Autumn Seasonal Beer Imperial Pumpkin Pie Ale

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I brewed this up in August and cracked a bottle last night...it is awesome!

I brewed up a 5 gallon batch and used 7# 2-row and 8# of Marris Otter so my OG came in at around 1.080. I also didn't use cloves in my boil and cut out the pumpkin pie spice reccommended at bottling. Instead, I added a vanilla bean that I soaked in vodka for 3 weeks and 1/2 teaspoon of ginger and nutmeg to the secondary.

To me it tastes like a less cloyingly sweet version of Pumking, which I also love, and SWMBO described it 'pumpkin pie in a glass'.

At around 8% ABV, you can barely detect the alcohol.

Thanks again for this recipe :mug: It will likely be my yearly pumpkin brew since it is great and I don't have to deal with actual pumpkin mess!!
 
Last n00b question; When it says "add spices @ 5 minutes," does that mean 5 minutes into the boil, or with 5 minutes remaining (as you would with the hops?)
 
Thanks for the response!

So I don't see any instructions on the mash in the OP, would everyone recommend the standard 152 for 60 minutes, or should it be slightly longer to help with diastatic activity? Or maybe even mash at a higher temp to get a slightly sweeter finished product which might lend nicely to the "pie" flavor?

Wanted to see one last time if anyone had any thoughts on the mash temp/time. I've never brewed a 5 gallon batch with this enormous quantity of grain so I'm not really sure what the ideal process would really be.
 
I just brewed this beer, and the sample tasted amazing! Cannot wait to try this guy once it's done.


I missed my OG by... a lot. It ended up being 1.075. I used too much water (at least I'll have more to drink!).

But other than that, everything went smoothly and there's a beautiful steady stream of bubbles coming out of my blow-off tube. If the smell is any indication as to how this tastes, then we will be good to go this Thanksgiving
 
I just kegged this Sunday. It's Wednesday and the keg is just about kicked. It's funny how so many of my friends have wanted to hang out this week. My neighbors and my wife also put a huge dent in this one. It's hands down the best pumpkin beer I've ever had.

I also roasted a whole pumpkin cut into chunks and dusted the chunks with the spices. Added half to the mash and steeped the other half during the last 15 minutes of the boil. I also added a pound of brown sugar to the boil. It's amazing!
 
The keg officially kicked later Wednesday night. One keg in four days was a record. I've had many requests to make it again in multiple batches to give to people for their families for Thanksgiving. Best feeling ever. I highly suggest trying to add the real pumpkin and adding the brown sugar as well. I should also mention that I did a five gallon batch. Thanks for the starting point!
 
Tasting my hydrometer sample right now, and man this is good! It's 7.3% ABV, but there's still a nice bit of sugar leftover so it's got some nice sweetness. This may be one of the best batches I've made to date! The alcohol is a little hot (which is surprising), but I think it'll mellow out.

Awesome! I will definitely be brewing this again!
 
I brewed this up about a month ago, with only one small change; I traded out 1lb of the 2-row with some biscuit malt to add a bit more of a "crust" character to the beer. Everyone who drank this remarked that they thought it was one of the best beers they'd ever had. Nice work on the recipe, this stuff is killer! Killed the entire batch in about a week between my friends, gonna have to make another round this week to get me through the holidays!
 
Anyone have any updates on how their batches turned out? I made it again last October and it was yet again another success. I will probably crank a batch out late summer so it's ready when all of the Commercial pumpkins hit the market.
 
This batch is one i will be doing annually as it was a real hit, even with people who don't drink beer. It sure didn't last long as it seemed there was always a hole in the bottom of my glass. Had to keep refilling. :drunk:
 
This batch is one i will be doing annually as it was a real hit, even with people who don't drink beer. It sure didn't last long as it seemed there was always a hole in the bottom of my glass. Had to keep refilling. :drunk:

Awesome! I'm glad it was so well received.
 
The OP mentioned he added pumpkin spice for bottling, for kegging, can I also just add the pumpkin spice to the keg? I'm concerned the pumpkin spice may not work well in the keg.
 
I don't know how the exact Original Recipe tasted because I added a few things to mine that I listed on this thread already. I loved how it turned out and my keg kicked in about 4 days. I'll be brewin 15 gallons of this for Punkin Chunkin this year.
 
what size starters are you guys making out of that wyeast package to ferment this to 9 abv...really just using one package of yeast? This recipe sounds like a winner, just want to make sure i order enough yeast.
 
what size starters are you guys making out of that wyeast package to ferment this to 9 abv...really just using one package of yeast? This recipe sounds like a winner, just want to make sure i order enough yeast.

