Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

Any ideas on adding some bourbon and vanilla? I was thinking about soaking some vanilla beans in 2 cups of bourbon for 3 weeks while the wort is in the fermenter. Then putting it in the secondary along with a tbs of vanilla extract when I rack it . I haven't tried this recipe yet but was wondering what people who have think?

FalkyBrew said:

Any ideas on adding some bourbon and vanilla? I was thinking about soaking some vanilla beans in 2 cups of bourbon for 3 weeks while the wort is in the fermenter. Then putting it in the secondary along with a tbs of vanilla extract when I rack it . I haven't tried this recipe yet but was wondering what people who have think?

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My god man pumpkin, pumpkin spice, bourbon, and vanilla. Its beer, not a pizza. you can't just throw a bunch of flavors in and expect it to taste everything. IMO the bourbon or the vanilla will shine through and you wont even taste the pumpkin or the spice. You should ether brew a pumpkin ale or brew a bourbon vanilla ale. You would just be wasting your money trying to combined the two. But that is just me.

cfraga1978 said:

My god man pumpkin, pumpkin spice, bourbon, and vanilla. Its beer, not a pizza. you can't just throw a bunch of flavors in and expect it to taste everything. IMO the bourbon or the vanilla will shine through and you wont even taste the pumpkin or the spice. You should ether brew a pumpkin ale or brew a bourbon vanilla ale. You would just be wasting your money trying to combined the two. But that is just me.

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Meh, to each his own. That's the great thing about homebrew... you can make it whatever you want.

But reading your post gave me an idea. FalkyBrew, make a pumpkin ale and a vanilla bourbon ale. Once those are both done you can blend a little bit of them (resulting in only a cup or so) so you find out what ratio of each tastes best together. Then you can scale that ratio up to either blending the full batches or just a gallon or two of each.

Reno_eNVy said:

Thanks for the interest and the compliments Be sure to post your results

Are you going to try to find pumpkin or just use the spice?

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I'll make sure to post the results. As for real or spice? I will definitely use real pumpkin. If I can't find Libby's(which I'm sure I won't have a problem with since I see it in the store every week when I go), then it's getting close enough to that time of the year that I'll be able to find fresh pumpkin. I have family that have huge gardens with baking pumpkins in them, so it wouldn't be hard for me to find it.

Brewed this up about 2 weeks ago. I used Special Roast instead of Victory so I hope it turns out okay. I'll probably wait another week and bottle this bad boy up. Thanks for the recipe Reno.

Haputanlas said:

Just brewed this about two weeks ago. OG was 1.070 and the FG was 1.006. Not sure what went wrong during fermentation, but it is pretty cidery. However, it still tasted good. Only time will tell if it's going to be OK.

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Reno_eNVy said:

Uh oh. Dude, 1.070 - 1.006 is some severe attenuation; 94%. The really low final gravity and cidery flavor lead me to believe you may have an infection. The spice flavor should still be there but I think you're going to be missing out on the malt profile.

The beer will be fine and if anything will probably just need a little more time. Thanks for giving the recipe a shot!

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Haputanlas said:

That's what I was afraid of. We'll see

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Haputanlas said:

To quickly follow up, I'm pretty certain that there is no infection. I believe that I must have somehow screwed up the Brown Sugar addition (probably added too much). At the time, I didn't have a measuring tool for the Brown Sugar and tried to "eye" it.

The beer is just really really cidery and dry. Even with this, it's still pretty good. Hopefully I won't screw it up this next time.

Thanks again for the recipe.

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Haputanlas said:

Yes, it's drinkable. I've noticed that even though it is very dry, a little bit of age has already helped.

I don't think it will ever be as good as the original recipe, but I don't really care. We learn more from mistake batches than the ones that go right. Since then, I've bought the proper scales and measuring equipment. This mistake won't happen again.

I plan on attempting this recipe again in the future. I'll let you know how it goes.

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Reno_eNVy said:

Great! Can't wait to read about it!

