Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

[jaydog2314]

I'm brewing this one tomorrow and was curious as to what the thought is behind baking the pumpkin in the oven first? Does this bring out some extra flavors that wouldn't come out in the mash or in the boil kettle?

I've been wondering the exact same thing. I have no idea why we bake it first.

 

[rdbrett]

I'm brewing this in a day or so. Making a half batch. Using the 05 yeast. Can I just pitch it? Or need to rehydrate it.....which I've never done. Thx

 

[Richard-SSV]

In lieu of re-hydrating you can pitch it and let it sit of the surface of the wort in the fermenter for 30 mins, and the shake vigorously after the 30 mins has passed.

 

[rdbrett]

Will that serve same or better purpose? I'm a newbie. I've done starters. But always just pitched dry straight out of the packet.

 

[wilconrad]

I'm brewing this one tomorrow and was curious as to what the thought is behind baking the pumpkin in the oven first? Does this bring out some extra flavors that wouldn't come out in the mash or in the boil kettle?

The purpose of roasting the pumpkin prior to mashing is to produce an array of caramel and toasted flavors via caramelization of sugars and the Maillard reaction. You can read more here if you'd like to really get down on the nuts and bolts:

http://m.popsci.com/science/article/2012-12/beersci-how-beer-gets-its-color

 

[Richard-SSV]

Will that serve same or better purpose? I'm a newbie. I've done starters. But always just pitched dry straight out of the packet.

Yes, if you go to their website these are alternate instructions in lieu of re-hydrating.

 

[Richard-SSV]

The purpose of roasting the pumpkin prior to mashing is to produce an array of caramel and toasted flavors via caramelization of sugars and the Maillard reaction. You can read more here if you'd like to really get down on the nuts and bolts:

http://m.popsci.com/science/article/2012-12/beersci-how-beer-gets-its-color

I went ahead and baked it with some brown sugar for 45 mins. Then I put it in a strainer bag and steeped it with my strike water and then my sparge water. This produced some nice orange colored water and a nice aroma of pumpkin, all without slowing down my lauter.

 

[n240sxguy]

I'm getting ready to brew this as a 10 gallon batch. Any advice? I'm assuming I just double everything, or are there things that should be increased more to compensate for poorer efficiencies on a larger batch? Just want the same result as the OP.

 

[wilconrad]

I'm getting ready to brew this as a 10 gallon batch. Any advice? I'm assuming I just double everything, or are there things that should be increased more to compensate for poorer efficiencies on a larger batch? Just want the same result as the OP.

Yep, just double everything.

 

[dannowatts]

today we are brewing our batch of pumpkin ale, which is out own recipe, but looks like it is close to a few recipes on here, if they were mixed together

it smells and tastes wonderful going into the kettle (photo of wort pre-boil in the glass)

sparging right now, about to start the boil & wanted to share with everyone

 

[rdbrett]

I'm brewing this today. 2.5 gallon batch. Biab.

 

[ChrisL_]

I'm brewing this today. 2.5 gallon batch. Biab.

That was my first ever batch, 2.5G BIAB. Drank it way to fast. About to 5G in of this in the next week or so.

 

[rdbrett]

FG of 1.075 right at 2 gallons. I'd already pitched the yeast, so couldn't add water and recheck. I added a half gallon of water to wort. Hoping that doesn't bring it below 1.065. I always screw something up! Will still be decent I hope.

 

[Genuine]

Here's last years batch. Next weekend I'll
Be brewing a 5 gallon batch of pumpkin ale
Again. I can't wait!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Nice! It's that time of year when everybody is brewing pumpkin ales. Thanks for taking an interest in mine!

And regardless of OG/FG, amount of spice, etc., I always give this brew 6-8 weeks in the keg/bottles before having the first one. It seems like a while but it really is worth it.

 

[Genuine]

Yeah. The flavor a did tend to come together by the end of the keg for me last year.

 

[glick]

Has anyone had had any success baking the pumpkin the night before and leaving it out to cool overnight? Looking for a time saver! Thanks for the help

 

[ChrisL_]

Has anyone had had any success baking the pumpkin the night before and leaving it out to cool overnight? Looking for a time saver! Thanks for the help

Not sure when you brew or if your oven has a timer, but I put mine in the oven at bed time and have it start at around seven AM to get a head start. I do the same thing when using oats in a nut brown. I also will pour my strike water the night before so I can just wake up and turn on the burner to get started in the morning.

 

[half_whit]

Brewed a wicked pumpkin brew last year for thanksgiving at the lady's family. Rimmed the glass with cinnamon sugar! Can't wait to do it again this year

 

[glick]

Not sure when you brew or if your oven has a timer, but I put mine in the oven at bed time and have it start at around seven AM to get a head start. I do the same thing when using oats in a nut brown. I also will pour my strike water the night before so I can just wake up and turn on the burner to get started in the morning.

I never even thought to look and see if my oven has a timer!!! Thanks for the great idea!

 

[clydo]

So is everyone pitching 2 packs of S05? That's not too much for a beer this size?

 

[jonnyp1980]

Hosting a small homebrew contest for the best pumpkin brew if anyone might be interested prizes for the winner. looking for 10 entries already have two. Check out our YouTube page for the video on it. Should be fun. Cheers.

