Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

[Reno_eNVy]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

US-05

Yeast Starter

no

Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter

no

Batch Size (Gallons)

5

Original Gravity

1.065

Final Gravity

1.017

Boiling Time (Minutes)

60

IBU

19.3

Color

12

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

21

Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

3

Tasting Notes

Just the right amount of residual sweetness to compliment the pumpkin pie spice

EDIT (8/23/14): Adding some information that can answer common questions.
- RICE HULLS! Use about a pound in the mash for a 5 gallon batch.
- A secondary isn't really necessary. Nor is the gelatin. Time is your friend.
- On the topic of time, I'd recommend giving the beer at least a month in primary, but I think two is better. Then, again, give it at the very least a month in bottle/room-temp-keg. Personally I give it about six months from brew day to drinking. It really becomes special around the 6-8 month mark.
- For extract brewers, the best technique for me when I did extract was to put the pumpkin in a muslin bag and steep it before adding anything else. I'd recommend doing it for 20-30 minutes at a higher temperature, maybe even boiling if you want. Then proceed as normal.
- PM brewers, you can either add the pumpkin to the mash as normal or steep it.

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This beer turned out great.

We've done pumpkin ales in the past but never this good. With a F.G. of 1.017 it has the perfect amount of sweetness to compliment the slight biscuit from the victory malt and the pie spices. Much to our delight (and surprise) it tastes awfully similar to Dogfish Head's Punkin' Ale. As expected with pumpkin ales, this was one hazy mother-effer! Gelatin was used in the very short secondary to clear it up before going in the keg.

Punkin' Ale
O.G. 1.065
F.G. 1.017
Efficiency: 70%
Color: 12 SRM
Bitter: 19.3 IBU


Grain bill
10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 83.33 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.33 %
1.00 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 8.33 %
2 Large cans (29oz) Libby's pumpkin (no spices added) --- Bake at 350*F for 45-60 minutes (longer if you're at high elevation) let cool before adding to mash



Mash (batch sparge)
Single infusion, Medium body, No mash-out
24QT of 163*F water (step temp of 156)



Boil (60 minutes)
1.00 lb Brown Sugar (60 min)
1oz Hallertaur (4.8%) (60 min)
1.5 Tbs McCormicks Pumpkin Pie Spice (5 min)
1oz Hallertaur (4.8%) (5 min)



Yeast
2 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (Chico) (DCL Yeast #US-05)

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Partial Mash and Extract Versions

I've decided to collaborate a couple posts for the ease of anybody looking for PM or extract.

It's really hard to imitate the flavor you get from Victory malt (which has to be mashed.) It provides aromatic/biscuit/nutty/toasted attributes to the beer that you can't get in extract. Your closet bet would be to use Special Roast... though BeerSmith says it needs to be mashed, HBT wiki says it doesn't. But here's the partial mash and an adjusted extract version; only the grain/extract is adjusted. You can keep the hops, pumpkin, sugar and spice additions the same.

Partial Mash
6# Pale LME
2# Pale 2-row
0.63# Crystal 60L
0.63# Victory Malt


Extract
8.25# Pale LME
0.5# Crystal 60L
0.25# Special Roast


For these adjusted recipes I'd recommend using S-04, which is known to have lower attenuation so you can get that fuller body and maltiness you get from mashing at higher temperatures. If you take the S-04 route, try to keep fermentation temperatures low, closer to 60*F so you get less esters and phenols that will cover up the delicious pumpkin pie flavors.

 

[nootay]

could this be converted to an extract recipe?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Well, it's getting close to that time again! I'm sure a lot of people are planning their pumpkin beer for the coming season. If you happen to stumble upon this recipe please give it shot. I have heard from more than a couple people that it is one of the best pumpkin ales they'd ever had.