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OK, so after my brown sugar mishap, I am going to brew this again. I've improved my brewing skills significantly since this brew. In addition, I have much much better equipment this time around.

Can't wait to try this. I love pumpkin ales.

BTW, I plan on aging this for at least 2 months this time around.

Awesome to see that you're jumping back on that saddle.

Once you nail this down you're going to want to do it every year. If we blow through this coming batch too quickly I'll probably brew up a stronger, biscuitier version with an added mystery spice for Christmas-time :rockin:


Side-note: Probably going to get this brewing on Tuesday or Wednesday, and at the same time I will probably keg my Oktoberfest that was brewed in March by tradition and has been lagering since. Damn, in a month it's going to be a harvest celebration in my kegerator.

I'll be sure to produce photo evidence of all the above procedures. I have a new phone with a really nice camera

KozHops said:

Brewed this up about 2 weeks ago. I used Special Roast instead of Victory so I hope it turns out okay. I'll probably wait another week and bottle this bad boy up. Thanks for the recipe Reno.

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Yeah that should work just great.

IIRC, Victory® is just a brand name of a certain Special Roast. Don't hold me to that, though. I just know that they're both toasty and biscuity.

Bumps. I will be brewing this Sunday morning on my HERMS system. Thanks for the recipie, I am looking to do a clone of Punkin' and this seemed to be the closest around.

Brewed this on 08/12 just took a hydro sample and it 1.017, and tasting great, I do think it could use a tad more spice but after a few weeks I'm sure the flavors will mellow and I'll bottle it up! Thanks for the recipe!!

Where exactly did you pick up the pumpkin pie spice? Was it a recipe you made yourself or store bought?

I read someone used their own spice and then also used canned spiced pumpkin rather than plain with good results, what are your feelings?

I used the mccormicks pumpkin pie spice as recommended

I love HBT. I swear, I always get a huge smile on my face when I see people interested in my recipe. It's especially exciting as I'll be doing this tomorrow after work. FINALLY! :rockin:

trent said:

Bumps. I will be brewing this Sunday morning on my HERMS system. Thanks for the recipie, I am looking to do a clone of Punkin' and this seemed to be the closest around.

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Great to hear. Be sure to post results

homebrewin said:

Brewed this on 08/12 just took a hydro sample and it 1.017, and tasting great, I do think it could use a tad more spice but after a few weeks I'm sure the flavors will mellow and I'll bottle it up! Thanks for the recipe!!

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Yup, give it time. I've noticed different aspects shine through as you let it sit longer. The spice should shine through soon enough.

SkylerChaBro said:

Where exactly did you pick up the pumpkin pie spice? Was it a recipe you made yourself or store bought?

I read someone used their own spice and then also used canned spiced pumpkin rather than plain with good results, what are your feelings?

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You can get McCormick's Pumpkin Pie Spice at pretty much any grocery store. Check the spice aisle. I personally don't use the spiced cans but that's just because I've had such great results with adding the spices at the end of the boil.

homebrewin said:

I used the mccormicks pumpkin pie spice as recommended

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Bingo

WOO!! 5.5 gallons of this is sitting in the freezer as we speak! I ended up with 1.072, better efficiency than normal!

The recipe stayed the same but a few things happened:

- LHBS used a much finer crush

- Fine crush + pumpkin = sloooooow lauter. Odd thing is that it ran crystal clear after only 2 cups of vorlaufing

- Baked pumpkin on bigger baking pan. Cooked faster and browned up suuuper nice on top

- Mashed at 156... wanted bigger body

- Used two packages of US-05. I want a really clean brew and a lot of esters/phenols come during reproduction stages

- First time doing this recipe with temp control. Starting it at 60F then starting tomorrow will slowly crank it up at a rate of roughly 2F per day until I'm at 68. That way, at day 4 when the yeast are slowing down they will have a warmer temp to clean up after themselves better :rockin:

Didn't take pics like I expected since other stuff got in the way but here's what to expect from pumpkin in the mash, even with a full pound of rice hulls

I will be making this tomorrow. Can't wait!

