Pumpkin Spiced Ale

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Mine carbed for a good 3 weeks and it was still not very carbonated. I figured since I made a stout that it wasn't supposed to be. Still turned out good though
 
So over Thanksgiving I took a bunch of my Pumpkin monster that I call "Trick or Treat" down to enjoy with the family....

My Aunt and Uncle are beer nerds like me, everybody else there falls into the "I'm happy with a Coors" crowd- to each their own... Anyway the beer is VERY strong and there is NO alcohol bite to it. I have a decent tolerance, as does my father and uncle but this thing had us all feeling silly :drunk: after only 3 glasses (we did have a Sam Adams Cherry wheat also waiting for the Pumpkin to chill). It has a great pumpkin spice flavor to it, not too much but it totally masked the alcohol. Awesome.

The White Labs Super high gravity yeast definitely lived up to it's name. I don't know if I will use it again any time soon... It might be a good idea to slow me down on going through my home brew though...

Overall it came out great, it was just very surprising how strong it is. I really need to get a new hygrometer :mug:
 
Guess I'm not the only person with a carbing problem. Mine's been in the bottle for almost 2 months now, and it's just not carbing. I didn't put enough sugar in when I bottled, but I also tried Cooper's tabs and it hasn't really helped.

I wonder if there's a reason why this would be so happening? I think I won't try brewing one again until I get a kegging setup.
 
Guess I'm not the only person with a carbing problem. Mine's been in the bottle for almost 2 months now, and it's just not carbing. I didn't put enough sugar in when I bottled, but I also tried Cooper's tabs and it hasn't really helped.

I wonder if there's a reason why this would be so happening? I think I won't try brewing one again until I get a kegging setup.

Are you using the right sized tabs for your bottles, and what is your alcohol content like? I made a Russian Imperial that got too strong and killed off the yeast before it could carb. After two months if you don't have any carb I don't think it ever will but I have been wrong before.

How is the taste though? If the taste is good, just tell everybody you tried making a barley wine :mug:
 
I opened one of mine up today, brewed around October 15th.

Followed the 1st revision of the recipe exactly except that i racked to secondary with 3 fresh cinnamon sticks and 2 whole vanilla beans, and i carbed with 1 Cup of brown sugar instead of the recommended 2/3 cup because I like my beer carbonated a bit higher than others. I also cold crashed this beer to really bring out the orange coloration in it and it looks fantastic.

2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks secondary, 20 days in the bottles so far and even these preliminary beers are great! Mine smell like vanilla and brown sugar with a hint of spices and pumpkin when drinking. I'm hoping for the vanilla to be subdued a little bit as it sits, but it's only in the smell, doesn't really taste like vanilla at all. This beer also has a great head and good lace with it so far. I'm expecting the lace to get even better after another week.

Thanks for this recipe, definitely one to hang on to.
 
Are you using the right sized tabs for your bottles, and what is your alcohol content like? I made a Russian Imperial that got too strong and killed off the yeast before it could carb. After two months if you don't have any carb I don't think it ever will but I have been wrong before.

How is the taste though? If the taste is good, just tell everybody you tried making a barley wine :mug:

I'm using the right size tab for sure, and the alcohol content is about 5.5%. You may just be right about it never carbing, but I'm going to foolishly keep trying.

It does taste very good, but it's a little too sweet without the bubbles. It's not like I dump em the bottle after I test, after all, I'm just not as happy as I would be with a proper carb. Oh well, there are worse things than drinking a slightly disappointing homebrew. :mug:
 
Cheers! Glad you like it!

I opened one of mine up today, brewed around October 15th.

Followed the 1st revision of the recipe exactly except that i racked to secondary with 3 fresh cinnamon sticks and 2 whole vanilla beans, and i carbed with 1 Cup of brown sugar instead of the recommended 2/3 cup because I like my beer carbonated a bit higher than others. I also cold crashed this beer to really bring out the orange coloration in it and it looks fantastic.

2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks secondary, 20 days in the bottles so far and even these preliminary beers are great! Mine smell like vanilla and brown sugar with a hint of spices and pumpkin when drinking. I'm hoping for the vanilla to be subdued a little bit as it sits, but it's only in the smell, doesn't really taste like vanilla at all. This beer also has a great head and good lace with it so far. I'm expecting the lace to get even better after another week.

Thanks for this recipe, definitely one to hang on to.
 
I tried a recipe like this last year and found it to be lacking on flavor. It tasted like a pumpkin ale but was a little to bland for my liking.

I like what you guys have mentioned, Doubling up on spices and roasting the pumpkin prior to adding to the boil. I think this will add body and spice.

I do have one question....For guys like me that really like that "spice" flavor, can I add additional spices prior to kegging to kick it up a notch? Is it best to taste test and add directly to the keg before carbing / conditioning. Or better to do this while racking to my secondary?

Thanks in advance
 
Well an extra 2 weeks did the job, a good beer. That was a total of 4 weeks in the bottles.
 
Its about that time of year again! I brewed another 5 gallon batch of this yesterday so it will be ready for Oktoberfest. I can't find any pumpkins yet so I put two pounds of pumpkin puree in the boil in a steeping bag.
 
Its about that time of year again! I brewed another 5 gallon batch of this yesterday so it will be ready for Oktoberfest. I can't find any pumpkins yet so I put two pounds of pumpkin puree in the boil in a steeping bag.

I don't know man, might not be enough pumpkin... I used a lot more, but I was going for a HIGH gravity and needed to hide the alcohol... (It worked out well by the way :cross:)
 
I brewed this recipe twice last year and it turned out really well. I actually did another 5 gallons last night so I have 10 gallons fermenting.
 
I did a 5 gallon batch with a coffee stout and 2 large cans pumpkin pie mix. Pumpkin didn't come through. Also I carbed with brown sugar and the. Eer came out a little flat :/. Still tasty though
 
SkipWankman said:
I did a 5 gallon batch with a coffee stout and 2 large cans pumpkin pie mix. Pumpkin didn't come through. Also I carbed with brown sugar and the. Eer came out a little flat :/. Still tasty though

"the beer" not the eer
 
I am getting ready to brew this again this weekend and am very excited. I am going to basically use the same recipe as last year but cut the IBUs, increase the roasted pumpkin/squash (I think the squash gives more flavor), and increase the spices. I should plan on making two batches: one for the kegerator and one for bottling and bringing to people/gifting.
 
Here's another question on this. What kind of FG are you guys hitting? I want this beer to be a dessert beer, but I don't want the mouthfeel and sweetness to be cloying. My hopville recipe states the FG will be 1.018, but I feel like that will be pretty high. Also, SWMBO won't drink it if it is too sweet. Any advise?

http://hopville.com/recipe/1646994
 
Well, I feel silly being the person to post the last three responses . . .

Anyway, how long you guys letting this one condition? I left it in primary for 15 days, moved to secondary on Sept 27th for 24 days, and not in the keg since October 21st. I know patience is a virtue, but I wanna drink this puppy.
 
Well, I feel silly being the person to post the last three responses . . .

Anyway, how long you guys letting this one condition? I left it in primary for 15 days, moved to secondary on Sept 27th for 24 days, and not in the keg since October 21st. I know patience is a virtue, but I wanna drink this puppy.

I think you will be fine. I primary, three weeks, no secondary, then begin drinking after 3 weeks in the bottle. I find it gets better (duh) after an extra month in the bottle, but is still good when young.
 
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