Southern Tier Pumking Clone??

Hey Everybody,

What an awesome thread.

I've been following up on this every couple of days for the past month because I was trying to put together a nice PM "Pumking Clone" recipe. And as somebody mentioned before on here, this reads like a frickin' mystery novel.

I started off assembling my recipe on beer calculus a few weeks ago (based on the page 20 recipe) and kept tweaking it as new information was revealed (eg. the Graham Cracker Extract leaving a metallic taste, the alcohol soaked vanilla beans looking funky, the vanilla butter and nut extract being used instead). After I felt like I had enough of a handle on what was going on, I finally decided to buy the necessary materials and brew.

Here is what I went with:

http://hopville.com/recipe/1651534


LB OZ
45% 7 0 Briess DME Golden Light boiled
26% 4 0 Pumpkin, cooked mash
6% 1 0 Victory Malt mash
6% 1 0 Pale Malt, 6 Row, US mash
6% 1 0 Crystal 60L mash
5% 0 12 Dememera Sugar boiled
2% 0 4 Brown Sugar, Light boiled
2% 0 4 Gambrinus Honey Malt mash
2% 0 4 Rice Hulls mash

60 min .5 Magnum ~ pellet 14.0
20 min 0.2 Sterling ~ pellet 6.3

British Ale (WLP005)

boil 10 min 1 tbsp Irish Moss
boil 5 min 1 tsp Allspice
boil 5 min 3 ea Cinnamon Sticks
boil 5 min 1 tsp Cloves
boil 5 min 1 tsp Ginger, ground
boil 5 min 1 tsp Nutmeg
bottling 1 days 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
bottling 1 days ½ tsp Vanilla Extract

Some notes about my brew day:

I mashed everything in a Coleman cooler for about 1 hour. The mash was a bit soupy because I had to keep adding hot water. It was around 146-150 (I WANTED it to be around 155 though). I "ghetto sparged" with 3 gallons of 170 degree water through a pasta strainer that I bought at Bed Bath and Beyond. Say what you want though, my efficiency was at 65% (according to beer calculus). The pumpkin really does slow things down though, took me about 40 minutes when it usually takes me about 10 minutes to "ghetto sparge".

The boil went as planned except for the last 10 minutes when my girlfriend and I realized we forgot to add the DME and sugars. So we frantically added it all just in time to toss in the plethora of spices at the 5 minute mark. I originally had .5 teaspoons for each ingredient amount, but my girlfriend prepared the spice mixture and took the liberty of doubling everything since she didn't think half a teaspoon was enough.

We racked the beer over after chilling it with my wort chiller. I must say, it smelled ABSOLUTELY DIVINE. People kept commenting on here about a lot of the spice flavors dropping out while fermentation goes on, so maybe I'll be on to something with the extra .5 teaspoon for each.

I asked the guys at my LHBS about a yeast and they said WLP005 would probably get me what I wanted. Here's to putting my faith in their hands. I made a 24-hour starter for this beer since it's going to be around 8% ABV.

Also, I added the Honey Malt because I've always wanted to use it and my LHBS is always out of it. I saw it when I was purchasing everything and decided "why the hell not?". Honey on my pumpkin pie sounds terrific.

I plan on racking this to a secondary container next week. I also plan on doing some final adjustments at bottling time with Mckormick's Pumpkin Spice and Vanilla Butter and Nut extract.

I had Pumking a couple days ago and there is something very distinct about that aroma. It really does smell like graham crackers and I don't think anything you do in the mash or boil is going to give you that. I'm almost positive it's some strange extract added during the bottling process (I know this has pretty much been established on here, just wanted to confirm it).

Although this may not necessarily be a clone since I decided to use Honey Malt, i'll keep you guys updated with how it goes. Even if this doesn't turn out being a clone, the wort smelled fantastic. I'm almost willing to say it was worth putting this all together just to smell that wort. It smelled like 10 pumpkin pies were liquefied and put into my brew bucket.

Looking back, the ONLY regret I have so far with this batch (besides mashing so low) is using straight tap water to top off my bucket. I was at like 4.8 gallons of wort and brought it up to 5.2 without boiling the water. They use chloramine to clean my water, which supposedly can give a weird medicinal taste.

Any feedback from you guys would be appreciated. I started brewing in January and I've been absolutely hooked. This is Batch 13 for me.

And THANK YOU ALL for contributing to this thread. It's been a great read!