I'm going to get this beer rolling soon to be ready for October and then probably brew it again in early October to be ready for November/December... it goes fast and is good enough to keep on hand for an entire season

As for an extract recipe, it's really hard to imitate the flavor you get from Victory malt (which has to be mashed.) It provides aromatic/biscuit/nutty/toasted attributes to the beer that you can't get in extract. Your closet bet would be to use Special Roast... though BeerSmith says it needs to be mashed, HBT wiki says it doesn't. But here's the partial mash and an adjusted extract version; only the grain/extract is adjusted. You can keep the hops, pumpkin, sugar and spice additions the same:

Partial Mash
6# Pale LME
2# Pale 2-row
0.63# Crystal 60L
0.63# Victory Malt


Extract
8.25# Pale LME
0.5# Crystal 60L
0.25# Special Roast


For these adjusted recipes I'd recommend using S-04, which is known to have lower attenuation so you can get that fuller body and maltiness you get from mashing at higher temperatures. If you take the S-04 route, try to keep fermentation temperatures low, closer to 60*F so you get less esters and phenols that will cover up the delicious pumpkin pie flavors. That's why I use US-05; it's nice and clean.

 

[gratefuldisc]

when are you adding the pumpkin?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

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....

 

[RonRock]

I was only able to find small cans of pumpkin. How much pumpkin do I need total?


Can you explain this- "20QT of 163*F water (step temp of 154)"

I'm trying to figure out how much water I need to end up with a 5 gal batch.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I was only able to find small cans of pumpkin. How much pumpkin do I need total?

From what I could find online it looks like large cans are 29oz and small cans are 15oz. So you're going to need ~60oz, thus 4 small cans

Can you explain this- "20QT of 163*F water (step temp of 154)"

I'm trying to figure out how much water I need to end up with a 5 gal batch.

Well that just means you dough-in with 20 quarts of 163*F water, which will balance out to a mash temperature of 154*F. Since the grain bill is 12#, you'll likely end up losing ~1.2 gallons of water due to absorption. Then typically I would batch sparge with 3.5 gallons to get my pre-boil volume of ~7.0-7.5 gallons... yours will likely be different due to different boil-off rates. (oh yeah, I should also note that I do no mash-out)

However, the pumpkin creates more absorption.... I'd say you'd be safe sparging with an extra gallon to counteract that. Sorry for the rough numbers... when I brew this up again I will get exact values to post. Unless someone beats me to it

 

[rainingbullets]

Not sure if anyone is still looking at this thread, but I will be attempting this recipe tomorrow...just one thing...

I picked up two cans of the Libby's pumpkin pie mix, but it turns out it's not the "unspiced" kind (or at least it doesn't say that anywhere on the can).

It seems the store I bought it at, and other stores that I've called don't carry the "unspiced" pie mix.

Is it possible to use these two cans anyway, and omit the Mccormick's pumpkin pie spice? (I bought that too)

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Hmmm... well maybe then just add 0.5 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice. Should do you just fine

 

[RonRock]

I'm going to make this soon. Anybody put this into Beersmith?

 

[rainingbullets]

Hmmm... well maybe then just add 0.5 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice. Should do you just fine

Ok, I will try that. Especially since the store wont take the cans back (jerks)

Next question: what fermentation temp should I use?

I went to the LHBS yesterday, and picked up Crystal hops at 3.5% AA. Apparently, it is the same thing as Hallertaur.

I also put this recipe into beersmith. Of course I couldn't find how to add brown sugar, or the pumpkin spices. This is probably why the OG estimate I got is 1.058, with a FG of 1.015

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Nah, you can't put the brown sugar, pie spice or pumpkin into beersmith, I just add them to the notes. My OG without the sugar or pumpkin is 1.060 (70% eff) and afterwards it's around 1.070. I got a lower OG the first time because lautering took fooooorever (don't forget the rice hulls... lot of 'em) and I ended up leaving some.

I'd say in order to keep it clean of yeast flavor so the malt and spices can shine through, ferment around 60-64*F.

And yeah, crystal will work just fine. Good Hallertauer substitute.

EDIT: Oops, I lied... you totally can add brown sugar. Potential SG is 1.046 per pound per gallon. I remember now that I didn't add it to beersmith because the difference in SRMs between light and dark brown sugar is pretty big and I already knew the final SRM would be really hard to calculate what with the spices and pumpkin.

