Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

[MZRIS]

Is anyone using the Partial mash ver of this recipe with any success? I see everyone is enjoying the full mash version I am looking for a new project but i have not upgraded my equipment enough to be able to do a full mash yet.

any thoughts or recommendations? has any one posted a brew schedule? I browsed through the thread but i may have missed it.

 

[thomismydad]

I brewed the partial mash in August. It turned out great. The only change to the recipe was adding a tblsp of vanilla to the secondary.

 

[rmullins]

Brewed this a while back for a halloween party we had. I brought 4 kegs of beer, with the only full one being the Punkin'. Killed all 4 kegs, but the Punkin' actually went first. People loved it. I didn't think we had a shot at killing the thing in one night when I had some more crowd pleasers (Honey Blonde, SNPA Clone and Irish Red) but it was tremendous.

Definitely making it into my yearly rotation

 

[Medevac_Chief]

bottling this tomorrow, and was wondering if anyone has made a spice tea to add...was thinking of putting 1g of pumpkin pie spice, along with a tbsp of vanilla extract, or soaking vanilla beans in water?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

bottling this tomorrow, and was wondering if anyone has made a spice tea to add...was thinking of putting 1g of pumpkin pie spice, along with a tbsp of vanilla extract, or soaking vanilla beans in water?

Not a bad idea. Try soaking the spice and vanilla bean in vodka or bourbon for a week then add to your bottling bucket

 

[Brewskii]

bottling this tomorrow, and was wondering if anyone has made a spice tea to add...was thinking of putting 1g of pumpkin pie spice, along with a tbsp of vanilla extract, or soaking vanilla beans in water?

Did a Secondary on vanilla beans for this and it was great. Remember to split the beans and scrape out the seeds though or the impact will be minimal.
Like Reno says, a tincture is a good way to go especially for bottling to avoid any infections. A short soak in vodka will suffice for sterilization purposes but the flavor impact will increase with a lengthy soak.

 

[Medevac_Chief]

HELP!!! i racked this onto another can of libby pumpkin in the primary. Decided to go with a 14day primary to hopefully be ready in time for thanksgiving. Hydrometer is broken, so no samples. Transfering to bottles today, and when I tasted it on the way into the bucket, it was really sour. WTH?!?! anyone else have this problem and if so did it mellow out? I really hope this batch isn't ruined....

 

[RandalG]

^ I can't be much help as I mashed my pumpkin with the grains. Before I threw it out I would bottle it though and see how it ages. Sucks about the hydrometer.Has it dropped clear?

Not a bad idea. Try soaking the spice and vanilla bean in vodka or bourbon for a week then add to your bottling bucket

I always thought Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum would make a nice tincture with vanilla beans but I haven't tried it yet. I have two kegs ready to carb. I may just do this in one of them for a little taste test.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

HELP!!! i racked this onto another can of libby pumpkin in the primary. Decided to go with a 14day primary to hopefully be ready in time for thanksgiving. Hydrometer is broken, so no samples. Transfering to bottles today, and when I tasted it on the way into the bucket, it was really sour. WTH?!?! anyone else have this problem and if so did it mellow out? I really hope this batch isn't ruined....

Meh i'm sure it isn't ruined. I have two theories:

1) It's only been 14 days. This is a high gravity, spiced beer with an adjunct so it will take longer to lose the "green beer" taste.

2) Did you cook (bake or boil) the can of pumpkin before racking on top of it? Because that could surely be a problem.

 

[Medevac_Chief]

Reno, no I didnt cook the pumpkin that was racked on top of. hopefully with time this will mellow out to be a somewhat drinkable beer. all the reviews said it was amazing and thats why i chose it.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Reno, no I didnt cook the pumpkin that was racked on top of. hopefully with time this will mellow out to be a somewhat drinkable beer. all the reviews said it was amazing and thats why i chose it.

Well thank you for giving it a shot!

You may still have great beer yet. Just give it a full four weeks on the yeast cake so the yeasties can clean up and make the flavors meld and mellow

 

[RickBK]

Reno,
I had a pumpkin porter that I brewed up with 2 cans of organic pumpkin. Just 100% pumpkin, not pie mix. It soured.

I'm pretty new to brewing, but my friend who is an accomplished brewer was helping, and I can say that everything was very clean and sanitized. I do not have any concerns about contamination. I bottled almost a month ago, and continue to sample. It's not changing. Maybe the canned pumpkin? Very sad, it smells wonderful, but is not drinkable.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Reno,
I had a pumpkin porter that I brewed up with 2 cans of organic pumpkin. Just 100% pumpkin, not pie mix. It soured.