Ultrablue, great first post! If you want a subtly spiced beer, you'll regret all those spices. I used 2 tsp TOTAL (pumpkin pie mix) compared to your 4-5 tsp, and IMHO mine is over-spiced. And Pumking has no cinnamon, as some have noted. As a point of reference, I've tried 4-5 pumpkin beers and my spice levels were comparable, but my new favorite pumpkin beer is Dogfish Head, which has much less spice than mine. So you'll be out at the far extreme on spices.

Good luck finding Vanilla Butter and Nut extract; I can't get it in Chicagoland.

Hope that helps.

SpeedYellow said:

Ultrablue, great first post! If you want a subtly spiced beer, you'll regret all those spices. I used 2 tsp TOTAL (pumpkin pie mix) compared to your 4-5 tsp, and IMHO mine is over-spiced. And Pumking has no cinnamon, as some have noted. As a point of reference, I've tried 4-5 pumpkin beers and my spice levels were comparable, but my new favorite pumpkin beer is Dogfish Head, which has much less spice than mine. So you'll be out at the far extreme on spices.

Good luck finding Vanilla Butter and Nut extract; I can't get it in Chicagoland.

Hope that helps.

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I have another regret then: letting my girlfriend prepare the spices.

I remember reading about there not being cinnamon, but when I was putting the spice list together I took a whiff of some in my cabinet and thought, "THAT NEEDS TO BE IN MY BEER". I guess it's easy for me to get over excited? Good thing there wasn't any bacon in the area while I was putting the recipe together.

I'll taste it in a week and let you know how it is. I feel like (and I'm hoping that) this just turns out to be an awesome pumpkin pie beer. I'm thinking about bottling 3 gallons by itself and then bottling the other two with the spice and "Vanilla Butter and Nut" extract additions as needed to try and get that Pumking smell at least.

As a relatively new brewer, splitting batches has been one of the most rewarding things I've done. You get to learn so much more over the same amount of time it takes for another full batch.

And can't the yeast make a big difference in how much the spices come through in a beer? Won't a vigorous fermentation by the yeast let some of that spice character escape through the blowoff tube?

Well, don't worry too much about your spice levels -- several others here did similar amounts and seemed relatively happy with it. I just know that I wouldn't be, that's all. But I surely recommend against adding pumpkin pie mix at bottling. Vanilla maybe, but no more spices.

SpeedYellow said:

And Pumking has no cinnamon, as some have noted. .

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Some have noted this, true, but the ST site describes cinnamon as one of the flavors. Maybe they're lying to trick us.


From the site:

ABOUT THE BEER
STYLE: Imperial Pumpkin Ale
BREWED SINCE: 2007
ABV: 8.6%
FERMENTATION: Ale yeast, two types of malt, two types of hops, pumpkin
COLOR: Deep copper
EFFERVESCENCE: Medium carbonation
NOSE: Pumpkin, pie spices, buttery crust, vanilla, roasted pecans
FLAVOR: Malty sweetness, vanilla, clove, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, pie crust
BITTERNESS: Low
BODY: Medium-light
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 40-48°F
GLASS: Goblet
AVAILABILITY: Autumn seasonal, August release / 22oz / 1/6 keg
CELLARING: 35-40°F

There seems to be more cinnamon in this years version than prior. Also, I don't believe they boil their spices, they are soaked in 151.

I bottled my pumpkin beer yesterday.

I used TyTanium's spice mix. After a week in the bucket, I thought the spice character was too weak for my taste, so I added the same amount again, soaked in 151. At bottling, I thought the spice character was OK. However, any more clove or allspice would have been too much, and I wished it had more ginger. Next time I do this, I will make some adjustments.

I also added 1/4 tsp of the Vanilla Butter Nut extract to my 5 gal batch. Earlier it was said that 1/8 tsp yielded a good flavor, but not as strong a flavor as Pumking. At 1/4 tsp the flavor is obvious in the uncarbed beer. I do not find it too strong, but some may, and I would NOT add more than 1/4 tsp.

Overall this brew is tasting pretty good at 3 weeks old. The green taste has abated enough that the pumpkin has come back, and I think that the spices and extracts discussed in this thread were very helpful.

I'm currently fermenting this, and I have a question about other ppl's experiences. Was your fermentation pretty slow? Mines been in primary for about 10 days, and gravity is at about 1.028. I'm kind of worried about this finishing out. Any thoughts?

cotillion said:

I'm currently fermenting this, and I have a question about other ppl's experiences. Was your fermentation pretty slow? Mines been in primary for about 10 days, and gravity is at about 1.028. I'm kind of worried about this finishing out. Any thoughts?

