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

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Just did my first tapping....utterly fantastic!!!! I did the half tsp of Pumpkin Pie spice tea at kegging. Just the right amount of pumpkin flavor. I missed the mash temp (I hit 156) but it's still great. More body than commercial pumpkin ales, which retains more sweetness and pumpkin flavor.

You guys need to brew this.
 
Just did my first tapping....utterly fantastic!!!! I did the half tsp of Pumpkin Pie spice tea at kegging. Just the right amount of pumpkin flavor. I missed the mash temp (I hit 156) but it's still great. More body than commercial pumpkin ales, which retains more sweetness and pumpkin flavor.

You guys need to brew this.

When did you brew it?
 
I made this today with a slight change on the base malt, I used Golden Promise instead. I used 73oz of the canned pumpkin. I also used about 3/4 lb of rice hulls and Wham stuck sparge. I use a slotted manifold on the bottom of my MLT. After blowing through the valve with a hose I finally got some drainage, slow but it was steady. Took me 2hrs to fly sparge this and I got greater effeciency than I expected. All I can tell you is the grain was a sticky gooey mess when I cleaned out the MLT. Just go slow and be patient and it will flow eventually.
 
Made this today (DME version) with my girlfriend. Definitely looking forward to this one. The apartment smells fantastic!
 
Well, I finally tapped and tasted this one. First impression - really get that mash temperature correct. As I said, I mashed too low and, even though I backsweetened it with lactose, it is still far too dry. I feel like a lot of the flavor is washed out because of it. I'm really regretting that mistake. I'll have to pay closer attention next time.

However, it is still quite good. The aroma is absolutely fantastic, and tastes just like a pumpkin beer should. The spices make their presence known but are not overpowering. The color looks just like fall. And that's what this beer is - fall in a glass. I absolutely love this season :)
 
First impression - really get that mash temperature correct.

yes mojo, I mashed way too low too. So, since I've never done this before, what's the best way to save this beautiful pumpkin's body? Malto or Lactose? How much do you think and when to add it (She's fermeting in the primary now).

I really want to save this brew.

Thanks!
 
Well, I just ordered the ingredients from AHS to make this a few minutes ago. I decided to go with Nottingham, and I converted the recipe to my convenience. I think I'm going to try to use fresh pumpkin if I can find any that looks good, but if not, I'll use canned.

One question, the ginger root in the second post for AG is fresh ginger right? Also, do we omit the spices and do a spice tea, or add them like said?
 
Well my mash came in to low as well but I did not live with it. I pulled a thin decoction and brought my temp back to 158. After a 75 minute mash I only lost 1 degree, so I hope it will not be on the thin side.
 
yes mojo, I mashed way too low too. So, since I've never done this before, what's the best way to save this beautiful pumpkin's body? Malto or Lactose? How much do you think and when to add it (She's fermeting in the primary now).

I really want to save this brew.

Thanks!

My suggestion:

  • Wait until fermentation is complete and taste it.
  • If it is too thin or dry, calculate how much lactose will be needed to bring the entire volume up to the desired gravity.
  • Pull one to two cups of the beer and prepare a proportional amount of lactose in a small amount of hot water. Let the water cool, and add a measured amount to the beer.
  • Repeat last step until beer is at desired sweetness or until you're out of water/lactose mix.
  • Calculate how much lactose is needed for the entire volume proportional to the amount of lactose you added to the small glass of beer.
  • If you want more body without the sweetness, supplement with enough maltodextrin to reach desired final gravity after adding the lactose.

That's what I did. I ended up adding 7.5 oz of lactose and 3 oz of maltodextrin or something like that. The beer is still too dry, but it's good beer.
 
Yes it is fresh ginger, and you can either add the spices 5 mins before boil is complete...Or omit the spices and add a "Tea" to secondary. hope this helps
 
Yes it is fresh ginger, and you can either add the spices 5 mins before boil is complete...Or omit the spices and add a "Tea" to secondary. hope this helps

Well, I've read this, and a lot of others, but no one has really said what the best method is. What's been your experience?
 
I also added nothing to the boil...I added the tea and it should be ready to keg within the next week!
 
This is what i'm not getting. Does that much of the spice go away during fermentation? I just don't see that happening.
 
This is what i'm not getting. Does that much of the spice go away during fermentation? I just don't see that happening.

Not really. I think people opt for the tea so they can progressively add spices rather than hoping to get it correct the first time in the boil. Some people like their pumpkin ales with more spice than others. Using the tea, they can add spice to taste.

I just used the amount of spice given in the recipe scaled down to 5 gallons in the boil. Turned out just fine in my opinion.
 
Not really. I think people opt for the tea so they can progressively add spices rather than hoping to get it correct the first time in the boil. Some people like their pumpkin ales with more spice than others. Using the tea, they can add spice to taste.

I just used the amount of spice given in the recipe scaled down to 5 gallons in the boil. Turned out just fine in my opinion.

Thanks,

You know, I've brewed a crapload of beers, but never one with spices in it, and to be honest, I don't feel like having an over-spiced fall beer that I have to wait till next summer to drink. I'm hoping to have this from grain to glass in six weeks especially considering I keg. So that spice was good? Would you change anything? I've noticed others saying that the ginger is steep. What do you think?
 
All great suggestions in the past few posts. I keg mine quickly (about 3-4 weeks), and it turns out fine. The spices don't fade quickly, so if you're not sure about the amounts listed, add the spices incrementally to taste by using the tea method.
 
All great suggestions in the past few posts. I keg mine quickly (about 3-4 weeks), and it turns out fine. The spices don't fade quickly, so if you're not sure about the amounts listed, add the spices incrementally to taste by using the tea method.

