Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

Reno_eNVy said:

People have tried a lot of different things and many of them sound really good.

But I'm a big fan of the OP recipe. There haven't been any alterations aside from helpful tips.

Click to expand...

Took a day off work and brewed this yesterday. Hit my expected OG of 1.066 dead on. The mash started at 158°F instead of 156°F like I wanted so it may finished a little sweet. The pumpkin messed up my water calcs I guess.

As others have commented, the pumpkin really clogged up my BIAB bag so I had to let a lot drain out in a bucket and dump it back in for the boil (I don't have a fancy pulley system).

I only got 4.65 gal in the fermenter though due to extra trub losses and the fact that my transfer hose fell in the dirt and I had to end the transfer when there was still at least half a gallon I could have got out of the kettle. Guess I need a clip for the hose....:smack:

Thanks for the recipe! The wort tasted like pumpkin pie! I do hope the spices mellow out just a bit over time though.

Just curious... I know this is not a beer one wants to rush, but what is the quickest grain to glass anyone has had with this recipe? Thanks in advance 😃

TCollins said:

Just curious... I know this is not a beer one wants to rush, but what is the quickest grain to glass anyone has had with this recipe? Thanks in advance ��

Click to expand...

My first attempt at this recipe is still fermenting now - but I don't see how it's different from any other ale. Mine will be done about 4-5 weeks after brewing, hopefully. I bottle, so 2-3 weeks of fermenting plus 2 weeks of bottle carbonation/conditioning. Maybe I could do it it in 3 weeks if I rush it. If you are kegging, and following good brewing practices you can probably do it in 2 weeks! Why not?

If anything, I suspect pumpkin spice is akin to hops or other spices and decays fairly quickly (a few months) - want to drink it up before it gets too old.

55x11 said:

My first attempt at this recipe is still fermenting now - but I don't see how it's different from any other ale. Mine will be done about 4-5 weeks after brewing, hopefully. I bottle, so 2-3 weeks of fermenting plus 2 weeks of bottle carbonation/conditioning. Maybe I could do it it in 3 weeks if I rush it. If you are kegging, and following good brewing practices you can probably do it in 2 weeks! Why not?

If anything, I suspect pumpkin spice is akin to hops or other spices and decays fairly quickly (a few months) - want to drink it up before it gets too old.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response! I just started kegging, but I'm hesitant to keg this one as I will likely want to share and bring some with me to holiday parties, etc.....decisions, decisions. Can't wait to post some pics in a few weeks!

You can always keg and then bottle a few out of he keg itself after it's been carbonated. I usually keep some Grolsch style bottles around for that purpose. Or, a growler would work. For long term storage, you can just use regular bottles, if you want to age some. Just be sure to sanitize those.

Great point!

This brew came out so good that I'm brewing it again!! Just picked up the grain bill and hops today. So stoked to ring in the fall season with this phenomenal pumpkin ale! Here's a link to a video I did last year brewing this beer! CHEERS!
http://youtu.be/-skr1iKjiKc

TCollins said:

Just curious... I know this is not a beer one wants to rush, but what is the quickest grain to glass anyone has had with this recipe? Thanks in advance [emoji2]

Click to expand...

This ale is good from right out of fermentation! It does get better with age but the spices tend to fizzle out the longer you let it set. The spices are more notable in the beginning but overall this ale is delicious anytime after fermentation is complete. I recommend Irish moss or a whirfloc tablet to help the proteins settle out and have a nice clear beer. If you keg it, it will be super clear on its own as it ages and the proteins continue to settle. CHEERS!

Thanks! Yeah I'm chomping at the bit to get it moving forward...patience is my downfall. Need to start another batch, so I forget about about this one for a couple more weeks!

Finished at 1.010 from OG of 1.071....will this be drier then the original recipe? Is finishing lower a product if over-pitching? Was hoping for a sweeter brew.

So I'm going to be brewing this soon, no rice hulls. I was thinking of blending the pumpkin very finely with some water and adding it to the mash. Do you think this will help?