I have a stir plate and always use the calculator below to determine what size starter I'm going to use. Alternatively, you could pitch multiple packets of yeast. At 1.089 and 5.5 gallons its showing 333 billion cells needed (ideally). Even with a stir plate and a 1.5L starter I'll need to step it up to achieve 333, for 11 gallons I need to double that.

http://www.yeastcalc.com/

Please note, my first time around on this beer I made about a 500ml starter without a stir plate and it attenuated as described. Since then, I've been making starters with the stir plate and this beer attenuated to 1.015 (I'll adjust the mash schedule accordingly to keep it a tad sweeter).
 
I pitched mine onto a yeast cake from a low gravity smash ale I made. PLENTY of yeast there lol.
 
I pitched mine onto a yeast cake from a low gravity smash ale I made. PLENTY of yeast there lol.

MacGruber, are you taking the beer to Pumpkin Chunkin? I actually was hoping to do the same. If I am able to go I'll let you know, maybe we can meet up and try each other's beer.
 
Absolutely! I would love to meet up. This is my sixth year in a row going.
 
Well, just finished brewing this. Hit an OG of 1.088, pretty damn happy. Mash at 155. Decided to put some pumpkin in the boil too. 90oz of Libby's, baked in oven first for 90min @ 350 w a teaspoon of pumpkin spice mixed in to camarlize pumpkin. Dumped in with 15 min left in boil with 1lb of brown sugar. Added all the other spices per the OP.

Now it's time to wait.
 
I'm totally new to home brewing and I had a few questions. Note that I will be making a 5sandwich gallon batch.

How long do you steep the grains in the beginning and at what temperature?

Also, do you boil/steep all five gallons?

Thanks for any and all help.
 
You sound new to this based on these two posts. If I were you I would probably get some pale malt extract and two lbs of crystal 20 to steep. Brew it as an extract beer- you LHBS could help you with everything you'd need.

If you're going to do all grain brewing then no you don't steep the grains- you mash them. Read up on mashing procedures in the all grain section if you have the equipment to do all grain brewing.

This site is amazing with many knowledgable and helpful homebrewers. If you're new to it welcome!
 
Go back to p. 3 on this thread and Max said 12 lbs of pale extract (liquid or dry would work- up to you I guess) and two lbs of crystal 20( actual grain for color/body). Basically you'd need a cheese cloth/grain bag and would put the 2 lbs of crystal 20 into it. Steep those in about 2 gallons of water at 153 for 30-45 min. Remove the bag of grains and add you extract in and make sure it's well mixed. Bring it to a boil. Add your 60 minute hop addition. Watch for boil overs. After 30 mintues add your next hop addition. 15 minutes later/45 min into the boil- add your spices and Whirlfloc/irish moss. Take it off the heat and put the entire pot in an ice bath. Get the temperature down to about 70 and transfer to your fermentor. You can top it off at this point with preboiled and chilled water. Also you can speed the cooling process by adding pre boiled and pre measured ice to your fermentor to bring you up to your desired volume. Once again, this is BASIC extract brewing and you'll find more info in the extract section. Good luck!
 
Take it off the heat another 15 minutes after you add the spices - 60 minute boil time total
 
You sound new to this based on these two posts. If I were you I would probably get some pale malt extract and two lbs of crystal 20 to steep. Brew it as an extract beer- you LHBS could help you with everything you'd need.

If you're going to do all grain brewing then no you don't steep the grains- you mash them. Read up on mashing procedures in the all grain section if you have the equipment to do all grain brewing.

This site is amazing with many knowledgable and helpful homebrewers. If you're new to it welcome!


Haha yeah I am completely new to this. This will be my first all grain attempt. I used some kits before, and they come with some pretty precise instruction sets. I figured that I'd ask a few questions here rather than brewing bad beer.
 
Haha yeah I am completely new to this. This will be my first all grain attempt. I used some kits before, and they come with some pretty precise instruction sets. I figured that I'd ask a few questions here rather than brewing bad beer.

I would recommend reading up on the all-grain brewing process before jumping in with both feet. If you aren't familiar with the terms sparging, doughing-in, saccharification rest, vorlaufing etc then you probably shouldn't be brewing all-grain just yet.

I highly recommend reading John Palmer's book "How to Brew"; I have linked the free version at the all-grain process below :mug:

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/index.html
 
I'll recommend Charlie Papazzian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing and Homebrewing for Dummies. I read those bad boys cover to cover so many times. It really helped me understand the all grain process.
 
Dumb question, but does this mean 1 teaspoon of each of these, or total?

Spice Additions - 1.0 heaping tsp of the following added @ 5 minutes -
nutmeg, cloves, alspice, ginger, cinnamon
mAnZI.jpg
 
Guess this didnt go through before:

Know it's a dumb question, but does this mean 1 tsp of each of these, or all combined?
Spice Additions - 1.0 heaping tsp of the following added @ 5 minutes -
nutmeg, cloves, alspice, ginger, cinnamon
 
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