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What was your OG, mash temp and did you use lactose? At any rate, I'd give it 3 weeks in primary but wouldn't expect it to move more than a couple more points. I went from 1.070 to 1.018 with 8 oz lactose, can't remember mash temp.

sivdrinks said:

What was your OG, mash temp and did you use lactose? At any rate, I'd give it 3 weeks in primary but wouldn't expect it to move more than a couple more points. I went from 1.070 to 1.018 with 8 oz lactose, can't remember mash temp.

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Thanks for the reply. I used about 2 oz lactose, OG 1.078ish. I mashed at around 158, but I'm never confident to the degree.

Would adding some DAP help? Shaking up the carboy? Or just sit tight?

cotillion said:

Thanks for the reply. I used about 2 oz lactose, OG 1.078ish. I mashed at around 158, but I'm never confident to the degree.

Would adding some DAP help? Shaking up the carboy? Or just sit tight?

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DAP? Lactose probably didn't add any points either way but mashing that high would be my guess as to a higher final gravity, for me it would anyway. You could stir the yeast a bit with the end of a sanitized racking cane and maybe get a point or two but I'd let it sit another week at least.

sivdrinks said:

DAP? Lactose probably didn't add any points either way but mashing that high would be my guess as to a higher final gravity, for me it would anyway. You could stir the yeast a bit with the end of a sanitized racking cane and maybe get a point or two but I'd let it sit another week at least.

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Cool, I may end up trying that. DAP is a yeast nutrient, diammonium phosphate. I keep it around for winemaking usually.

I am fermenting this as well. I started at 1.084 and am down to 1.017 (8.78%)after 10 days. I had a 1.5 liter starter of wyeast 1469. It tastes great and I have experimented with the vanilla nut and butter extract. I think it does add the flavor of the pumpking or something close at any rate.

I mashed in at 158 but didn't heat up the pumpkin puree enough. When I added that it dropped the temp down to 149. It had been mashing for about 25 minutes at that point. I was able to raise the temp with some extra sparge water to 153.

So to follow up because I am neurotic, is the yeast nutrient advisable at all? Maybe a tsp worth? I made a huge, GOB-style, mistake and promised this brew for a party.

My OG was 1.083 and I used US-05. After 15 days it was only down to 1.035. It took 3 weeks to get down to 1.024 and thats where it stopped. I kegged it today and it tastes great, if sweet.

It's warm and uncarb'd but I taste that Pumking butter/graham cracker taste that everyone is looking for without adding any flavoring. Maybe my imagination since I just had the real Pumking a couple days ago.

troyh said:

My OG was 1.083 and I used US-05. After 15 days it was only down to 1.035. It took 3 weeks to get down to 1.024 and thats where it stopped. I kegged it today and it tastes great, if sweet.

It's warm and uncarb'd but I taste that Pumking butter/graham cracker taste that everyone is looking for without adding any flavoring. Maybe my imagination since I just had the real Pumking a couple days ago.

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Man, that is encouraging to read. I tasted mine and I don't know if it's diacetyl or what, but I'm already getting a little of that creamy/buttery taste. I mashed with a box of graham crackers, so that may be causing me some issues.

cotillion said:

So to follow up because I am neurotic, is the yeast nutrient advisable at all? Maybe a tsp worth? I made a huge, GOB-style, mistake and promised this brew for a party.

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Beer will taste fine, just be a heavier mouthfeel. A quick read on DAP tells me no more than 1/2 tsp for your batch, you're just trying to give it a boost. If you can get down to 1.025 that gives 7% abv.

troyh said:

My OG was 1.083 and I used US-05. After 15 days it was only down to 1.035. It took 3 weeks to get down to 1.024 and thats where it stopped. I kegged it today and it tastes great, if sweet.

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How many packs of 05? Did you aerate the wort with O2? Interested in comparing to my results with the same yeast.

Some have noted this, true, but the ST site describes cinnamon as one of the flavors. Maybe they're lying to trick us.


I hope that they are not tryin to trick because some ppl may be allergic to cinn

cotillion said:

I'm currently fermenting this, and I have a question about other ppl's experiences. Was your fermentation pretty slow? Mines been in primary for about 10 days, and gravity is at about 1.028. I'm kind of worried about this finishing out. Any thoughts?

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I made a 24-hour starter with WLP005, and my O.G. was 1.084. The fermentation took off within a few hours. It violently fermented for the next 3 days. I took a reading 7 days in and got down to 1.017!

