Autumn Seasonal Beer Imperial Pumpkin Pie Ale

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jwible204

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Messages
383
Reaction score
17
Location
Philadelphia, PA
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
London ESB and London Ale
Yeast Starter
Yes
Batch Size (Gallons)
10
Original Gravity
1.089
Final Gravity
1.021
Boiling Time (Minutes)
75
IBU
39.2
Color
9.5
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 @ 70
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
7 @ 70
Tasting Notes
Pumpkin Pie, simple as that. Also, the ABV is hidden quite well.
34.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 89.5 %
4.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 10.5 %
2.00 oz Magnum [13.10%] (60 min) Hops 36.2 IBU
1.00 oz Sterling [6.00%] (10 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
4.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs London Ale (Wyeast Labs #1028) Yeast-Ale

Spice Additions - 1.0 heaping tsp of the following added @ 5 minutes -
nutmeg, cloves, alspice, ginger, cinnamon

At bottling - 1.25 tsp of Pumpkin Pie spice was added per 5 gallons as well as
~4 oz of real vanilla extract


Everyone who has tried this beer has absolutely loved it so I thought I'd share.

mAnZI.jpg
 
After 3 weeks they were already tasting fantastic in the bottles. I'm at about 6 weeks from bottling and it is still getting better. I'm quite surprised how smooth it is at 9% ABV after such a short time.
 
If I wanted to try this as a five gallon batch, is it as simple as cutting the recipe in half?
Would you compare this to Souther Tier Pumking?
 
If I wanted to try this as a five gallon batch, is it as simple as cutting the recipe in half?
Would you compare this to Souther Tier Pumking?

yes, just cut the recipe/spice additions in half. also, it started out as a Pumking clone, but didn't really achieve that 'cake' like flavor of Pumking, it's more of a 'Pie' flavor.

at any rate, i built the recipe from the Pumking malts/hops so in that respect it's close.
 
yes, just cut the recipe/spice additions in half. also, it started out as a Pumking clone, but didn't really achieve that 'cake' like flavor of Pumking, it's more of a 'Pie' flavor.

at any rate, i built the recipe from the Pumking malts/hops so in that respect it's close.

J-

I'm a huge Pumking fan! I'm so excited to try this!

I noticed you opted not to go with the canned pumpkin as mentioned on the bottle. Do you think that could help add to the "cake" texture of the beer?

Also, can anyone help me out with converting this to extract?

Cheers!
 
Pumking is one of my favorite beers. Looks like you did a great job making your own Imperial Pumpkin Ale. Very nice. When you add those spices at bottling, don't you get that into your bottles? Or does in just sink to the bottom of your bottling bucket?
 
J-

I'm a huge Pumking fan! I'm so excited to try this!

I noticed you opted not to go with the canned pumpkin as mentioned on the bottle. Do you think that could help add to the "cake" texture of the beer?

Also, can anyone help me out with converting this to extract?

Cheers!

not sure on the conversion. i'd probably go with a bunch of Pale Extract and then some Crystal 20 for color/flavor.
 
Pumking is one of my favorite beers. Looks like you did a great job making your own Imperial Pumpkin Ale. Very nice. When you add those spices at bottling, don't you get that into your bottles? Or does in just sink to the bottom of your bottling bucket?

i'm thinking they sunk and/or dissolved because there definitely isn't any floating around the glass or anything.
 
Fantastic! I'm excited to try this out. What is the benefit of having it sit longer in the primary vs. the secondary? Just curious because I've more often seen it the other way around.
redXstripe, I have been an extract brewer for a while and just discovered how to become an all grain brewer for less than $100. Search "cooler MLT" on here ;)
If you don't feel like doing that right now, download the free trial of http://beersmith.com/ it'll convert it for you.
 
Fantastic! I'm excited to try this out. What is the benefit of having it sit longer in the primary vs. the secondary? Just curious because I've more often seen it the other way around.
redXstripe, I have been an extract brewer for a while and just discovered how to become an all grain brewer for less than $100. Search "cooler MLT" on here ;)
If you don't feel like doing that right now, download the free trial of http://beersmith.com/ it'll convert it for you.

did you try this out as an Extract?
 
I'm sold. I'm going to be brewing this up as my next batch. I hope it comes out just as good with a 5 gal conversion.
 
Probably zero, since Pumpkin King doesnt have any.

I believe the bottle of Pumking says it uses pumpkin.... Many commercial versions, if not most use pumpkin.

I think what most people use is two regular size cans of pumpkin puree for a 5gal batch. Other recipes also suggest to bake the puree for a short amount of time. Not sure why...

*edit* sorry- just saw the above post!
 
Spice Additions - 1.0 heaping tsp of the following added @ 5 minutes -
nutmeg, cloves, alspice, ginger, cinnamon

I'm not sure how to interpret the amount of spice listed above: is it 1 tsp of EACH of the following, or just 1 tsp COMBINED? (I'm guessing the former, but if I'm wrong, that would be quite the over-spiced brew!)
 
If I were to throw in a little pumpkin, like a can of pumkin pie filling, would that ruin it? For 5 gal, that is.

Thanks
 
I'm not sure how to interpret the amount of spice listed above: is it 1 tsp of EACH of the following, or just 1 tsp COMBINED? (I'm guessing the former, but if I'm wrong, that would be quite the over-spiced brew!)

Also curious about this. Looking to do my brew in the next few weeks and want to be prepared!

