Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

[rdbrett]

I made this several weeks ago. When it was done fermenting, the pumpkin/spice flavor was basically gone. I added some more at bottling, hope it comes thru a little

 

[oasisbliss]

I made this several weeks ago. When it was done fermenting, the pumpkin/spice flavor was basically gone. I added some more at bottling, hope it comes thru a little

same here add a 2tspn spice tea at bottling *perfect*

 

[daveooph131]

same here add a 2tspn spice tea at bottling *perfect*

This makes me feel a little better. Mine is fermenting and I added 1.5tsp at flameout but ended up with only 4g do to the mash sucking up so much water...was worried I may have over spiced as a result but this makes me think otherwise. I'll post my results in a few weeks.

 

[matt1622]

Brewed 8/31 @ 1.065

Measured today at 1.020.

 

[ChrisL_]

I am the opposite of a couple of you. My spice level was low so I added a tincture at kegging time, but I think I over did it a bit. Now I am left hopping the spice will fad a bit. It is not so over-whelming that I would dump it or anything like that, but at this point there is more spice then I would have liked.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Over time the spice flavor will fade so you need not worry.

 

[ChrisL_]

Over time the spice flavor will fade so you need not worry.

Glad to hear, I wanted to keep myself from drinking this until at least half way through October. So now I have a good reason not to touch it for a while.

 

[RandalG]

Brewed this yesterday to be ready by Halloween. I've had trouble hitting my mash temp the last few times I made this. Beersmith says 171.7 to hit 156. I'm at sea level. Last two times I only got to 148 letting the pumpkin cool to low 70's. Not sure if that's what's throwing my numbers off. So I added a gallon of boiling water and that brought it up to 156. I also added a lb. of rice hulls as last time I had a stuck sparge with about 1/2 lb. Sparge didn't stick but was very slow. I also had to add extra sparge water to get to 7.5 gallon in the kettle. All and all it made for a longer brew day but this beer is well worth it imo. I also added some graham crackers to the mash as I was going for more of a ST Pumking beer which is what I taste in that beer. My OG was 1.081 which probably is due to that but I'm not complaining.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Your low mash temps are most certainly from letting the pumpkin cool down. I always add it to the mash hot.

 

[AndMan3030]

I have made 2 10 gallon batches of this recipe this fall. I have sampled both, and they are both tasting great! One question for you Reno... I used Safale US-05 on one batch, and White Labs California Ale yeast on the other. Both took the gravity down to 1.008 in a week. You say you skip seconday all together and just primary ferment for 4 weeks. How do you keep your batches from getitng so low? also would you recommend 'back sweetening' with lactose? or should RDWHAHB since it tastes just fine to me. I'll hang up annd listen...

 

[D_Nyholm]

I am personally going to add some lactose to my batch to get a little more sweetness. I am at 1.012 and would like it at about 1.016 or so.

 

[Nicegirl]

Your low mash temps are most certainly from letting the pumpkin cool down. I always add it to the mash hot.

Reno,
I did pretty much the same thing. I let the pumpkin cool to about 150°F and then added it to my mash. I had no problem hitting or maintaining my temperatures at all.
Just a suggest to those that are having a low temperature problem during your mashing.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Nicegirl, thanks for reporting your experience.

As far as the low FG many are reporting, it's odd considering I typically finish over 1.012 (which is kind of a low-ball)

Others, I've seen, are also getting proper body (i.e. appropriate FG) but there are those with dry problems.

Here are some recommendations:
- Replace half of the brown sugar with equivalent grains in the mash (MO or 2-row)

- Mash at a higher temperature, or check to make sure you aren't losing heat from adding cooler pumpkin puree

- Back-sweeten with lactose

 

[nolabrew85]

I noticed that yall recommended fermenting this between 60-64 degrees! that is about as low you can go! I was only get it down to about 66-67 fermenting, and I thought that was pretty cool. Is that too warm? Am I not going to taste the pumpkin, spice, etc?

 

[nolabrew85]

Actually, My F'ing AC broke for a day in the beginning and it got up to about 72 degrees for a day near the beginning of fermentation. I know that it is the critical time. But what can you do!! Hopefully it stills tastes good. I will let you know. I bottled it last night and it smelled great, but when I tasted it, it had an alcoholic warmth that I didn't expect or like. I hoping this mellows and the pumpkin and spice flavor come forward over the next few weeks as it bottle conditions.