After the 2-week mark I moved it over to the secondary. It tasted decent, but for whatever reason it kinda reminded me to Dogfish Head's pumpkin ale (maybe it was the cinnamon). If you look at my recipe on the previous page it's a lie, I used half a teaspoon for each ingredient. Turns out my girlfriend didn't double everything.

I made a mixture with a couple shots of moonshine I had laying around and all of the spices mentioned by Tytanium on the previous page for the secondary.

I picked up Mckormick's "Vanilla Butter and Nut" flavoring at my local Giant Eagle. It smells like straight-up frosting. It's somewhat close, but I doubt it's what they use. I threw in the recommended 1/4 tsp and said a little prayer to the beer Gods.

I stopped by my LHBS and told them about my adventure. Since it got to 9% ABV, the guy recommended that I pitch some champagne yeast into the bottling bucket when it's time to bottle. What do you guys think?

ultrablue22 said:

I made a 24-hour starter with WLP005, and my O.G. was 1.084. The fermentation took off within a few hours. It violently fermented for the next 3 days. I took a reading 7 days in and got down to 1.017!

After the 2-week mark I moved it over to the secondary. It tasted decent, but for whatever reason it kinda reminded me to Dogfish Head's pumpkin ale (maybe it was the cinnamon). If you look at my recipe on the previous page it's a lie, I used half a teaspoon for each ingredient. Turns out my girlfriend didn't double everything.

I made a mixture with a couple shots of moonshine I had laying around and all of the spices mentioned by Tytanium on the previous page for the secondary.

I picked up Mckormick's "Vanilla Butter and Nut" flavoring at my local Giant Eagle. It smells like straight-up frosting. It's somewhat close, but I doubt it's what they use. I threw in the recommended 1/4 tsp and said a little prayer to the beer Gods.

I stopped by my LHBS and told them about my adventure. Since it got to 9% ABV, the guy recommended that I pitch some champagne yeast into the bottling bucket when it's time to bottle. What do you guys think?

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I'm pretty sure the champagne yeast will eat all of the sugars and you'll have bottle bombs. The remaining yeast should be enough to carb it, but if you're worried you could add some us-05 at bottling.

tjt_88 said:

Some have noted this, true, but the ST site describes cinnamon as one of the flavors. Maybe they're lying to trick us.

I hope that they are not tryin to trick because some ppl may be allergic to cinn

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There's always someone allergic to something. If I was allergic to cinnamon, I'd be smart enough to stay away from spiced pumpkin ales.

True. I guess I'm saying that if it wasn't in there I would think that they wouldn't say it is

tjt_88 said:

True. I guess I'm saying that if it wasn't in there I would think that they wouldn't say it is

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Well they could use 1/10th as much as we're using, who knows, it's not relevant. Why not just open up a bomber along with jars of nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger, & cinnamon and let us know what you smell in the Pumking? Give us opinion instead of speculation.

Like a couple others, I didn't get any cinnamon. But in mine I used pumpkin pie spice, which has a lot of cinnamon, and there you definitely do pick up cinnamon. Store-bought pumpkin beers I've tried (e.g. Uinta, New Holland, Dogfish Head) seem to have a similar spice profile, but not Pumking.

sfrisby said:

How many packs of 05? Did you aerate the wort with O2? Interested in comparing to my results with the same yeast.

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I reused the yeast from a barleywine. I aerated with air + filter, not oxygen.

How big was the barleywine? Usually a big beer like that will stress the yeast to the point that it isn't worth trying to save (or so i have read).

skeezerpleezer said:

How big was the barleywine? Usually a big beer like that will stress the yeast to the point that it isn't worth trying to save (or so i have read).

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The barleywine was 1.074. So it was smaller than this beer.

Hey everyone, I just tasted my brew and was disappointed. I have to admit, I have not had a Southerntier Pumking before, but after all the rave reviews I wanted to try to replicate one.