I'm pretty new to brewing, but my friend who is an accomplished brewer was helping, and I can say that everything was very clean and sanitized. I do not have any concerns about contamination. I bottled almost a month ago, and continue to sample. It's not changing. Maybe the canned pumpkin? Very sad, it smells wonderful, but is not drinkable.

Could you please list your brewing process, including cleaning, sanitation, cooking, cooling and yeast... maybe something will explain the sour. It's usually due to a lapse of cleaning or sanitation.

 

[Clearwall]

I got this into bottles yesterday and ill keep y'all abreast of how it turned out. I primed with 5 oz of brown sugar and added a tad more pie spice to the bucket before putting into bottles(loved the smell wanted more to come through). My final gravity reading was 1.022 so i ended up a little light in the ABV percentage but hopefully will still go down well.

 

[brianbrau]

Still new to ag brewing but would appreciate any feedback as to how much spice was added and what kind that came out great. Not going for an over powering flavor but enough to taste. Also should it only be added to the secondary?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Well you really don't even need to use a secondary unless you are using gelatin.

But, as per the recipe, add 1.5 Tbsp mccormicks pumpkin pie spice with 5-10 minutes left in the boil.

If you want more spice up front then take another Tbsp and soak it in vodka for a week. Then strain the liquid out and add that at bottling or kegging time

 

[millaj92]

So I've made this beer twice now. The first time just like the recipe said and it was very good, but a little too much spice, even after aging. The second time I made it I used only 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin pie spice and I used biscuit instead of victory and it turned out amazing. I think next time I make it I'll add at least half a pound of carapils though.

 

[Stevo2569]

So I've made this beer twice now. The first time just like the recipe said and it was very good, but a little too much spice, even after aging. The second time I made it I used only 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin pie spice and I used biscuit instead of victory and it turned out amazing. I think next time I make it I'll add at least half a pound of carapils though.

Try a lb of oats too. It will make the head retention and mouthfeel amazing.

 

[iceman1407]

How many oz of priming sugar has everyone been using for this?? I used 5 oz but doesn't seem to be carbonating. Unsure whether it is too little sugar or the temps of 55 to 60 in my garage are too low and preventing it.

 

[brianbrau]

That might be on the lower end. I bottle condition in my basement around 70° and never have had any problems. sometimes an xtra few weeks does it some good. How long has it been?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Higher gravity beer and cooler temperatures will make it take longer to condition. Just give it more time.

 

[millaj92]

Try a lb of oats too. It will make the head retention and mouthfeel amazing.

I've never used oats before. Do you just use instant oats and add them to the mash?

 

[Stevo2569]

I've never used oats before. Do you just use instant oats and add them to the mash?

Yep. You got it.

 

[brianbrau]

Gonna brew this tomorrow. Is it ok to put foil on the baking sheet so it dosent stick? Or will it be fine? Also I live at altitude near 7000ft how long do I bake? Gonna shoot for an hour and 15 or so.

 

[jdd12364]

Kudos to Reno Envy , I just kegged this batch of pumkin' all grain brew after folowing directions to a tee & it finished up @ 1.018 , tastes great going into the keg , can't wait till it spends 3-4 weeks conditioning @ 40 degrees !

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Congrats on hitting the ideal FG!

Be sure to post your tasting results.

 

[KCBigDog]

Cracked another bottle of this today. Still zero carbonation after 4 weeks.

I only bottled 8 and the rest is keg conditioning. Only thing I can think of is that I forgot to drop the carb drops in, or it was a bad batch of drops.

I'm extremely careful, so I doubt I forgot the drops.

 

[Waterboy42]

Brewing up another batch right now, with minor changes!

 

[brianbrau]

Gonna brew this today and im going over the posts again and noticed for yeast receipe calls for 2 packages of us-05. Is this over kill? Because I've used the 05 in a ag Og 1.075 and had fg of 1.007-1.010. Has any one used only 1 package of yeast?

 

[C2H6O]

I brewed this on 10.8 with some modifications to make it closer to a ST clone and left it in the primary for 2 weeks. It has been in the bottle conditioning for 3 weeks now and still has a "green" taste. Do you think this will be ready by Thanksgiving??
My OG=1.075 and FG=1.016.