I would still use hulls if you can. They arent expensive and can really save you from a stuck sparge. I think that probably the best way to do this without them would be to mix in strike water with grains to form the filter bed, stir thoroughly, then mix the pumpkin in with the last gallon or so of strike water and gently add that on top of the mash. That way it mashes for the full time and can be filtered out when you drain your first runnings. You may get stuck in your sparge though if you stir too vigorously.

Then again this is pure hypothetical me thinking off the top of my head while only half caffienated.

DrunkleJon said:

I would still use hulls if you can. They arent expensive and can really save you from a stuck sparge. I think that probably the best way to do this without them would be to mix in strike water with grains to form the filter bed, stir thoroughly, then mix the pumpkin in with the last gallon or so of strike water and gently add that on top of the mash. That way it mashes for the full time and can be filtered out when you drain your first runnings. You may get stuck in your sparge though if you stir too vigorously.

Then again this is pure hypothetical me thinking off the top of my head while only half caffienated.

Click to expand...

Not a bad idea but there is the issue of hitting your mash temp correctly. It would be near impossible to get your pumpkin to be just the right temperature that when you add it you get proper mash temperatures.

Maybe try steeping the pumpkin in a bag in the strike water as you warm it up. You probably won't get as much out of it but it'll be something.

TCollins said:

Finished at 1.010 from OG of 1.071....will this be drier then the original recipe? Is finishing lower a product if over-pitching? Was hoping for a sweeter brew.

Click to expand...

Over-pitching won't do this. The yeast will only ferment what sugars are available to them and no more.

My guess (and it's very likely/common with this recipe) is that the pumpkin puree messed with your mash temperatures and brought it down a few degrees, thus the drier beer. What was your process? I like to add the pumpkin nearly straight out of the oven into the mash water (before doughing-in) and letting the strike temperature balance out that way.

Yeah after some further researching I was guessing this might be the culprit. The pumpkin cooled...and I definitely mashed under temp....nonetheless it will be amazing. Just a good excuse to start another batch! Thanks Reno

Bottled mine yesterday, gravity sample tasted and smelled great! I can't wait to pop one open.

Reno_eNVy said:

Over-pitching won't do this. The yeast will only ferment what sugars are available to them and no more.

My guess (and it's very likely/common with this recipe) is that the pumpkin puree messed with your mash temperatures and brought it down a few degrees, thus the drier beer. What was your process? I like to add the pumpkin nearly straight out of the oven into the mash water (before doughing-in) and letting the strike temperature balance out that way.

Click to expand...

mine started at 1.062 (I somewhat deliberately backed off on the ABV a bit - too many strong beers, want something drinkable), but it looks to finish at about 1.012-1.014. I thought it would be higher, maybe 1.016-1.018 range, due to pumpkin puree and higher mash temperatures.

I should reiterate. I was thinking of blending the puree with the water and heating it with the strike water so i dont lose temperature. I think the consistency would prevent it from causing a stuck sparge no?

Wiesty - I did this the last time I brewed this and it worked great. I'm brewing 10 gallons of this tomorrow and will do the same thing, I will, however be using rice hulls as insurance.

Reno_eNVy said:

Not a bad idea but there is the issue of hitting your mash temp correctly. It would be near impossible to get your pumpkin to be just the right temperature that when you add it you get proper mash temperatures.

Maybe try steeping the pumpkin in a bag in the strike water as you warm it up. You probably won't get as much out of it but it'll be something.

Click to expand...

How about heading the last gallon or so separately with the pumpkin mixed in? More of a sauce style. Should be heart controllable that way

Wow... Gravity ended up being 1.058. Efficiency took a nose dive due to a crazy stuck sparge. I noticed that if I use pie pumpkins and not the canned pumpkin my likelihood to get a stuck sparge goes way down. Today's brew day was damn near a nightmare....

In response to anybody wanting to add the pumpkin to water and heat it before adding to the mash, this will help you get proper temperatures but it still won't help alleviate stuck mashes.

Stuck mashes can affect your gravities as well. If your mash is in the MLT longer than expected the temperatures will drop, giving you a drier beer. Just something to consider.

Reno_eNVy said:

In response to anybody wanting to add the pumpkin to water and heat it before adding to the mash, this will help you get proper temperatures but it still won't help alleviate stuck mashes.