I used gwdlaw's recipe (post #191 on page 20), plugged it into BrewSmith to get a PM recipe and came up with:

Southerntier Pumking Clone – PM
Brew Day: 8/19/2012

Ingredients:
3 lb. 6 oz. Pale 2 Row malt
11 oz. Victory malt
8 oz. Crystal 80L
8 lb. 2 oz. Pale Liquid Extract
12 oz. Dememera sugar
4 oz. Light brown sugar
58 oz. pumpkin puree (Libby’s; not pumpkin pie filling)

Hops:
1 oz. Magnum hops (accidentally added full bag)
0.25 oz. Saaz hops (LHBS didn't have Sterling)

Addititves:
8 oz. lactose
Yeast Nutrient
Irish Moss
2 tbsp. finely chopped candied ginger
3-3” cinnamon sticks
½ tsp. whole cloves
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. allspice

Yeast:
2 packets Safeale S-05

Added to secondary:
2 vanilla beans (split down middle, scraped, seeds and pods added to 4 oz. vodka)
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. Capella Graham Cracker Extract (about 100 drops)


Steps:
1. 4 gallons double filtered water to boil in 7.5 gallon pot
2. 2 gallons double filtered water to 154* in 5 gallon pot to mash
3. Mash grains, pumpkin and rice hills at 154* for 90 minutes
4. Tea bag (dip in and out) of water. Squeeze water out of grain bag
5. Add 2 gallon wort to boiling 4 gallons, bring back to boil
6. Boil for 60 minutes
a.Addition schedule:
i.Magnum hops for 60 min
ii.1/3 of LME for 60 min
iii.Demerara sugar for 45 min
iv.Brown sugar for 45 min
v.Saaz hops for 15 min
vi.Lactose for 15 min
vii.Chiller for 15 min
viii.Yeast nutrient for 10 min
ix.Irish moss for 10 min
x.Candied ginger for 5 min
xi.Cinnamon sticks for 5 min
xii.Cloves for 5 min
xiii.Nutmeg for 5 min
xiv.Allspice for 5 min
b.Boil double filtered water for 20 min
c.Cool water
d.Use 2 cups water to rehydrate yeast
e.Cool wort to under 80*
f.Add rehydrated yeast
g.Top up with water to 5.5 gallons
h.OG = 1.089
i.Gravity reading on 8/29/12: 1.019@70* = 1.020
j.Gravity reading on 9/1/12: 1.018@68* = 1.019
k.Primary ~2 weeks
l.Add spices and secondary on 9/4/12
m.Secondary 3 weeks
n.Bottled on 9/29/12 (primed with 5 oz. corn sugar in 1 cup water)
o.Bottle Day FG = 1.018@70*=1.019
p.Alc. = 9.24%

I consider myself a fesh newb after only 5 brews, and have not used BrewSmith prior to this batch, so if there is something wrong with my process or recipe that's my fault. I also live in an apartment and brew on my stove top. I am able to get a vigorous boil of 6.5 gallons, it just takes a while to get it there. Anyway, on to my notes:

The color is a definite orage, right where I expected it to be, slightly hazy. Little head that disappeared quickly, but left a small ring on top of the brew through the whole consumption. There is definitely a pumpkin flavor, I wouldn't want much, if any, more. This brew fell short on the spice flavor, I was expecting a lot more. I did notice that the spice scent faded over time during primary and secondary stages. Next time add a spice tea at secondary or bottling. As others have mentioned, leave out the graham cracker extract. I didn't care for it, and do taste a metallic flavor I haven't tasted in my previous brews. Maybe try the vanilla, butter and nut that others have tried. Next taste will add a graham cracker rim to the glass, searching for the elusive graham cracker taste. I haven't used lactose previously, but understand it should add a creamier taste, I could use slightly more.

Overall, I think its a pretty solid brew, at least a good place to start and make a few changes to suit my taste.

Tomcat, you are trying to clone a beer you have never tried and you are disappointed in your end result? Respectfully, I think this is quite odd. Perhaps you wouldn't even enjoy Pumking?

I brewed gwdlaws clone pretty much exactly. I think the beer is very good however it is a far cry from southern tiers. My clone has a an obvious higher alcohol flavor(despite being about the same abv), more pumpkin pie flavors, and the pie crusty flavor definitely missed the mark when comparing to the original.

On a brighter note I had fun making a beer label.

ErieShores said:

Tomcat, you are trying to clone a beer you have never tried and you are disappointed in your end result? Respectfully, I think this is quite odd. Perhaps you wouldn't even enjoy Pumking?

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Hey Erie, no offense taken! I completely agree that it is odd that I would try a clone of something I haven't tasted before and that it is possible I wouldn't like a Pumking. I haven't seen a Pumking in my area, so I have nothing to compare my brew to. I just wanted to share my process, recipe and opinions for everyone to see, confirm others findings and hopefully get some positive feedback. I wasn't entirely disappointed with my result, I think it is a great base to jump off from to suit my own preferences.

