Pumpkin Spiced Ale

[craig_reed]

I just went to the LHBS and picked up some supplies for this brew! I ended up with 40L crystal instead of 20L (all they had) and some golden light malt, which I figured was pretty close to a pale malt...I'm excited to do this this weekend!

Awesome! What I would do since you go 40L is do that as a late additoin (15min) to keep the color as light as you can.

The golden light for pale is just fine!

Keep this going, and let me know what you think! I'll crack one tonight and post a few pictures to show you my final color (granted 10 mo later).

 

[craig_reed]

What does the brown sugar add as far as flavoring goes in the beer? If I am kegging and force carbing is there a way to get that favor profile in it? do I just add it to the boil? Also would the canned pumkin a 1:1 ratio to cooked pumpkin? We dont get pumkins here untill mid octoberish.. too late to make this for fall. Leaves are already changing....

The brown sugar isn't 100% necessary, but I thought it would be something fun to try at the time.

It ended up carbing the beer very nicely, and adding a touch of dark sweetness to the beer that I really enjoy. You could add it in the last few minutes of the boil and I'm sure that would add a nice touch to it as well. Just make sure to add it in as a fermentable if you are using BeerSmith or the like.

I think 1:1 may be a decent calculation. I have only ever used fresh, so I'm not 100% on that. CAUTION: Make sure you read the labels of the canned pumpkin - they come in two varieties - plain, unspiced pumpkin, and pumpkin pie filling (spiced).

 

[craig_reed]

I will be brewing up my original recipe again in the next week or so. Here are some of the changes I am going to make:

7lb Pale Malt Extract
1lb 20 Lovibond crystal malt (to keep it as lighter color)
2 oz Willamette hops (60 min)
1/2 oz Cascade hops (60 min)
1 oz Mt. Hood hops (15 min)

10 lb Whole Pumpkin
1 tsp ground cinnamon -------> 1 1/2 tsp
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract (substitute 1-2 vanilla beans) (10 min) ---> 1 oz Madagascar Vanilla Extract in secondary, 1-2 oz at bottling
1/2 tsp freshy ground nutmeg (10 min) ---> 1tsp
1/4 tsp ground allspice (10 min) ----> 1/2 tsp
1/2 tsp ground dried ginger (10 min) ---1 tsp
1/2 tsp (1g) irish moss (15 min) ----> 1 tsp

WLP001 (California Ale Yeast) ----> Wyeast 1056 w/starter

OG: 1.069
FG: 1.018

 

[Dubanka]

question regarding the pumpkin...has anyone tried smoking it? pondering doing a pumpkin ale, but smoking the pumpkin over pecan for a few hours then perhaps soaking it in some dark rum overnight? Not sure if the rum overtones would come out or if they would just ferment out.

 

[forcabrew]

i brewed this last year and it came out great. excellent recipe and i plan to brew it again this year!!!!!!

 

[cimirie]

question regarding the pumpkin...has anyone tried smoking it?

Dude, weed is not THAT expensive!

 

[sweaterman]

Hey man, I'm gonna give this one a whirl tomorrow using just pumpkin pie mix since I didn't have any fresh pumpkin available. When you made the later additions of the mix did you boil it or heat it up to liquefy it for better absorption or just dump it in? I don't know if any one way is better, just wondering what you did and if you recommend any other ways to add it. I was also looking at how much you have put in and I was wondering if you could tell how much of it just went to the bottom of the carboy. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to get the most pumpkin pie flavor out of this beer.

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner on this.

Whenever I added pumpkin/butternut to the kettle I just opened the can and plopped it in. All the stirring action during the wort chill and the heat of the boil just broke it apart well enough.

Same with secondary, I just spooned it in through the tiny damn carboy hole. God that took way too long. Try finding a baby spoon or something . . . Or heat it up with some water to make it more liquidy so it pours through a funnel.

Are you asking if it went straight to the bottom of the carboy when it was put into primary, or if it flocced out? It did do the latter, but that isn't saying it didn't contribute anything first (I honestly can't say whether it did or not - haven't tasted it yet). I read a ton about people making this brew before I made it, and the people that made it with canned pumpkin said 120oz would actually give you a pumpkin flavor and that less was unimpressive for flavor.

Happy fermenting! (I'd say happy brewing, but I know you are beyond that point by now).

 

[sweaterman]

What do people think? I had this in primary for 6 days and now in secondary since the 9th. The secondary also has a ton of pumpkin/butternut in it (about 50oz). Should I rack it off of the pumpkin and stuff and let it sit for another week or so, let it sit where it is, or bottle it?

 

[zeoalex]

Awesome! What I would do since you go 40L is do that as a late additoin (15min) to keep the color as light as you can.

