Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

[brianbrau]

Well its a hit and even the neighbors who drink mostly coors light have enjoyed it thanks Reno.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Well its a hit and even the neighbors who drink mostly coors light have enjoyed it thanks Reno.

You're quite welcome. I'm glad it went over so well... hmm maybe drop it to 1 Tbsp like you did and it won't be so sour... or take so long for it to go away.

It scored a 33 at the 2012 Boneyard Brew-off so I must have done something right. Sadly it didn't win... I think it was shy just a couple points from placing.

 

[rmclark12]

I'm planning on brewing this recipe tommorow, and I'm wondering...Is the sourness some are reporting maybe due to too much of the pumpkin going to the primary? Should I try to leave as much pumpkin as possible behind in the kettle after cooling?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Nah I don't think it's too much pumpkin. I'm seriously thinking it's the spice. If you're worried you should cut it back to one tablespoon

Also, unless you're doing all extract and have no other option, don't boil the pumpkin... put it in the mash. But if you must boil it put it in a muslin bag or cheese cloth. If you transfer that to your fermentation vessel you will lose a ton of beer.

 

[rmclark12]

Thanks, I definitely don't like losing beer. Doing brew in a bag, so I'm guessing most of the pumpkin is going to make it into the boil, but we'll see. Thanks for the recipe, pretty excited about this one.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Thanks, I definitely don't like losing beer. Doing brew in a bag, so I'm guessing most of the pumpkin is going to make it into the boil, but we'll see. Thanks for the recipe, pretty excited about this one.

Just add the pumpkin to the bag so you can remove it with the grain. It'll work just fine.

 

[Rivenin]

i wonder how well it would work to caramalize the pumpkin (be careful not to burn it of course lol) and have it absorb as much as that caramalized pumpkin... doing this instead of just baking it for a bit... hrm...

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I always bake my pumpkin until it caramelizes, it definitely brings out the most flavor.

 

[RandalG]

I made a 10 gallon batch of this awhile back. One keg I added 3 scraped vanilla beans to to and one I didn't. I have to say if you like vanilla I think it compliments the pumpkin nicely.

 

[Accidic]

As I'm good at burning stuff without trying.... Is there a point you can tell it's caramelized? I figured a spritz of water like I do when toasting grain would prevent some albeit not all of top burning but other than that I was just going to match the 1hr oven time.

 

[Accidic]

And ya, I saw the other 30-45m reference at 250-325 as well but I'm not clear on which you're considering "caramelized."

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Hey, thanks for the interest.

The length of baking is more to get it to thin out and mix easily.

But if the pumpkin darkens on top or sizzles along the sides of the container in the oven, you'll get caramelization.

 

[Accidic]

Alright. I look forward to giving it a shot.

How much harm would you think it'd do to throw in a few (2-4) extra pounds of base malt? I've got some I have to get rid of and fast.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Meh couldn't hurt. You'll just end up with a stronger beer.... and maaaybe it'll cover up the spice a bit more.

 

[Accidic]

Thanks for the input. Will put it to the test this weekend.

 

[Wreck99]

Great recipe! I'll have to start this one before end of summer

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Thanks for the interest! Yeah, end of summer is a good time to start this one.

 

[Accidic]

Well, I finally had a chance to get this dropped in and naturally (my luck) is if it could go wrong it did.

Started my mash at 157 and was about to grab an ice to throw in and drop that last degree and que hell..... So I threw the lid and a blanket on and off we went.

I finally get back after my 16 hr mash. With the extra 2lbs of pale and apparent efficiency (temp was still above 140) I've pretty much hit my beersmith targets. Drain off expecting to only need a couple gallons at best and low and behold my full boil kettle is punctured.....

So now I'm boiling in a 25qt and 20qt (bulk in the larger). I FWH'd the 25 (5.25~g) with half my starting charge figuring the small increase in ibu from that will make up for the slight disadvantage in boil size and since I have a second kettle running 2g or so and me figuring on very fermentable wort I threw in ~ 8-10oz of unspiced pumpkin puree I had handy to add a little body back and make up for the necessary dilution. I figure since I'm so far off the beaten path I might as well go all in.