Thanks for staying up to date on this post Yuri.

So you just add the spices to the boil in the amounts that you specify in the OP? I guess I just got a bit confused about the one post saying pumpkin pie spice, and the other having the individual amounts that you use.
 
I really prefer the Pampered Chef "Cinnamon Plus" as the only spice addition. A teaspoon is PLENTY for a five gallon batch. 1/2 tsp of the stuff at flameout would probably be adequate.
 
I think you can order it online. I dunno. SWMBO gets it.

EDIT: You can get it here:
http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=13857&catId=12

FURTHER EDIT: This link claims a copycat recipe for Cinnamon Plus. I can't vouch for its accuracy.
http://www.food.com/recipe/baking-spice-copycat-pampered-chef-cinnamon-plus-mix-45672

The same amount of a decent pumpkin pie spice mix would likely do just fine. I prefer more cinnamon than allspice both in my beer and my pumpkin pie. Many pumpkin pie spice mixes are heavy on the allspice. You can always very lightly sprinkle a bit of the spice mix on some vanilla ice cream to get an idea of the flavor profile.
 
I used a Pumpkin Pie Spice because i could not find the "Pampered Chef" stuff, I think it will turn out just is good,look on the back and make sure there are no additives. The brand I got was at stator bros. for like 4$ its allot cheaper than buying individual spices even though I had mostly everything already. "McCormick" is the brand name it has Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg and Allspice in it. Hope this helps
 
I think you can order it online. I dunno. SWMBO gets it.

EDIT: You can get it here:
http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=13857&catId=12

FURTHER EDIT: This link claims a copycat recipe for Cinnamon Plus. I can't vouch for its accuracy.
http://www.food.com/recipe/baking-spice-copycat-pampered-chef-cinnamon-plus-mix-45672

The same amount of a decent pumpkin pie spice mix would likely do just fine. I prefer more cinnamon than allspice both in my beer and my pumpkin pie. Many pumpkin pie spice mixes are heavy on the allspice. You can always very lightly sprinkle a bit of the spice mix on some vanilla ice cream to get an idea of the flavor profile.

I also prefer more cinnamon than the other flavors in pumpkin pie. I think it's really easy to overdo clove, nutmeg, and allspice if you're not careful with them. I think it'd be best to maybe just make it as said, then fine tune if needed after fermentation completes.
 
I thought the amount of ginger was great. I really like ginger, though. I used fresh ginger root and used a cheese grater on it until I reached the required amount. Powdered ginger stinks, in my opinion. It has nowhere near the flavor of real ginger.
 
I thought the amount of ginger was great. I really like ginger, though. I used fresh ginger root and used a cheese grater on it until I reached the required amount. Powdered ginger stinks, in my opinion. It has nowhere near the flavor of real ginger.

As a ginger fan, I couldn't agree more.
 
So my usual impatience got the better of me, and I tried this after two weeks in the bottle. My gravity readings were way off on brew day, fermented to warm, I didnt think there was enough biscuit to get the taste I was hoping for, so I was interested to see how far off it got.

Ended up turning out great! No green taste to speak of, perfect balance, just the right amount of spice. Exactly what I was looking for. One more case to chalk up to RDWHAHB. I do think I need to calibrate my hydro though...
 
So my usual impatience got the better of me, and I tried this after two weeks in the bottle. My gravity readings were way off on brew day, fermented to warm, I didnt think there was enough biscuit to get the taste I was hoping for, so I was interested to see how far off it got.

Ended up turning out great! No green taste to speak of, perfect balance, just the right amount of spice. Exactly what I was looking for. One more case to chalk up to RDWHAHB. I do think I need to calibrate my hydro though...

Great to hear! Congrats.

Do you mind detailing how you did the spice tea? I'm about to do it tonight and I'm not sure exactly what the process is. Do I just mix in the 1tsp of pumpkin pie spice in a cup of hot water and rack on top of it once it's cool? Do I strain out the spices after steeping for 10 min?
 
I just brought 1 cup of water to a boil, shut off the heat, mixed in the spices. let it cool down, poured it into the bottling bucket and racked over it.
 
I just brought 1 cup of water to a boil, shut off the heat, mixed in the spices. let it cool down, poured it into the bottling bucket and racked over it.

Awesome thanks.. that's exactly what I was going to do. How long did you have it in your fermenters before you bottled? Also did you use 1 or 1.5 tsp of spice?

Cheers!
 
Awesome thanks.. that's exactly what I was going to do. How long did you have it in your fermenters before you bottled? Also did you use 1 or 1.5 tsp of spice?


3 Weeks in the primary. Did a good job of cleaning up anything that resulted from the fermentation being at about 75 for the first few days.

I used 1 Tbsp during the boil, and added another Tbsp at bottling (yes tablespoon). There was almost no flavor from the spices after the boil. What I found was that while bottling the spices tended to settle below the bottling spigot, so the last few bottles might be a little stronger, but what I've tried so far is right on.
 
My friend is throwing his annual "Lobster Party" and wanted to have this thing kegged and ready by saturday...It has been in secondary for a little over a week now. I was wondering if anyone sees this as a problem? I was just gunna go for it, and see what happens since its his batch and not mine...aren't I a good friend!
 
My friend is throwing his annual "Lobster Party" and wanted to have this thing kegged and ready by saturday...It has been in secondary for a little over a week now. I was wondering if anyone sees this as a problem? I was just gunna go for it, and see what happens since its his batch and not mine...aren't I a good friend!

I'm not sure about this particular beer, but I know most beers of this complexity and alcohol content need a bit more time than 14 days grain to glass. Let us know how it turns out.
 
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