 

[n240sxguy]

My batch finished at 1.006. How much lactose would you guys recommend to get some body back?

 

[RandalG]

Reno,
I did pretty much the same thing. I let the pumpkin cool to about 150°F and then added it to my mash. I had no problem hitting or maintaining my temperatures at all.
Just a suggest to those that are having a low temperature problem during your mashing.

Thanks. I'll try this next time. My grain bed is at about 70 when I mash in so I figured I'd just let it cool down to that temp. Apparently that wasn't such a good idea.

 

[Medevac_Chief]

Just bottled this today, FG came out to 1.001, kinda low but I also started low at 1.046.. But either way it tastes amazing!!! This is the second time in the last 3 years that it has come out of the primary tasting amazing! Again Reno thanks for this recipe! I'll post pics of the first bottle once it's opened between Halloween and thanksgiving time frame!!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I may have thought of a reason some people are getting very low FG for the recipe!

Are those individuals getting said results, did you get a stuck/slow mash that lasted for a decent amount of time? If so, did you keep track of the temperature? You may have lost some heat from the long sparge and thus a lower FG.

 

[mmcouch]

Brewing AG 1/2 batch this morning. How long do you let the mash sit?

 

[Medevac_Chief]

I may have thought of a reason some people are getting very low FG for the recipe! Are those individuals getting said results, did you get a stuck/slow mash that lasted for a decent amount of time? If so, did you keep track of the temperature? You may have lost some heat from the long sparge and thus a lower FG.

Yeah I had a slow sparge because of having to swap to a different cooler (because of a crack in my reg 5gal igloo) with no hole for my valve to go in.. But overall I'm happy and happy with the almost finished product

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Brewing AG 1/2 batch this morning. How long do you let the mash sit?

Just a normal 60 minute mash.

Yeah I had a slow sparge because of having to swap to a different cooler (because of a crack in my reg 5gal igloo) with no hole for my valve to go in.. But overall I'm happy and happy with the almost finished product

Well as long as it's tasty and beer then it doesn't really matter

 

[jaydog2314]

cracked my first bottle last night at about 4.5 weeks to sample, tasted really good. not overpowering. had 2 other commercial pumpkins on hand, o'Fallons and Blue Moon, 2 buddies said this brew was better than the commercial ones. I def like it and a few more weeks in the bottle it should be perfect!

 

[atimmerman88]

I may have thought of a reason some people are getting very low FG for the recipe! Are those individuals getting said results, did you get a stuck/slow mash that lasted for a decent amount of time? If so, did you keep track of the temperature? You may have lost some heat from the long sparge and thus a lower FG.

I had a bad stuck sparge, had to dump and unclog. Took like 2 hours I've got no idea on temp loss.

Ferm out to 1.01 from 1.065

Stands to reason.

 

[n240sxguy]

Mine wasn't stuck, but probably a couple degrees lower than it should've been. Any ideas on how much lactose to add?

 

[atimmerman88]

Mine wasn't stuck, but probably a couple degrees lower than it should've been. Any ideas on how much lactose to add?

I went 4oz to bring mine up a tad from 1.01, could've maybe added a touch more but it's still fairly sweet

 

[D_Nyholm]

Just had a little taste test of this beer up against a few other pumpkins. Pumking was there as well as a few other local pumpkins. This beer was chosen as the winner due to the great taste and drinkability. Many others tasted 'fake' and overpowered while others didn't taste much like pumpkin at all. This will definitely be a yearly brew for us! We followed the recipe as closely as possible.
One thing i did notice was that we brewed this in early august which gave it plenty of time to age. The beer was almost perfectly clear and very clean tasting. Bravo to the OP for such a great recipe!

 

[n240sxguy]

I went 4oz to bring mine up a tad from 1.01, could've maybe added a touch more but it's still fairly sweet

4oz for 5 gal? Mine was at 1.006 last I checked. I may need closer to 3/4-1 lb for 10 gal.

 

[SevenFields]

I know I am getting a late start, but I got everything together to brew this for the 1st time.
I am thinking about adding 1lb of Lactose to give it a creamy taste. Has anyone done this before and is 1lb too much?

 

[atimmerman88]

4oz for 5 gal? Mine was at 1.006 last I checked. I may need closer to 3/4-1 lb for 10 gal.

Yeah, 5 gallon batch.

Went into 4.5gallon in the bottling bucket