Wish me luck.... :-(

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Meh, doing a split boil isn't the end of the world. That's what I did for my first few AG years before getting a propane burner.

But just out curiosity, why a 16hr mash?


Regardless, good luck! I'm sure it'll be beer

 

[Accidic]

Baby was a little sick already got a whole lot sicker.

Not really anti-split boil but the second burner isn't strong enough to boil them equally so had to improvise. A couple boil-overs later.....

 

[Accidic]

Ended up at 1.070sg. The pumpkin finishes out the taste with only a slight hint of the spice (hopefully that's not the result of the slightly old spice). Hopefully that shines through in the finished product as well.

If a batch as botched as mine turned out so pleasant, I can only imagine that a proper one would be that much better.

 

[ao125]

I'm getting ready to try my hand at something like this...

GRAIN
(60min - Mash 160°F | 90min - Boil)
10 lb 0 oz Maris Otter
02 lb 0 oz Special B
01 lb 0 oz Maple Syrup (Grade C)
01 lb 0 oz Dark Muscovado Sugar

ADJUNCT 1
(60min - Baked @ 350°F | 60min - Boil)
04.00 lb 12.8 oz Pumpkin (2 large cans)
1/4 cup Molasses

ADJUNCT 2
(Secondary)
3.0 oz Oak Cubes soaked in light rum & maple syrup

HOPS
1.0 oz 60 min Northern Brewer
1.0 oz 60 min East Kent Goldings
1.0 oz 15 min Fuggles
1.0 oz 2 min East Kent Golding
0.5 oz Dry Hop Fuggles
0.5 oz Dry Hop East Kent Goldings

YEAST
Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes

 

[Accidic]

While I'm thinking about it, if you need it to thin out and mix easily, boiling water melted away the ~10oz addition I did in seconds. I suppose that would only be useful if you didn't like the carmelized flavor though.

 

[goldenrice]

Getting an early start on my Halloween brew with Reno's recipe! Basically following Reno's recipe with the exception of adding a half pound of flaked oats and bringing the mash temp up to 158. Completely forgot to pick up rice hulls today and my LHBS is closed tomorrow so I will bake the pumpkin and then transfer it all into my grain bag and let it steep in my strike water as it heats up. I'll toss the grain bag/pumpkin into the mash as well. Very excited to see how how this beer turns out after aging in the bottles until 10/31....if I can wait that long.

I hope a lot of folks find this thread and read up...so much good information on here.

 

[Waterboy42]

Yep. Brewing my slightly alterred recipe of this next weekend. Ten gallons of Halloween bliss. Ageing this hoochy brew is key.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Mmm 158° might make for a gloriously full-bodied brew!

Try baking the pumpkin for two hours first to reduce viscocity.

 

[goldenrice]

Just finished baking the $hit out of the pumpkin...nearly two hours at 350 and stirred it up two or three times. I usually lose a degree or two on my system so shooting for 158 usually puts me at 156 when I am finished. I'm thinking SWMBO is really going to like this brew and result in an expedited acquisition of a large chest freezer for future brewing projects.

I hope the grain bag steep-and-mash does the trick with the pumpkin since I am sans-rice hulls this morning and desperately trying not to be on the receiving end of a stuck sparge.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I'd say if you baked the living hell out of the pumpkin and are thinning it out further by steeping in the strike water that you'll be just fine.

But if it gets stuck you can just stop the lautering, scrape the gunk off your manifold, and vorlauf again.

 

[brewmaster12]

The grain bag will definitely work. I've done it 3 times without any problem and even if I had rice hulls I'd do it with the bag. I mashed at 158 too and it was perfectly chewy and rich. Good luck!!

 

[AR-Josh]

I think I just found my pumpkin ale recipe for this year. It looks exactly like what I was going for. Anyone have a recipe for pumpkin pie spice? I was thinking about going out and getting fresh ingredients. I can reuse what I don't use in my Christmas brew as they'll be using a lot of the same ingredients.