Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

Had a bit of a rocky brew day. Woke up a few hours late and over sparged, so I missed my OG by a fair margin. Came in at 1.052.
Nothing to be done now, I guess it'll just be more sessionable

Side note, I've always thought wort to be almost undrinkable, but this one was pretty tasty

Just brewed a double batch of this last night. Followed the recipe to a 'T' except I only used 1 lb. of Rice Hulls. Recirculating the mash got a bit sticky at times, but it was not too bad. Post boil volume was 11 gallons. OG 1.064. Super stoked.

I kegged this last weekend and it's been sitting on carb for a week now. Took a sample to see where it is and it's tasting fantastic so far! The spice is a little forward now, so I need to let it age a while. It's going to be hard not to break into this until October!

This went crazy in the bucket installed blow off on day 2. Transferred to secondary yesterday after 14 days

A Couple pictures from brew day

I forgot to show how much krausen I had goin on!! Blow off tube was spittin junk into the bottle!!

My target gravity was 1.050, and ended up around 1.064. Is it permissible to pitch a few hours after to let wort cool better?

So question I brewed this yesterday and for some reason put my spices in for the 60min boil.... Not sure why. What's the vertic on what the results will be?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Ok, I had an OG of 1.063 and a FG of 1.007. 7.4% ABV. This is the FIRST time I have ever had an ale ferment to a FG below 1.010. Anyone else ever had this happen?


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

StoutNoDoubt said:

Ok, I had an OG of 1.063 and a FG of 1.007. 7.4% ABV. This is the FIRST time I have ever had an ale ferment to a FG below 1.010. Anyone else ever had this happen?


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

Click to expand...

Ive had it happen a few times when ive mashed low and fermented fairly warm

DagoBrewer said:

Ive had it happen a few times when ive mashed low and fermented fairly warm

Click to expand...

My fermentation was at a steady range of 60 to 68 degrees the whole time. Must have been something I did in the mash. It still was pretty tasty and can only imagine how much better it will get over time. Thanks!

Bono09 said:

Took the yeast starter off the stir plate this morning. It is currently in the refrigerator. Brew day is supposed to be today but it is currently raining and I do not have an indoor setup. May push back brew day to tomorrow. I have a Hoegaarden clone in the Brew Room that needs to be bottled today or tomorrow, so may flip flop the two.

Click to expand...

What yeast did you use? No yeast starter needed if you are using US-04.

waltzbrewingco said:

My target gravity was 1.050, and ended up around 1.064. Is it permissible to pitch a few hours after to let wort cool better?

Click to expand...

Sure, there are people who do no-chill brewing. I personally like to drop the temperature quick. What was the temperature at the time of you posting? What did you end up doing?

madcore said:

So question I brewed this yesterday and for some reason put my spices in for the 60min boil.... Not sure why. What's the vertic on what the results will be?

Click to expand...

Heh, it happens. The flavors will be incredibly muted, if not absent. Make a spice tincture. Get a liquor without any flavor, like vodka. Soak a tablespoon or two of the spice in the vodka for at least a week. Filter out the solids using a coffee filter or something of the sort. Then when you're ready to bottle or keg, pull a measured amount of the beer and add the tincture in very small increments. Note at what amount you like it the best, then scale up for a full-sized batch.

StoutNoDoubt said:

Ok, I had an OG of 1.063 and a FG of 1.007. 7.4% ABV. This is the FIRST time I have ever had an ale ferment to a FG below 1.010. Anyone else ever had this happen?

Click to expand...

Yeah it's happened to me before on this brew. Inaccurate thermometer, I was mashing at (I suspect) 150*F.

it was about 85° when I posted. Went to work and it was it room temp 76-78° when I pitched about 7 hours later. Just hope that temp wasn't too high.

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

What yeast did you use? No yeast starter needed if you are using US-04.

Click to expand...

I used the US-05. I know there is no need to but I just got my stir plate and was antsy to use it

Bono09 said:

I used the US-05. I know there is no need to but I just got my stir plate and was antsy to use it

Click to expand...

I would advise using a starter for any high gravity wort even if it is a dry yeast. For what it costs to do, no harm done.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

What would one change in this recipe if they wanted an imperial version? I was thinking about doing an imperial version of this then oaking half.

I was thinking just bump the 2 row up a pound or two. Then bump the victory and crystal up proportionally. What do you all think?

she's percolating!
Now, a question about secondary fermentation. I used only one can of pumpkin before the boil, anyone considered steeping more pumpkin and adding it to the secondary? Maybe one can is enough but I've seen some recipes using two of the 29oz cans.

waltzbrewingco said:

she's percolating!
I used only one can of pumpkin before the boil, anyone considered steeping more pumpkin and adding it to the secondary?

Click to expand...

