Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

[jschumacher]

McCormick pumpkin pie spice has "sulfiting agents" in it. Anyone know what that is? Is it OK for beer? I am assuming it is because I think people have been using it. Just didn't notice until tonight when I was getting my stuff together.

Sulfiting agents are a preservative to help prevent the growth of things such as mold. It is fine to use in beer and should not affect your brew.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

McCormick pumpkin pie spice has "sulfiting agents" in it. Anyone know what that is? Is it OK for beer? I am assuming it is because I think people have been using it. Just didn't notice until tonight when I was getting my stuff together.

Huh... I'll have to check but I'm pretty sure it only has the spices.

Regardless, there is not nearly enough to affect the beer or the yeast.

 

[Gallagher]

I just got all the ingredients today. Looking forward to brewing this one!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Ah, there are sulfiting agents. My bad. Still, shouldn't affect anything.

I just got all the ingredients today. Looking forward to brewing this one!

Nice! Good luck and be sure to post your results :rockin:

When is brewday?

 

[jEld]

First...thanks for the recipe Reno...second...holy hell stuck sparge! Rough brew day so far, but I'm 30 minutes into my boil, drinking a home brew and loving life....time to redesign my MLT with a copper manifold rather than my stainless toilet pile of junk. I should have known better, my last two brews have been pretty slow. Anyway, I'm going to roll with it and hope the wort I have becomes (good) beer after being stuck for about 35 minutes during my first runnings. I'm sure it's partly human error but I'll be using an entire pound of rice hulls next time through.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Ah stuck sparge... the bane of the pumpkin ale brew day.

It should be fine even after sitting for a while since the concentrations are probably off for the enzymes to work properly.

 

[roguemc]

Just put carboy into fermentation chamber, house smells great. Thanks for the great recipe Reno

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Excellent! And your alterations sound like they are going to make a delicious brew!

Out of curiosity, did you toast the oats?

 

[roguemc]

No I didn't toast the oats. When I was digging through the cupboards for something I noticed some molasses and added about 4 tablespoons, I'm not sure if it will make a difference, because I have nothing to compare it to, but it seemed like the right idea. I did make a starter for the S-04 tho... This batch is already going to town in less than 12 hours. Freezer smells delicious!!!! Gonna be a long wait

 

[Chug]

Hmm. What to do today...

 

[Chug]

I plan on subbing Sterling in place of hallertauer for the aroma hop. Was thinking 1/2 ounce would do? Could anyone more knowledgeable chime in on whether or not a 1/2 ounce would be sufficient? Should I use more, less?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I'd say 0.5 - 1.0 ounces would do just fine. The recipe calls for 1oz of Hallertaur... and I think Sterling on average has a higher alpha-acid percentage. But at 5 minutes left in the boil the added bittering you'd get if you went full 1oz would be negligible.

 

[Chug]

I'd say 0.5 - 1.0 ounces would do just fine. The recipe calls for 1oz of Hallertaur... and I think Sterling on average has a higher alpha-acid percentage. But at 5 minutes left in the boil the added bittering you'd get if you went full 1oz would be negligible.

Alrighty, I figured I would use less only because Sterling is described as "Herbs and spices dominate", where Hallertau is described as "ever-so-subtle flower and spice fragrance." I just don't want to overpower the pumpkin spice, that's all. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Ah, good point. From my understanding Sterling is spicy like Saaz, so 0.5oz would probably do you just fine!

 

[Chug]

So I can finally join the "stuck sparge club" haha. Would not recommend!! Thought I could get by with .75# of rice hulls...nope! It's ok though, got it running again and nailed the OG at 1.065. :rockin:

 

[Waterboy42]

I actually use all Northern Brewer hops in my rendition, and its phenominal.

