 when transferring to secondary for spice tea addition.

letmeholleratya said:

I really wish I would have practiced patience when I made this batch last year. I drank most of it before it was ready. I found a bottle of it last week (so if had aged for close to 8-9 months), and it tasted great.

I would like to get a batch going now and let it sit until the holidays.

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Since you have experience with a well aged version of this, does the spice flavor fade over time.

I plan on brewing this one tomorrow for my first pumpkin! I scaled it down to 10 gallons and got something along the lines of:
14 pounds pale
3.5 pounds 60L
1.5 pounds Biscuit
1.5 oz EKG
8 15oz canned pumpkin
2 Whirlfloc
Anyone think that sounds about right? for some reason 3.5 pounds 60L sounds like alot.

ajohnson153 said:

Since you have experience with a well aged version of this, does the spice flavor fade over time.

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Mine did, but it mellowed into a tasty beer. I also misread the original recipe, and used the same ingredients for a "5 gals going into the fermenter" batch. Maybe mine mellowed into what it is supposed to taste like to begin with.

letmeholleratya said:

Mine did, but it mellowed into a tasty beer. I also misread the original recipe, and used the same ingredients for a "5 gals going into the fermenter" batch. Maybe mine mellowed into what it is supposed to taste like to begin with.

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So you used the same recipe that says it is for a 6 gallons going into the fermenter batch for a 5 gallons going into the fermenter batch? So if I brew it as posted I will probably bump up the spices just a tad.

I would recommend going by the recipe as far as your spice additions go. Especially if you are adding them during secondary. You can always add more to taste at bottling if you feel it isn't spicey enough. But if you add too much, you can't reverse what you did to make it less spicey...

MMJfan said:

I would recommend going by the recipe as far as your spice additions go. Especially if you are adding them during secondary. You can always add more to taste at bottling if you feel it isn't spicey enough. But if you add too much, you can't reverse what you did to make it less spicey...

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Fair enough, I'm also going to get some spice from aging on spiced rum soaked oak chips.

I bottled this last weekend and got to try a bit. When I read this described as pumpkin pie in a bottle, I thought yea pretty common description for this type of beer. It'll probably be a pumpkin spiced brown or something. But man, right down to the awesome mouthfeel, this is like taking a bite of pumpkin pie. Can't wait for next weekend so I can finally pop a couple carbed bottles. It is Awesome!

clydo said:

I bottled this last weekend and got to try a bit. When I read this described as pumpkin pie in a bottle, I thought yea pretty common description for this type of beer. It'll probably be a pumpkin spiced brown or something. But man, right down to the awesome mouthfeel, this is like taking a bite of pumpkin pie. Can't wait for next weekend so I can finally pop a couple carbed bottles. It is Awesome!

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Pretty much sums up how I feel about this beer as well!

ajohnson153 said:

So you used the same recipe that says it is for a 6 gallons going into the fermenter batch for a 5 gallons going into the fermenter batch? So if I brew it as posted I will probably bump up the spices just a tad.

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Yeah, I misread The recipe. I used the spice and pumpkin amount for the original recipe, but only had 5 gals going into the carboy. So the pumpkin pie flavor was a lot more prevalent. When I make it again I'll actually go by the recipe.

clydo said:

I bottled this last weekend and got to try a bit. When I read this described as pumpkin pie in a bottle, I thought yea pretty common description for this type of beer. It'll probably be a pumpkin spiced brown or something. But man, right down to the awesome mouthfeel, this is like taking a bite of pumpkin pie. Can't wait for next weekend so I can finally pop a couple carbed bottles. It is Awesome!

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I tried some of my sample as well at bottling. Ive never had a good experience with samples. My pumpkin tasted actually kind of bitter, and I didn't get any spice until more of an after taste.

My carbed/fridges beers always taste better than my samples, but I'm always getting a more bitter taste with my samples than the bottled version turns out to be.

No idea why.

I hope my batch turns out well. I wasnt entirely blown away by my sample... Everything was dead on just about (1.051 to 1.014), boil was right on, hops. But like I said, my samples are always more bitter for some reason

I'm brewing this later today but only doing a 3 gallon batch. I was wondering how much water I should use during the boil? Thanks

My samples are never great tasting, but I can still usually gauge whether or not it's going to be good. My sample of this beer was quite tasty, but I cracked open a bottle just 2 days after brewing and while it was still flat, the flavors were soooo much more pornounced! I never take too much stock into how my samples taste...

BTW, I may be in the minority here, but I had my first Southern Tier Pumpking last night and I have to admit, I was expecting a hell of a lot more from all of the rave reviews I've been reading. Way too much of a creamy/sweet taste for my liking. I'll take my homebrew pumpkin ale any day of the week over Pumpking! I'm actually relieved it wasn't what I was expecting because at $8.99 per 22 oz bottle, that **** would have broke me real quick! Also makes me glad I brewed Yuri's recipe and not make an attempt at brewing the Pumpking clone on another thread...

HootHootHoot said:

I tried some of my sample as well at bottling. Ive never had a good experience with samples. My pumpkin tasted actually kind of bitter, and I didn't get any spice until more of an after taste.

My carbed/fridges beers always taste better than my samples, but I'm always getting a more bitter taste with my samples than the bottled version turns out to be.

No idea why.

I hope my batch turns out well. I wasnt entirely blown away by my sample... Everything was dead on just about (1.051 to 1.014), boil was right on, hops. But like I said, my samples are always more bitter for some reason

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Me too, although i did like the taste of my beer after spicing i was expecting a bit more spice with a tsp of spice as recommended by the recipe for 5g....i have mine force carbing now @30 PSI so hopefully i can sample it cold tommorrow afternoon and see if cold + carbonation brings the spices out more...if not i guess im making more spice tea tomorrow to throw into the keg.

The thing that wasnt quite clear in the recipe if its a strict tsp(leveled off flat), or a heaping tsp (just getting a spoon full). I assumed strict, maybe that's why its slightly less? Dunno...

Do you guys/gals add the amount of pumpkin into your grain bill when figuring out your strike volume and such? Thanks.

moscoeb said:

There is a device that gives estimated abv by how many drops remain in it. It looks like a pipette. I think it's only 5-10$, and I don't know how accurate it is. But might get you in the ball park. Liquor barn sells them here locally.

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It is for wine, but works well. Just make sure you have a sample with minimal particles in it or it won't work (put your sample in the fridge to let sediment fall out)

I am trying to build the extract recipe on Brewmasters Warehouse. Do I use Unmalted Wheat, Caramel Wheat, White wheat...?

Nevermind. I just found that you can buy the recipe pre-built for you!

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/recipe/887c158f/

Use code bnarmy for 10% off online orders. Sorry for the double post.

Use code bnarmy for 10% off online orders from brewmasters warehouse.

I brewed the Tunderstruck Pumpkin today. I doubled the pumpkin but forgot to add the Irish Moss with 10 min. to go in the boil... What might this do??? I have never used the Irish moss before so I don't know what this was supposed to do but I'm worried because I forgot to add it???

Any thoughts?

Other wise this was a great brew day.. My buddy and I hit 1.049 right on the head... I set it in the basement with a blow off hose because the head space was pretty minimal in the primary.

Keeping my fingers crossed!!!