Stuck mashes can affect your gravities as well. If your mash is in the MLT longer than expected the temperatures will drop, giving you a drier beer. Just something to consider.

Click to expand...

I BIAB, so I have less of issue with this, but here's another update on what I did. Hopefully it can help others.

I baked the pumpkin the day prior and popped it into the fridge overnight. While the strike water was coming to temp, I threw the pumpkin back into the oven to broil on high. I checked the temps occasionally until it came to about 180F, then I put it into a separate bag just a couple minutes prior to mashing in. By the time I was done mashing in, the temp of the pumpkin was pretty much spot on, so it didn't affect the mash temp when I dropped the bag into my mash/BIAB bag.

The nice thing about doing it this way was that I was able to keep the stringy bits of pumpkin out of the main bag, while allowing the other stuff to seep into the mash. It wasn't completely necessary for me to do this since I don't have any real worries about a stuck sparge with BIAB, but I wanted to be able to keep things somewhat tidy and ease the process of draining the bag.

I baked the pumpkin an hour before I was ready to brew. Then I threw the pumpkin in with my strike water, stirred it in like crazy, and then heated to my desired temp just like I always do. I still added the rice hulls to the mash and had zero problems with my sparge. Pretty smooth brew day. Now the hard part...waiting.

Brewed this again last Tuesday. This beer is well worth brewing!

I brewed this one yesterday. Had a clogged sparge (not entirely stuck). Had to forego pumping from the MLT to the kettle and did a slow trickle via gravity. Hit all the gravity numbers right on and this beer is incredibly clear. Ridiculous how clear it is pre-fermentation. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441725138.525571.jpg

mrtrav said:

I brewed this one yesterday. Had a clogged sparge (not entirely stuck). Had to forego pumping from the MLT to the kettle and did a slow trickle via gravity. Hit all the gravity numbers right on and this beer is incredibly clear. Ridiculous how clear it is pre-fermentation. View attachment 301935

Click to expand...

That's super clear!!! Good on you for hitting all if your numbers.

Looks beautiful Mrtrav!

Made this yesterday. Pitched the wlp 001 again and it's looking good. Got a little on the hot side overnight I hope it will be fine though. I am sure it will!! Can't wait to enjoy this one again!!!

Transferred mine to secondary last night. OG was 1.050, and I'm not sure why. Hit my temps and times spot on. Maybe some measuring device isn't calibrated right. Added 2# light DME to bump OG to 1.065. FG last night was 1.006. Unexpected over-attenuation. Fermented about 75 degrees for 16 days. It tastes really good, so maybe I shouldn't care, but it would be nice to know what I'm doing wrong.

Rowdy50 said:

Transferred mine to secondary last night. OG was 1.050, and I'm not sure why. Hit my temps and times spot on. Maybe some measuring device isn't calibrated right. Added 2# light DME to bump OG to 1.065. FG last night was 1.006. Unexpected over-attenuation. Fermented about 75 degrees for 16 days. It tastes really good, so maybe I shouldn't care, but it would be nice to know what I'm doing wrong.

Click to expand...

Did you check the calibration of your hydrometer?

I'm wondering if perhaps it's reading about .015 too low. If you came in that low and added DME to hit your expected gravity, though in reality your hydrometer was reading low, then you may have actually been at 1.080 after the DME addition. Assuming your FG of 1.006 was actually 1.021 (i.e. .015 higher than your hydrometer showed), the. That would have given you 72% attenuation, which is certainly feasible, especially with the DME addition.

I don't know if I'm right, but it's just a thought.

A local brewery makes a fantastic pumpkin ale (Fort Garry) and they use nugget hops and use oak chips. Last year I used nugget and the chips with this recipe and had great results, very good. This year I'm doing pretty much everything the same but I'm out of S-05, and I had a some American Ale II 1272, so I'm going try a batch with that.

Had one bottle of this that I know had gotten infused with massive amounts of oxygen on bottling day, so I decided to test that one early. Today was the day.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441998621.226911.jpg

It's been 20 days since bottling, and I've had this in the fridge for three days. It definitely needed a little more time to carb up, so I'll be letting the rest of the batch do its thing for about another week, then I'll put a out half in the fridge to cold condition.