And that makes me realize the final SRM is probably more like 16... or whatever number represents "gorgeous, deep orange-copper"

 

[rainingbullets]

Nah, you can't put the brown sugar, pie spice or pumpkin into beersmith, I just add them to the notes. My OG without the sugar or pumpkin is 1.060 (70% eff) and afterwards it's around 1.070. I got a lower OG the first time because lautering took fooooorever (don't forget the rice hulls... lot of 'em) and I ended up leaving some.

I'd say in order to keep it clean of yeast flavor so the malt and spices can shine through, ferment around 60-64*F.

And yeah, crystal will work just fine. Good Hallertauer substitute.

EDIT: Oops, I lied... you totally can add brown sugar. Potential SG is 1.046 per pound per gallon. I remember now that I didn't add it to beersmith because the difference in SRMs between light and dark brown sugar is pretty big and I already knew the final SRM would be really hard to calculate what with the spices and pumpkin.

And that makes me realize the final SRM is probably more like 16... or whatever number represents "gorgeous, deep orange-copper"

I didn't see brown sugar anywhere in Beersmith. Is this something that would be manually added? I saw the light and dark brown sugars at the store. I went with the light.

I also noticed this pumpkin pie mix contains "sugar syrup" as one of the ingredients. I'm wondering if I should cut back a little on the 1.0 lb of brown sugar this recipe calls for...

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I don't think I manually added the brown sugar... it was there to begin with I believe. Dark = 50 SRM, Light = 8 SRM. Both 10% max in batch.

And that's weird that your pie mix would come with simple syrup (that's what I'm assuming it is) but I doubt it's a whole lot... probably not even enough to raise the gravity by 0.001. If you feel more comfortable with slightly less than a pound of brown sugar then that's fine.

 

[RonRock]

I found brown sugar listed under Grains & Extracts.

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

If I were to back off on the pale malt by 2 pounds (mainly because my MT can only handle 12 lbs. of grain, and the pumpkin worries me) would that adversely affect the taste at all? Or would I just be losing out on alcohol? I know the real flavor and malt backbone is going to come from the crystal and the victory anyway, but I'm just curious.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Yeah that pumpkin will definitely take up some room. You'll be fine backing off on two pounds, you'll just end up with an OG of ~1.060 instead of ~1.070. You could try one of two things:

1) Let it be. You'll still end up with a delicious, medium-full bodied beer that is slightly weaker (by <= 1%)

2) Add about a pound of Dememera sugar, or another partially-refined sugar. This will add more flavor than regular sucrose or dextrose would and raise the OG back up.... but will still lighten the body. To alleviate that, just mash slightly higher at 155 or 156*F.

 

[Sarrsipius]

I made a slight variation to this recipe yesterday. When I went to the store to get pumpkin i found out there is a national pumpkin shortage and you can't get canned pumpkin anywhere in Indianapolis right now. So I went and bought some pie pumpkins and made the pumkin mixture from scratch. We'll see how it turns out.

I added .5lbs of flaked wheat and an extra .5lbs of pale malt to compensate for slightly lower efficiency.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Well, good to hear you were able to find pumpkin to use! Curse you, pumpkin shortage!!!

So how did the mash go? I'm sure it was gummy enough with the pumpkin, but now you've gone an added flaked wheat! I'm sure that took a while

And you did the recipe the same the rest of the way? Hope it turns out amazing! Be sure to post updates!

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

Reno, I ended up brewing this on Thursday. I backed off on the pale like I had mentioned and managed to find 4 lbs. of canned pumpkin. It didn't add as much as I thought and I probably could have backed off the pale by a pound instead of two, but it turned out great. Smelled delicious, I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

First of all, awesome!

Second, wow..... how did you manage to find that much pumpkin? And I'm sure that made for a slow friggin' lauter.

EDIT: I also need to give you a gigantic internet high-five for your beer names!!! SWMBO and I read the "Catbird Butt" and couldn't contain the laughter.