Got all of my ingredients yesterday, but forgot the rice hulls, so I'll have to go get them from the LHBS along with my yeast on brewday. Probably going to brew sometime next week as my immersion chiller will be coming in. I am trying to decide if I want to wait for a weekend to do it or not though with the possible slow sparging problems. I wouldn't be starting until 5:30pm at the earliest, which normally wouldn't be a problem for getting done around 11:30 or so after cleanup, but if the sparge is slow, I don't want to be finishing up at 2am because of it. So depending on how confident I feel, I might be brewing next week, or the first weekend I have free would be on the 13th, so we'll see.

I'm planning on trying the partial mash version this weekend (if I can find pumpkin). It will be my first partial mash, so I'm not really sure what I'm doing. When I calculate my mash water, I should include the pumpkin, right?

So total weight of grains + pumpkin = 7lbs. So I should mash with 2.25 gallons of water and sparge with 1.25 gallons to hit my boil volume of 3.5 gallons. Does that sound right?

Also, has anybody done the recipe in partial mash? How did it turn out?

Mashing with 2.25 gallons and sparging with 1.25 gallons will not give you nearly 3.5 gallons. You need to take into account that the grain absorbs your water, and pumpkin makes it even more difficult to calculate.

The general rule of thumb is ~10# of grain will absorb 1 gallon of water. But seeing as you're using pumpkin you can go ahead and say that your grain+pumpkin will likely absorb 0.75-1.00 gallons of water.

I'd recommend having you mash at a ratio of 1.75-2.00 qts/lb to make sure you'll have enough for the boil. That way you'll get about 2 gallons and then you can sparge with 1.5-1.75 gallons and you've got your 3.5 gallon boil volume.

I hoped that helped and wasn't confusing.

absoluthamm said:

Got all of my ingredients yesterday, but forgot the rice hulls, so I'll have to go get them from the LHBS along with my yeast on brewday. Probably going to brew sometime next week as my immersion chiller will be coming in. I am trying to decide if I want to wait for a weekend to do it or not though with the possible slow sparging problems. I wouldn't be starting until 5:30pm at the earliest, which normally wouldn't be a problem for getting done around 11:30 or so after cleanup, but if the sparge is slow, I don't want to be finishing up at 2am because of it. So depending on how confident I feel, I might be brewing next week, or the first weekend I have free would be on the 13th, so we'll see.

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Yeah I'd recommend waiting until you have the rice hulls and chiller.

Thanks, I forgot about the absorption, but I basically meant sparge to get 3.5 gallons. Curious about why you suggest a higher water ratio in the mash (trying to learn more about the process).

Also, would you suggest rice hulls for the partial mash?

Thanks for all the help. I'm pumped about this recipe and my first partial mash brew day.

vtron said:

Thanks, I forgot about the absorption, but I basically meant sparge to get 3.5 gallons. Curious about why you suggest a higher water ratio in the mash (trying to learn more about the process).

Also, would you suggest rice hulls for the partial mash?

Thanks for all the help. I'm pumped about this recipe and my first partial mash brew day.

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Good questions. The 2 qt/lb ratio is to account for absorption by the pumpkin. It seems to work well.

And I'd recommend rice hulls any time pumpkin goes in the mash

Thanks for the help Reno. The only thing i'm changing is that i'm going to use Penzey's Pumpkin Pie Spice.

Here's a private message conversation I felt should be posted. It brings up some good questions.

Reno_eNVy said:

evanlee19 said:

Reno_eNVy said:

evanlee19 said:

I'm planning on making the pumpkin beer from your recipe. Had a few q's if you don't mind

From your posts it looked liked you increased the strike water amount to 2qt/lb. Total strike amount 24quarts? Making the batch sparge amount 36qts?

do you let the pumpkin you browned in the oven cool before you add it to the mash?