 

[rajun50]

So is everyone pitching 2 packs of S05? That's not too much for a beer this size?

Going off the original recipe and according to MrMalty, you need 1.1 11.5g packets of dry yeast (properly rehydrated, 90% viability) for 5 gallons of this beer at 1.065. You could probably get away with using one if you rehydrate, but it's generally better to overpitch rather than underpitch, especially if you're unsure of your viability. If you're just sprinkling on top of the wort, you'll lose a lot of viability, therefore, you will definitely need to use 2 11.5g packets.

I would use 2 packets either way.

 

[jaydog2314]

i pitched 2 re-hydrated packets last week had lots of activity the past week, actually had to swap out blow tubes b/c the first one got clogged. doesn't help that I have fermcap but never remember to use but the krausen got up there pretty good!

 

[oasisbliss]

Why would you use 2 11.5 packets if MR Malty says to use 1 ?
the site does not say anything about losing viability - thanks just curious

 

[rajun50]

Why would you use 2 11.5 packets if MR Malty says to use 1 ?
the site does not say anything about losing viability - thanks just curious

MrMalty says to use 1.1, so instead of using part of a 2nd packet, I'd just use the whole thing. From everything I've read overpitching is better than under, so I try to err on the side of overpitching to minimize off flavors and ensure I have plenty of healthy yeast to do the job. I also can't be sure exactly how viable my yeast is, so that has to be taken into consideration. If MrMalty said to use exactly 1 packet, then I'd say it was close enough and just use one. Ideally I would pitch exactly the right amount.

MrMalty's calculator assumes that you are rehydrating the yeast. If you don't rehydrate and just sprinkle your yeast on top of the wort, you can lose up to 60% viability. That's why you'd go from 1.1 rehydrated packs to 2 packs sprinkled. Yeast isn't that expensive considering the time you spend brewing this beer, and you want to make sure you have enough to to the job right.

**I should add the disclaimer that I am not a yeast scientist or anything, just a regular homebrewer. I'm just relaying the knowledge I have aquired from the things I've read over the years. The rehydrate vs sprinkle as well as the overpitching vs underpitching debates have been going on for a long while, and there are plenty of differing opinions. I just tend to go with the opinions based on science rather than the "It worked/works for me" ones.

 

[oasisbliss]

MrMalty says to use 1.1, so instead of using part of a 2nd packet, I'd just use the whole thing. From everything I've read overpitching is better than under, so I try to err on the side of overpitching to minimize off flavors and ensure I have plenty of healthy yeast to do the job. I also can't be sure exactly how viable my yeast is, so that has to be taken into consideration. If MrMalty said to use exactly 1 packet, then I'd say it was close enough and just use one. Ideally I would pitch exactly the right amount.

MrMalty's calculator assumes that you are rehydrating the yeast. If you don't rehydrate and just sprinkle your yeast on top of the wort, you can lose up to 60% viability. That's why you'd go from 1.1 rehydrated packs to 2 packs sprinkled. Yeast isn't that expensive considering the time you spend brewing this beer, and you want to make sure you have enough to to the job right.

**I should add the disclaimer that I am not a yeast scientist or anything, just a regular homebrewer. I'm just relaying the knowledge I have aquired from the things I've read over the years. The rehydrate vs sprinkle as well as the overpitching vs underpitching debates have been going on for a long while, and there are plenty of differing opinions. I just tend to go with the opinions based on science rather than the "It worked/works for me" ones.

Rajun, excellent info thanks ! I would have never thought the .1 would even be worth talking about. You make some great points.

 

[tripplehazzard]

Subscribed! Next brew... did anyone try toasted pumpkin seeds with this?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Subscribed! Next brew... did anyone try toasted pumpkin seeds with this?

Toasted pumpkin seeds added to the brew or alongside drinking it? Because I've done the latter for sure




Also, great discussion earlier about the yeast pitching. You've pretty much covered what I was planning on responding. I use two packets because basically:

- Overpitching is better than underpitching. From experience and from reading about others experiences, I've noticed no issues with overpitching.

- 1.1 packets is recommended if the yeast was packaged today. Viability needs to be taken into account. As rajun50 said, no rehydration can severely drop viability... and dernit, sometimes I just want to sprinkle it on.

- S-05 is crazy cheap at my LHBS... so meh, why not in order to ensure strong fermentation.



Once again, good luck to everybody brewing this. Please post your results, and remember, pics or it didn't happen.

 

[funnycreature]

I brewed a pumpkin ale on 8/4 but with a different recipe (I read almost every post here before though). I left all sugars out of the boil and added 1lb of honey on day 2 of fermentation and a half pound of brown sugar (light/dark mix) over the next 24 h. has been sitting at just below 68 °F since 8/4 and I want to keep it there until at least 8/14 (10 days). However, I need to vacate my fermentation cooler soon because I want to brew a wet hop IPA/APA :rockin:, most likely on 8/22. By then I will have racked the beer into secondary and added spices (I brewed without them). Would it be OK to cold-crash the ale in the secondary for a while, then bottle and store at room temp?

Many thanks.