 

[Sarrsipius]

Well, good to hear you were able to find pumpkin to use! Curse you, pumpkin shortage!!!

So how did the mash go? I'm sure it was gummy enough with the pumpkin, but now you've gone an added flaked wheat! I'm sure that took a while

And you did the recipe the same the rest of the way? Hope it turns out amazing! Be sure to post updates!

I used 1lb of rice hulls which worked great. The mash lauter and sparge were really no slower than usuall. Wort came out fairly clear.

I used an extra half pound of pale malt and 2 pkgs of US-05. I'll post an update closer to Thanksgiving when I taste it.

 

[RandalG]

Reno,
So did you use light or dark brown sugar in your recipe?

 

[gratefuldisc]

I brewed this 10 days ago, but used a sugar pumpkin from a local farm. I also used S-04 as its been pretty warm still and the guy at the LHBS said it would be more tolerable of the warmer temps. I didn't use rice hulls and had no problems with stuck sparge. I got 1.081 OG and the S-04 took it down to 1.016 at 7 days. Beautiful color and tasty so far. Nice recipe.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Reno,
So did you use light or dark brown sugar in your recipe?

Based on what BeerSmith is giving me for the grain bill alone I'd say it was light brown sugar. You can use dark if you wish but I don't know what it will do to the color; the gravity potentials for the two types are the same. Personally, I feel visual representation is important and this beer is such a gorgeous deep-orange hue that I wouldn't change it.

I brewed this 10 days ago, but used a sugar pumpkin from a local farm. I also used S-04 as its been pretty warm still and the guy at the LHBS said it would be more tolerable of the warmer temps. I didn't use rice hulls and had no problems with stuck sparge. I got 1.081 OG and the S-04 took it down to 1.016 at 7 days. Beautiful color and tasty so far. Nice recipe.

Glad it's tasty! Looks like you made yourself a rather stronger version. Is that due to higher efficiency or did you just step it up? Either way, let me know if any alcohol bite interferes with the spices. This would be good to make stronger for the colder months.

S-04 seems like a good choice. At warmer temps you're probably getting more phenols but the ones that S-04 throws off should actually work quite well.

Thanks for the good reception, everybody! It's just nice to know that I could compile something others can enjoy!

 

[RandalG]

I'm brewing this up this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[gratefuldisc]

Glad it's tasty! Looks like you made yourself a rather stronger version. Is that due to higher efficiency or did you just step it up? Either way, let me know if any alcohol bite interferes with the spices. This would be good to make stronger for the colder months.

S-04 seems like a good choice. At warmer temps you're probably getting more phenols but the ones that S-04 throws off should actually work quite well.

It's possible that there are more fermentables in the fresh pumpkin. Beer tools had fresh pumpkin in the ingredient database but it did not add any gravity potential to the grain bill. That said, it is likely mostly due to higher efficiency. I am still dialing in my AG process and I have had higher than expected efficiency in all my previous AG batches.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Yes! So SWMBO and I are going to brew this on Sunday. I wasn't expecting to be able to do it before we leave for vacation on the 23rd (time and money constraints) but apparently the Beer Gods have shined down their divine awesome upon me.

Now the hunt for Libby's is on...

EDIT: Five stores, no Libby's (except one, but it was pre-spiced.) Luckily I found organic puree at Safeway. A bit more expensive but at least it is in my possession

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

Yeah, I got mine at Whole Foods after calling around. It wasn't too bad but it still ran me quite a bit.

 

[RandalG]

Well that just means you dough-in with 20 quarts of 163*F water, which will balance out to a mash temperature of 154*F. Since the grain bill is 12#, you'll likely end up losing ~1.2 gallons of water due to absorption. Then typically I would batch sparge with 3.5 gallons to get my pre-boil volume of ~7.0-7.5 gallons... yours will likely be different due to different boil-off rates. (oh yeah, I should also note that I do no mash-out)

When I enter the light brown sugar in beersmith it adds an lb to the recipe.Not sure how that will skew my numbers.Also what's the reason for no mash out?