Cheers and many thanks,

Jarod

I don't see it as odd that we would brew a clone recipe of a beer we haven't tried. How many people have brewed Pliny kits? How many do you think have had Pliny? I'm planning on brewing Great Lakes Christmas. It's kinda tough to get. I can't remember if I've seen it in any of my local stores. I know I won't nail it. I hope to try the real version. Sometimes it's the best we can do.

When you guys refer to this recipe as a "clone," you're being extremely generous. It's barely in the ballpark.

I have been following this thread for a bit and set out to build a pumking clone loosely following some of the recipes on this forum. My beer has finished primary and I have been testing flavor combinations for the secondary.

To test I bought some Capella extracts and made an extract with spices in vodka with the ratio of 4-1-1-1-3 of Ginger,Nutmeg, Cloves, Allspice, and Cinnamon.

Results of my tests:

Spices- I agree that the cinnamon should be somewhat subdued and ginger more upfront. The ratio I used above for the spice mix worked well.

Vanilla- To test I used real vanilla extract and agree the vanilla should be included but should be firmly in the background

Capella Graham Cracker extract- This extract has a terrible artificial and somewhat metallic aftertaste as others have mentioned and if used at all should be subdued. I used 1 drop in 1 oz of beer and the aftertaste was noticeable. Overall, I don't think this is the key

Capella popcorn flavoring- Prior to using this my mixes did not taste like Pumking. After adding 2 drops of popcorn flavoring to the mix everything came together and I was staring Pumking in the face.

Takeaways- The key here is a popcorn or butter flavoring AKA diacetyl.

I think this beer could be made without the extract by using a yeast that spits diacetyl at higher temps such as WLP002. At higher temps I believe this yeast will provide the needed diacetyl while also accomplishing the needed higher residual body as this yeast is less attenuative.


As others have concluded, the quoted specs of Pumking (19 plato O.G.) and 8.6% ABV do not jive with the residual body at all. I used marris otter, c-60, and victory mashing at 156 F, and using WLP001 to get me to a starting gravity around 19.5 plato and fermented down to get around 8.6% abv. This beer had nowehere near the residual body so I cannot see how they can get the body and ABV with a 19 plato start unless they add lactose as many have speculated.

I asked Austin homebrew to comeup with a Pumking clone recipe since i need the full out kits to brew. Anyways they put it out and I already got the extract kit and about 1.5 weeks in with fermentation. Will try to remember to update how it turns out compared to the real thing.

Just reporting out on my partial mash version. After approximately 3 weeks in the the fermenters (this was a violent fermentation that demanded a blow off tube) it went into a brand new 5 gallon oak barrel for 7 days. I then decided it was time to keg and added 1/4 tsp of the Vanilla Butter Nut extract at kegging. After 1 wk in the keg and a few pulls, decided to add another 1/4 teaspoon of finely chopped candied ginger and 5 more drops of the extract. Maybe not a clone, but this was very Punkimg-esque and my guests at a Halloween shindig could not have raved (or drank) more (we kicked the keg in one night!) Even my father who drinks nothing but Yuengling and reminds me every time he tries a homebrew that he likes his beer to taste like beer, drank this all night long. There were several comments of how much it tasted like pumpkin pie, and how did I get the fresh baked crust aroma in there. I will definitely be brewing this again next year and will stay tuned for any tweaks that can make this any better!

jeepinjeepin said:

I don't see it as odd that we would brew a clone recipe of a beer we haven't tried. How many people have brewed Pliny kits? How many do you think have had Pliny?

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I think the difference is that Pliny is a pretty standard DIPA while Pumking is an extremely unique pumpkin beer. There are a TON of people on this forum and people I've met that simply do not like Pumking, but I don't hear anyone talk bad about Pliny (except to say overrated...it's still a great beer).

Hello All,

So I've read this thread start to finish and there is a lot of great stuff in here. I'm new to homebrewing and have one extract and four all grain brews under my belt, the pumking clone being my first attempt at all grain. While not an exact clone the beer came out great and I had a great time brewing it. Just wanted to thank everyone for all the input and suggestions left in this thread to make this brew happen!

Cheers!

WestNittany118 said:

Hello All,

So I've read this thread start to finish and there is a lot of great stuff in here. I'm new to homebrewing and have one extract and four all grain brews under my belt, the pumking clone being my first attempt at all grain. While not an exact clone the beer came out great and I had a great time brewing it. Just wanted to thank everyone for all the input and suggestions left in this thread to make this brew happen!

Cheers!

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Nice to hear. Which recipe did you go with? Did you use the capella graham cracker extract?