Thanks

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Yeah i've found that 2qt/lb is a good ratio when using 2 cans of pumpkin. And I tend to do a single batch sparge, and in this case 3.5 gallons yields me the perfect boil volume. This may not be the case for your system... I've nailed down my numbers after doing this recipe enough times.

And as for cooling the pumpkin, yeah I let it sit out for 15-20 minutes. But I add it to the mash first before the grain so I can still dial in on the correct strike water temperature

Also, if you don't mind could I post this conversation on my recipe thread? They are good questions

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no problem post away. Is 3.5 enough? Palmer says to use 1.5x batch water to strike water, but that seemed like way too much water.

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Yeah sometimes volumes need to be adjusted if using a high mash ratio. And yeah, 3.5 is enough if you get between 3.5 & 4 gallons on your first draining

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I don't know if this has already been asked. I skimmed through the posts, but I could have missed it.

I put the recipe into beersmith. On the hop additions I changed the AAU's to 4.8% and made the additions at 60 min and 5min. The problem is according to beersmith the IBU's are only 8.3. Does this seem right? Or could this be a beersmith error?

Hmm.... good question, I don't know why it would give you 8.3 IBU. In BeerSmith, what does the batch size and boil volume say? Also, are you using version 1.x or 2.0?

I'm using 2.0 with my efficiency set to 70%. I'm using the same equipment I use for every recipe. This is the first time I've had a big discrepancy like this. But I guess if the recipe as turned out great for everyone else, and it seems like it has, I should quit worry about the stupid computer and toss the hops in like the recipe says.

Well it's that time of year again! SWMBO wants me to do a 10 gallon batch this time around for a Halloween party so looks like I'll be brewing this up this weekend. Gotta keep her happy you know.

RandalG said:

Well it's that time of year again! SWMBO wants me to do a 10 gallon batch this time around for a Halloween party so looks like I'll be brewing this up this weekend. Gotta keep her happy you know.

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Happy wife, happy life.

hawgwild81 said:

I don't know if this has already been asked. I skimmed through the posts, but I could have missed it.

I put the recipe into beersmith. On the hop additions I changed the AAU's to 4.8% and made the additions at 60 min and 5min. The problem is according to beersmith the IBU's are only 8.3. Does this seem right? Or could this be a beersmith error?

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Rager or Tinseth?

Haputanlas said:

Rager or Tinseth?

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What???

Did you use the Rager or Tinseth formula for IBU calculation?

I'm sure beersmith can switch.

Fly sparging now. Even with .5lb rice hulls, very slow. I'm not worried just letting it run it's time.

Haputanlas said:

Did you use the Rager or Tinseth formula for IBU calculation?

I'm sure beersmith can switch.

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Oh...didn't know what that meant. I don't know for sure, but I'll be sure and check that. Thanks!

trent said:

Fly sparging now. Even with .5lb rice hulls, very slow. I'm not worried just letting it run it's time.

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Yup. Did yours start running crystal clear quicker than normal like mine did? I even used a full pound!

hawgwild81 said:

Oh...didn't know what that meant. I don't know for sure, but I'll be sure and check that. Thanks!

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IIRC, in preferences or tools or settings or whatever there is bitterness option and you can choose which equation you want to use. Maybe that will make the difference you're experiencing.

I made this on Saturday and everything seemed to go pretty well. I stuck to the recipe to the letter and ended with a gravity 1.062 which I was pretty happy with.
It tasted outstanding going into primary and I cooled down to about 59 degrees before pitching. I decided to make one change and use American Ale II yeast from Wyeast just because I have been curious about the yeast itself and it seemed that this would be a good time to try it. I plan to bring up the temp to about 66 over the next week or so.

Thanks again Reno for posting your recipe and I will let you know how it ends up!

So is it rice hulls, pumpkin, then grains in that order to the mash tun? And it's ok to have the pumpkin still warm?

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk

That order worked fine for me. I had the Pumpkin still at about 115 degrees and it seemed to be fine. I still hit my target temps.

As long as you watch your temps and have cool water on hand if you go over, you should be fine.