The golden light for pale is just fine!

Keep this going, and let me know what you think! I'll crack one tonight and post a few pictures to show you my final color (granted 10 mo later).

awesome! I think i'm gonna go look for some 20L locally, I have to go get some grain bags/hop bags when I get to school anyways...and I think my williamette may be a bit old and not so good anymore (it's leftover from a double kit that I got around 6 mo ago)

I also got WLP051 which is California V ale yeast...I figure that it's very close and I looked it up, and it defined it as a slightly fruitier yeast, which may end up working to my favor in a pumpkin ale...I guess we'll see

question regarding the pumpkin...has anyone tried smoking it? pondering doing a pumpkin ale, but smoking the pumpkin over pecan for a few hours then perhaps soaking it in some dark rum overnight? Not sure if the rum overtones would come out or if they would just ferment out.

hm, I actually really like that idea...hm...

 

[hough77]

What do people think? I had this in primary for 6 days and now in secondary since the 9th. The secondary also has a ton of pumpkin/butternut in it (about 50oz). Should I rack it off of the pumpkin and stuff and let it sit for another week or so, let it sit where it is, or bottle it?

It is sounding like actual beer volume is going to be cut down with the amount of pumpkin brewers are putting in the recipe. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I heard Dogfish head does not use ANY pumpkin in their Punkin Ale?

 

[cimirie]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I heard Dogfish head does not use ANY pumpkin in their Punkin Ale?

Nope, DFH uses pumpkin in every batch of Punkin Ale.

 

[craig_reed]

Glad everyone is enjoying this brew, and the process. It is a lot of fun to make!

In addition to upping the spices from my OP, I am going to put spices right on the pumpkin meat when I bake it at 350 this go round. :rockin:

 

[bleisch87]

Jumped into Home Brewing with both feet.. I brewed this recipe this past Sunday. Been bubbling in the primary for 2 days now. Looks good and smelled like pumkin pie when I pitched the yeast. Hope I didnt bite off too much for my first beer by skipping the kit brewing stage

 

[craig_reed]

Jumped into Home Brewing with both feet.. I brewed this recipe this past Sunday. Been bubbling in the primary for 2 days now. Looks good and smelled like pumkin pie when I pitched the yeast. Hope I didnt bite off too much for my first beer by skipping the kit brewing stage

Hell no! I never brewed with a kit when I started. Jumping right in is the best way to do it!

Welcome to the hobby, and keep us updated on how the brew is coming along.

It was my recipe, so I'm happy to help with any questions!:rockin:

 

[cincybrewer]

Jumped into Home Brewing with both feet.. I brewed this recipe this past Sunday. Been bubbling in the primary for 2 days now. Looks good and smelled like pumkin pie when I pitched the yeast. Hope I didnt bite off too much for my first beer by skipping the kit brewing stage

If you just followed the recipe then it's no different then a kit. A kit is just someone else's recipe and those ingredients that the recipe calls for.

 

[craig_reed]

If you just followed the recipe then it's no different then a kit. A kit is just someone else's recipe and those ingredients that the recipe calls for.

+1 to this!

 

[cullen]

If you just followed the recipe then it's no different then a kit. A kit is just someone else's recipe and those ingredients that the recipe calls for.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Why does everyone have to be a recipe designer as well as a brewer? Just like the singer/songwriter - some of the greatest singers in the world didn't write their own stuff (it was all in the execution).

 

[cincybrewer]

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Why does everyone have to be a recipe designer as well as a brewer? Just like the singer/songwriter - some of the greatest singers in the world didn't write their own stuff (it was all in the execution).

Nothing wrong with kits at all, and most of my batches so far have been kits, including my best beer to-date. I was just pointing out that following a recipe is the same thing as a kit.

 

[BarronVonCharron]

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner on this.

Whenever I added pumpkin/butternut to the kettle I just opened the can and plopped it in. All the stirring action during the wort chill and the heat of the boil just broke it apart well enough.

Same with secondary, I just spooned it in through the tiny damn carboy hole. God that took way too long. Try finding a baby spoon or something . . . Or heat it up with some water to make it more liquidy so it pours through a funnel.

Are you asking if it went straight to the bottom of the carboy when it was put into primary, or if it flocced out? It did do the latter, but that isn't saying it didn't contribute anything first (I honestly can't say whether it did or not - haven't tasted it yet). I read a ton about people making this brew before I made it, and the people that made it with canned pumpkin said 120oz would actually give you a pumpkin flavor and that less was unimpressive for flavor.

Happy fermenting! (I'd say happy brewing, but I know you are beyond that point by now).

No worries on the late reply, I wouldn't have made the monster I have if it weren't for you!