 

[brew2enjoy]

Just ordered all the ingredients yesterday! Went over to the grocery store and picked up the pumpkin and spices. I forgot to order rice hulls like an idiot I have about a 1/2 pound but I know I'll need more, especially for two batches. Looking forward to brewing this next weekend. I love pumpkin ale season!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

So I can finally join the "stuck sparge club" haha. Would not recommend!! Thought I could get by with .75# of rice hulls...nope! It's ok though, got it running again and nailed the OG at 1.065. :rockin:

Welcome to the club!! Our motto: "No, you didn't ruin it. Now calm down and have a beer!"

I actually use all Northern Brewer hops in my rendition, and its phenominal.

That sounds quite tasty. When I use it as aroma additions I get a bit of subtle minty flavor. Did you get that? Because that would not be a bad thing for this beer :rockin:

Just ordered all the ingredients yesterday! Went over to the grocery store and picked up the pumpkin and spices. I forgot to order rice hulls like an idiot I have about a 1/2 pound but I know I'll need more, especially for two batches. Looking forward to brewing this next weekend. I love pumpkin ale season!

Oh dang, yeah 0.5# just barely cuts it for me on 5.5 gallons and I still usually get slow sparge.... whatever, just more time for me to have a homebrew.

 

[SmokingDog]

As I am on the patio brewing a Dirty Bastard clone, I began to think about the upcoming fall (ugh, where did summer go?) and this recipe came back to mind. One of my favs as it starts to cool off.

What are anyones thoughts on this: make a "bigger" version of the pumpkin (to Southern Tiers Pumking 9%), with the idea of a pumpkin saison as a secondary batch from the same grainbed (partigyle I think?). Would you add anything?

 

[troyh]

Made this yesterday. We baked the pumpkin, organic stuff, not Libby's, at 350°F for an hour and about 45 minutes at 300°F. That caused some burnt parts so we didn't use the blackened parts and added a 5th can of uncooked Libby's pumpkin to make up for it. Used 1lb of rice hulls but still got a stuck sparge at the end. We made our own spice mix.

OG was 1.074. Tastes good, not overly pumpkin-y and has a subtle spiciness.

Used Wyeast 1056 with a 1.75L starter. Fermentation started a few hours in and by this morning had a 2-3 inch krausen. Can't wait to taste it in October!

Brew log with photos: http://geekbrewing.tumblr.com/tagged/009

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Nice! Was the higher OG on purpose or just some good efficiency?

 

[troyh]

Nice! Was the higher OG on purpose or just some good efficiency?

This is only my 8th all-grain batch so nothing is on purpose yet. ;-)

According to my math, I got 87% efficiency. I seem to get 75% or higher all the time unless I screw something up and end up at 60%. I'd prefer to be at 75%.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

87% is awesome efficiency. 75% is a great area to be too. But the main goal is consistency... once you know your usual efficiency you will know exactly what you're going to get from each recipe.

Regardless, I'm sure it will be delicious and, most importantly, beer!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

double post...

 

[troyh]

But isn't it bad to have too high an efficiency? Isn't there a risk of extracting too much bad stuff (tannins?) when you get too high?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

But isn't it bad to have too high an efficiency? Isn't there a risk of extracting too much bad stuff (tannins?) when you get too high?

Nope. Tannin extraction is a concern when you have too-high sparging temps or a wonky pH. I've done partigyles where I sent in tons of sparge water without tannin off-flavors.

 

[troyh]

Hmmm.... Looking again, you're right. I misunderstood what I had read about high efficiencies. Thank you.

 

[Accidic]

Odd, I didn't have any issues with this recipe and a stuck sparge (16hr mash, stir 5m before draining). Are you using the mesh hose cooler setup for your tun? It seems like i've seen a lot more stuck in those lately.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Yeah the screen will likely clog up easier.

I think that 16hr mash really thinned things out for you.

 

[watersr]

Ok, I want to brew this beer. I had grains milled for a different beer but I want to do this now instead. Problemis I want to use the graini already have and it's mixed together so here is the recipe I will wind up with. What do you think?

9lb pale malt
.5 lb Munich
.5 lb victory
.5 lb cara pils
.25 lb melanoidin
.5 lb crystal 60

Pumpkin and spices as per original recipe. Think this will turn out tasty?