Color: Deep amber/orange. A little cloudy right now, but it'll likely clear up really nicely as it cold conditions.

Aroma: You definitely get the pumpkin spice up front, with a little sweet maltiness on the back side.

Flavor: this is packed with flavor! The spice takes on a more earthy note on the tongue right now, and it's got a really nice sweetness to it. That 1.017 FG really comes through. IBUs are at 21 for my recipe, and this is reflected in the really easy bitterness. I'm not sure how to pick out esters, but from my reading about them, I think they're limited to nonexistent in this beer.

Mouthfeel: Holy f'ing mouthfeel! Again, the higher FG does the trick on this, as this is a really full-feeling beer...almost to the point of slightly coating the tongue. Really smooth.

You can tell that this beer is really complex, but it's not confused. It's definitely got a nice little kick, though! I think that, given another 4-6 weeks in the bottle, this beer will be fantastic.

Since I did not add my spices during the boil, I just racked to secondary onto a spice tea of 1 cup water/1 tsp. pumpkin spice. It smelled amazing going in, I chose to forgo the brown sugar in this recipe as well because I wanted a more "natural pumpkin flavor", which I think I got....although, next time I will probably follow the recipe to the T.

Just cracked on open. Definitely under carbed at only a week. That being said, the flavor is good, heavy pumpkin and the spices as mentioned in previous posts are rather earthy. Kind of complex and I'm not pulling a lot of individual aromas out with the lack of head.
What is the shortest amount of time anyone who has bottled had to wait for fill carbonation?

Just bottled. Color and taste is on point.

View attachment 1442180069587.jpg

I'm hoping to brew this on Friday and have it ready for Halloween (so roughly 6 weeks out). Just had a question.

First time using rice hulls, they just get mixed in with the grain bill? Pumpkin goes into the mash tun before or after grain?

Thanks guys!

I brewed this beer in September 2014 and I saved 12 of the beers for aging. I just cracked one open a few nights ago and it aged very well!

I overshot my gravity a little when I brewed it with DME and the beer ended up at 8% ABV. The bottles I drank fresh had a slight bite to them but after a year in bottles you would never know it was 8%. It mellowed out very nicely. Taste and aroma were very smooth and pleasant. The beer was crystal clear as well (it aged most of the year in my basement and has been in the fridge for the last few months). A nice vibrant, crystal clear, red-orange color.

Only negative thing I noticed was a lack of carbonation/head. I carbed it pretty low to begin with because I felt it was a style that didn't need a lot of carbonation. But it seemed as though it lost carbonation over the aging period. The carbonation was very subtle and there was zero head formation, even with a pretty vigorous pour. When it was fresh there was more carbonation/head formation. I think this may be due to my capper not being able to get as good of a seal on the stubby bottles I bottled this batch in. When I cap long-necks I get a nice circular imprint in the cap and a very tight seal (cap bends when I pry it off). On the stubby bottles I don't get the imprint no matter how much force I use when capping and the caps are easier to pry off. So my guess is a small amount of CO2 escaped from the bottles over the last year.

All in all the aged beer was excellent and I am thinking about brewing another batch of this (all grain this time) on Halloween and aging the whole batch (or most of it anyway) for next fall!

jappler said:

I'm hoping to brew this on Friday and have it ready for Halloween (so roughly 6 weeks out). Just had a question.

First time using rice hulls, they just get mixed in with the grain bill? Pumpkin goes into the mash tun before or after grain?

Thanks guys!

Click to expand...

I mixed the hulls with the grain, doughed in, then added the pumpkin. My sparge was incredible slow, so not sure if this is the best method or not, but it didn't get completely stuck on my 10 gallon igloo cooler with a false bottom.

I put the rice hulls on the top of my grain so it goes in first to hit the bottom and prevent sticking. Once I got my grain wet I add my pumpkin and give it a good mix. I usually mix the pumpkin is hot so the loss of heat is less and the pumpkin is easy to mix in