Anyway since I couldn't get any real pumpkin I went with the pie filling and put in 9 cans. I made a few changes to your recipe, such as cutting the hops back a bit and upping the fermentables. I added a pound of honey, some molasses and a pound of brown sugar... ok two. I like making high gravity beers and this one should be impressive. I was contemplating making a starter batch to add some distillers yeast to put it over the top, but if I do that I plan on adding some more spice and vanilla to cover the alcohol. It's bubbling away like it's on a mission so the yeast is still doing it's job, but it wouldn't be the first time the alcohol was more than the yeast could bear in one of my beers. It's been going for almost two weeks now and is still bubbling every couple of seconds.

I was originally concerned with the volume loss with the excessive trub from stuff settling out, but three gallons of boiled water +2.5 gallons and all ingredients fit into my bucket just fine... and it smells amazing

On another note, if I had a "friend" that would like to take a beer, freeze what would freeze and then remove the ice from it would the carbonation still be there? I've told him that it isn't exactly legal but he just doesn't care.

 

[Ztp]

No worries on the late reply, I wouldn't have made the monster I have if it weren't for you!

Anyway since I couldn't get any real pumpkin I went with the pie filling and put in 9 cans. I made a few changes to your recipe, such as cutting the hops back a bit and upping the fermentables. I added a pound of honey, some molasses and a pound of brown sugar... ok two. I like making high gravity beers and this one should be impressive. I was contemplating making a starter batch to add some distillers yeast to put it over the top, but if I do that I plan on adding some more spice and vanilla to cover the alcohol. It's bubbling away like it's on a mission so the yeast is still doing it's job, but it wouldn't be the first time the alcohol was more than the yeast could bear in one of my beers. It's been going for almost two weeks now and is still bubbling every couple of seconds.

I was originally concerned with the volume loss with the excessive trub from stuff settling out, but three gallons of boiled water +2.5 gallons and all ingredients fit into my bucket just fine... and it smells amazing

On another note, if I had a "friend" that would like to take a beer, freeze what would freeze and then remove the ice from it would the carbonation still be there? I've told him that it isn't exactly legal but he just doesn't care.

What was the OG on this??? just out of curiousity

 

[BarronVonCharron]

What was the OG on this??? just out of curiousity

I wish I knew, my kids broke my hygrometer . It'll be kind of fun guessing the ABV when it's done though!

 

[Ztp]

Lol. I bet it'll have a slight alcohol bite.

 

[BarronVonCharron]

Lol. I bet it'll have a slight alcohol bite.

Yeah probably:cross:. I like the alcohol tingle on the tongue that comes with higher gravity beers, I have been pretty successful in masking the bite or negative flavors with strong good flavored beer, but this one has me a little concerned. I think the pumpkin spice should cover it nicely but we'll see.

 

[gurrback]

So I'm planning to brew this on the weekend but I'm betting I won't be able to find fresh pumpkin. How much pie filling or canned pumpkin should I add???

 

[craig_reed]

So I'm planning to brew this on the weekend but I'm betting I won't be able to find fresh pumpkin. How much pie filling or canned pumpkin should I add???

I used fresh pumpkin, and we have them starting to show up in grocery stores now around here.

My recipe from the OP uses fresh, and I have never used canned, but I think if you read through the thread a few people used canned.

 

[Skipper74]

We still don't have fresh pumpkin in SE Massachusetts, so I just brewed this using butternut squash. We'll see how it turns out in six weeks......

 

[BarronVonCharron]

We still don't have fresh pumpkin in SE Massachusetts, so I just brewed this using butternut squash. We'll see how it turns out in six weeks......

Definitely keep us posted on this one, how much/many/pounds of squash did you use? Did you change any other part of the recipe?

 

[Skipper74]

Definitely keep us posted on this one, how much/many/pounds of squash did you use? Did you change any other part of the recipe?

I used 10 lbs. of butternut squash and the version of the recipe posted by Craig on 8/25/11. The onnly other change I made was that I used 1 quart of S-05 yeast slurry instead of the liquid yeast.

 

[BarronVonCharron]

So with all the fermetables I put into my version of this I decided to get rid of some of them so I added some White Labs Super High Gravity yeast (WLP099). I dropped in a couple split vanilla beans and some molasses too. The sample I tried already tastes strong... good flavor of spice and pumpkin. I think with some conditioning (maybe a month) after this yeast has ran it's course it should be very good. I think it will be a "drink when cold" beer due to the alcohol taste, but it's name will fit it well- Trick or Treat?

It's bubbling nicely

 

[bleisch87]

Racked to the secondary today. Seems to have lost the pumkin pie smell now smells like beer(imagine that), hopefully still has some of the flavor.. The OG was 1.055 now is at 1.013. Looking good so far.