I did not read the entire thread, but I did see several now don't do a secondary. Seems Reno lets it sit in primary for 2 months, kegs, drinks, rinse, and repeat. This is my plan as well, unless I get all crazy and feel like I need something to do.

That said, if you want to do secondary, I'd boil that pumpkin since you would be adding the pumpkin water into your flat beer. Keep it clean.

From what I understand, the pumpkin is there for color mostly. The flavor comes from the spice. Yer call. Let us know what you do and how it goes.

Brewing this again this year it was tasty and looking forward to this years. Ran into stuck sparge last year. I cannot remember if I used rice hulls or not. I cant get them this year everyone seems to be sold out.

So what if I put the pumpkin in a muslin bag and mashed like that or even mash the pumpkin separately?

ih8lag said:

So what if I put the pumpkin in a muslin bag and mashed like that or even mash the pumpkin separately?

Click to expand...

I did not have time for a stuck sparge on brew day so I did the pumpkin in the water as it heated for the grains. Had it in a fine mesh bag. Color leaked pretty well, thick gunk stayed in the bag for the most part. I'd probably do this again next year.

AR-Josh said:

What would one change in this recipe if they wanted an imperial version? I was thinking about doing an imperial version of this then oaking half.

I was thinking just bump the 2 row up a pound or two. Then bump the victory and crystal up proportionally. What do you all think?

Click to expand...

I did an Imperial version of a pumpkin ale using part of this recipe with a west coast twist! I used 16# of 2 row and ended up with 9.1% hahaha!

I am planning on doing a 2.5 gallon extract version of this beer for the fall season. How does this recipe look?

4 lb light DME (or should I use 3.5lb?)
0.25 lb Crystal 60L
0.125 lb Special Roast
1/2 lb brown sugar
29 oz can Libbey 100% pure pumpkin

1/2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker@60min
1/2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker @5min
.75 tbsp McCormick spice @5min

Here's mine ended up with a stuck sparge. Two cans of pumpkin and used 1lb of rice hulls.

Dunno said:

I did not read the entire thread, but I did see several now don't do a secondary. Seems Reno lets it sit in primary for 2 months, kegs, drinks, rinse, and repeat. This is my plan as well, unless I get all crazy and feel like I need something to do.

That said, if you want to do secondary, I'd boil that pumpkin since you would be adding the pumpkin water into your flat beer. Keep it clean.

From what I understand, the pumpkin is there for color mostly. The flavor comes from the spice. Yer call. Let us know what you do and how it goes.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the detailed response. I'm not always able to reply quickly due to work so it's nice to have helpful members such as yourself.

Edit: The pumpkin is mostly for color and authenticity but if you get some nice caramelization on the pumpkin you can taste the nice vegetal squash character.

dsaavedra said:

I am planning on doing a 2.5 gallon extract version of this beer for the fall season. How does this recipe look?

4 lb light DME (or should I use 3.5lb?)
0.25 lb Crystal 60L
0.125 lb Special Roast
1/2 lb brown sugar
29 oz can Libbey 100% pure pumpkin

1/2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker@60min
1/2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker @5min
.75 tbsp McCormick spice @5min

Click to expand...

Id say thay looks pretty good!

I did this last year as my third homebrewed beer and first all grain. It sucked I waited a good 8 months hoping the off flavors would go away. They never did. I'm not sure what I did wrong what with being being a novice at the time and a year ago.

I'm going to try it again and it'll be good this time damn it!

Reno_eNVy said:

The 2 large cans of libby's pumpkin puree (non-spiced) should be spread out on a baking sheet so it's about 1-1.5" thick. Bake between 250 and 325*F for 30-45 minutes or until the top starts browning slightly and the puree becomes less viscous. Then add to mash for the whole 60 minutes. Don't forget a few handfuls of rice hulls.

Also, be sure to use McCormick's Pumpkin pie spice. That's how I get my best results and the measurement of 1.5 tablespoons is the perfect amount... nothing worse than being disappointed by a beer that is over-spices.

I'll be adding this to the original post to make it easier

EDIT: oh, well nevermind. I can't edit the original post....

Click to expand...

ill have to try this as most of the pumpkin beers ive had are over spiced to the point of i cannot stand them. rivertown pumpkin ale is the closest ive had to being right. for me anyway.

Took a gravity reading yesterday. It was already down to 1.012. I racked to secondary to try to keep it at 1.012. My batch last year fermented all the way down to 1.008.

My question is, if you are recommending people skip racking to secondary all together, how do you keep the batch from fermenting too low?

Last years batch definitely had some solvent / hot alcohol notes in there...

I racked to secondary and threw both carboys in my ferm chamber, set at 50 deg F to cold crash and cease fermentation. My plan is to let it sit in there for a week or so, then bottle and set on the shelf to condition for a month or so....