Also, someone else had asked about getting a 9% ABV with just one pack of London yeast. I never saw an answer out of this. I'm guessing there was a starter involved -- but wow, 9% would be fantastic. Very curious!
 
Also curious about this. Looking to do my brew in the next few weeks and want to be prepared!

Also, someone else had asked about getting a 9% ABV with just one pack of London yeast. I never saw an answer out of this. I'm guessing there was a starter involved -- but wow, 9% would be fantastic. Very curious!

Well, I brewed something similar this past weekend without confirmation...and looking at other recipes across the interwebs, I deduced that it was most likely 1 tsp of EACH of the spices. I took a sip of the brew 3 days into fermentation and I do think I made the right call - for sure there is a pumpkin pie thing going on, but it's balanced, not SPICE, SPICE AND MORE SPICE!

So have at it! But NOTE: keep in mind that the OP's recipe was a 10 gallon batch, so adjust accordingly depending on your batch size. In fact, I got about 12 gallons into the fermenter so even a 10 gal batch would be more spiced than what I'm getting.

Regarding the yeast: I had harvested some WLP001 prior, and did do a yeast starter with that. Fermenting nicely so I would suggest a starter - to your point, it is a 9% ABV...
 
Well, I brewed something similar this past weekend without confirmation...and looking at other recipes across the interwebs, I deduced that it was most likely 1 tsp of EACH of the spices. I took a sip of the brew 3 days into fermentation and I do think I made the right call - for sure there is a pumpkin pie thing going on, but it's balanced, not SPICE, SPICE AND MORE SPICE!

So have at it! But NOTE: keep in mind that the OP's recipe was a 10 gallon batch, so adjust accordingly depending on your batch size. In fact, I got about 12 gallons into the fermenter so even a 10 gal batch would be more spiced than what I'm getting.

Regarding the yeast: I had harvested some WLP001 prior, and did do a yeast starter with that. Fermenting nicely so I would suggest a starter - to your point, it is a 9% ABV...

Yeah, I saw it was a 10 gallon batch. I'm doing 5 gallon, so I'll be cutting everything in half like another posted recommended. I'm probably going to be looking at half tsp of each spice.

Thanks for the help :)
 
if the place i order from doesnt have sterling, would mount hood be an acceptable substitute?? ordering ingredients soon so please help
 
if the place i order from doesnt have sterling, would mount hood be an acceptable substitute?? ordering ingredients soon so please help

Saaz would be a better direct substitute for Sterling than Mount Hood. That said, I personally used Hallertau late in the boil for my recent imperial pumpkin. And according to AHS, Mt. Hood is similar to Hallertau, so in that regard I think you'd be just fine in doing so.

FWIW, I added them @15 minutes (4.2% Alpha)
 
So, I want to make this soon and I feel like this might a little too ambitious for my 2nd all grain batch.

Put it into Beer Tools and figured this would be a decent extract version:

12.0 lb Liquid Light Extract
2.0 lb Caramel Malt 20L

Original Gravity: 1.093 (1.026 - 1.120)
Terminal Gravity: 1.023 (0.995 - 1.035)
Color: 13.01 (1.0 - 50.0)
Alcohol: 9.25% (2.5% - 14.5%)
Bitterness: 59.9 (0.0 - 100.0)
 
That's going to cost you an arm and a leg in LME ;)
I say go for the AG, pumpkin ale was one of my first AG batches too. Make sure to use rice hullls. That pumpkin in the mash makes draining the tun a chore.
 
That's going to cost you an arm and a leg in LME ;)
I say go for the AG, pumpkin ale was one of my first AG batches too. Make sure to use rice hullls. That pumpkin in the mash makes draining the tun a chore.

I'm only going to use a small can of pumpkin (just so I can say it has pumpkin in it)... My first AG batch didn't really work out the way I wanted it too so I'm a little nervous.

I may do a partial mash, except lean way more on the grain side than the extract side (using only a few pounds of LME).

Or, I might just say F it and try the AG!
 
So this is a total noob question, but instead of using corn sugar as the priming sugar before bottling (as most brew stores will suggest) what about using brown sugar for this recipe to encourage a bit more of a pumpkin pie flavor?
 
So this is a total noob question, but instead of using corn sugar as the priming sugar before bottling (as most brew stores will suggest) what about using brown sugar for this recipe to encourage a bit more of a pumpkin pie flavor?

It's a good question. I'm no expert on the matter as I haven't bottled in quite some time, but I believe 'common wisdom' in this realm will say that the choice in priming sugar won't do TOO much to affect the flavor of the beer as it is mostly going to be eaten up to create the CO2. But a lingering amount might add a bit of flavor.

Regardless, you can most definitely give it a whirl as brown sugar would have the ability to carbonate. HOWEVER: make sure you find out what the 'conversion rate' is between corn & brown sugar - as not all sugars pack the same punch in their ability to carbonate (i.e., you could either over- or under-carb the beer if you used the same amount that is called for with corn sugar).

Hope that helps!
 
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?
 
Just made this recipe last weekend, only with a few additions/changes.

1.5 oz of CTZ at 90 min
1.0 oz of CTZ at 45 min
Used a Belgian Ale yeast I harvested.

I also cut up the heart of a sweet pumpkin, put it in a muslin bag and let it ride in the boil the last 20 minutes. The house smelled like pumpkin pie. Now the kids want to know when they can have a sip.
 
Back
Top