StoutNoDoubt said:

Ok, I had an OG of 1.063 and a FG of 1.007. 7.4% ABV. This is the FIRST time I have ever had an ale ferment to a FG below 1.010. Anyone else ever had this happen?


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

Click to expand...

This happened with my batch of this recipe last year. The batch was still pretty good, but it had solventy/hot alcohol off flavor. This year I checked my gravity after 5 days. it went from 1.064 to 1.012 QUICKLY...

AndMan3030 said:

Took a gravity reading yesterday. It was already down to 1.012. I racked to secondary to try to keep it at 1.012. My batch last year fermented all the way down to 1.008.

My question is, if you are recommending people skip racking to secondary all together, how do you keep the batch from fermenting too low?

Last years batch definitely had some solvent / hot alcohol notes in there...

I racked to secondary and threw both carboys in my ferm chamber, set at 50 deg F to cold crash and cease fermentation. My plan is to let it sit in there for a week or so, then bottle and set on the shelf to condition for a month or so....

Click to expand...

If you are trying to stop fermentation, racking to secondary and cold crashing will not do it. When you bottle, you will end up with gushers or even bottle bombs if it isn't complete. You will need to actually kill the yeast if it isn't done.

I would let the batch go until it is done and not take those chances. How long has it been at 1.012? How long has it been in primary for?

D_Nyholm said:

If you are trying to stop fermentation, racking to secondary and cold crashing will not do it. When you bottle, you will end up with gushers or even bottle bombs if it isn't complete. You will need to actually kill the yeast if it isn't done.

I would let the batch go until it is done and not take those chances. How long has it been at 1.012? How long has it been in primary for?

Click to expand...

+1000! You should never stop fermentation early. As long as there are fermentable sugars and yeast in the beer, they will eventually consume all that they can. If that happens in the bottle you will get overcarbonation and possibly bottle bombs.

You need to control attenuation on the front end with mash temp, yeast choice, etc. Then help the yeast attenuate as much as they can.

2013 version

Doing well.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

NICE! How old is it at that point?

Bottled 9/14 so nearly a year


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

D_Nyholm said:

If you are trying to stop fermentation, racking to secondary and cold crashing will not do it. When you bottle, you will end up with gushers or even bottle bombs if it isn't complete. You will need to actually kill the yeast if it isn't done.

I would let the batch go until it is done and not take those chances. How long has it been at 1.012? How long has it been in primary for?

Click to expand...

I brewed it on 9/23 - 1.064

racked on 9/28 - 1.012

I know if I mashed higher I would see it stopping around 1.014 - 1.016 on its own. My mash was at about 152 on average. I am only trying to avoid this brew drying out. I got a lot of hot alcohol from this one last time when I let it sit in the primary for a month (finished at 1.008).

At this point the fermentation has slowed due to the racking and the cold crashing. I plan on letting it sit in the keezer at 50 deg F for a couple weeks, then bottling.

with it being at 1.012 I am not too worried about bottle bombs. When I prime I will use slightly less priming sugar. I plan to leave these on the shelf for a month or so after priming.

I will post my results.

Transferred my batch to the secondary today. Smells delicious and is a nice darker orange. Very happy with it. Can't wait to bottle then drink. Looks like it'll be just in time for the beginning of Oct.

I'm making my first batch of this today. A couple questions, I am having a hard entering this time entering this into Brewtarget according to what I get from what I can enter it says this will be cloyingly sweet is that true? My hops are only 4.1aa instead of 4.5 so that will make a bit of difference in my IBUs but IDK what the pie spice brings to the table either.. I have some Target pellets I was thinking about adding maybe .25oz @60min but what do you think? or should I just leave it alone and only use the 2oz of 4.1 Hallertau?

Has anyone tried Danstar Windsor with this recipe? I'm getting a FG of 1.009 with US-05 when I plug the recipe into Brewtoad. Have Notty, Windsor, US-05 and White Labs Irish Ale yeasts in inventory right now. Any thoughts/opinions are greatly appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

So this is day 7 in the primary and I would say fermentation has stopped. Krausen is mostly gone and there is very little air lock activity. During fermentation I'd say first 4 days temp would fluctuate with ambient temperature between 72-74°. I have the primary sitting fairly close to an air vent in my house so when he AC kicks on its keeping the beer cool. Now that fermentation has stopped the temp has dropped to the 60s. Sitting around 64° right now. Again my wife plays with the thermostat, but its never below 73°. I suppose the question is, dioes the fermentation process produce that much heat? I mean yeast its a living organism using energy and converting sugar into alcohol, all the while growing and eating... is this normal for temp to fall like that? This is my third home brew and I didn't notice this before