Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

[daveooph131]

After having brewed this and tasted along the way. I think it's best as a younger beer . I don't think it needs to age too long. If you have good fermentation temperatures it should be good to go 4-5 weeks after brew day if you keg. The spice pumpkin flavors seems to fade as time goes along.

 

[jturie]

Two weeks in primary at 65 degrees F, FG hit 1.013. I kegged it with Biofine (even though it was really nice and clear) and a half tablespoon of pumpkin spice. After a week of force-carbing, I'm gonna cold crash it for another week before tapping.

Nice bready aroma and flavor, but getting a little harshness from the hops. Should calm down after 3-4 weeks.

I probably rushed it fermentation-wise, but I rarely let a primary go more than 2 weeks and I don't secondary unless I want super clear beer.

Haven't learned my lesson--I will debut this sucker at my neighbor's black friday party. He's cranking out some shine on his still, so it will be a good trade.

 

[Irishwhiskey]

Just tasted mine and it's not totally carbed yet but great flavor I did add 2 teaspoon of the spice but great recipe

 

[Nicegirl]

After experiencing a problem getting my batch of pumpkin ale to carbonate properly, I'm finally going to bottle this coming weekend. Maybe the delay won't be so bad as it is now 8 weeks since brew day and from reading the posts from fellow brewers it would seem that this brew reaches it's best after about 4-8 weeks. I guess I'm going to find out.
I'll let you know in the next day or two.

 

[glick]

I served this at our annual Halloween party and it was a big hit! Thanks for a great recipe! Next year I will have to brew enough to have some for Thanksgiving too.

 

[jturie]

First tasting on Sunday. Definitely overdid the pumpkin spice, which was a generic brand, not McCormicks or Pampered Chef. Nice and clear, but that over-spicing adds a cloying sweetish flavor that detracts. Bitterness is just right. Hope that it fades over the next week or so.

Heed the other folks on the pumpkin ale threads--don't overdo it.

 

[n240sxguy]

I put a whole jar of pumpkin pie spice in my 10 gallon batch. Not sure how many teaspoons that is, but it's fine to me. Could even use a little more.

 

[jtd_419]

After reading through most of this thread I see a general concensus on using pumpkin. Has anyone ever tried using pumpkin juice. I know it sounds strange but I jokingly asked the mother in law if her juicer would juice pumpkins (had about15 of them still lying around) and came home to find a gallon of pumpkin juice and only about four pumpkins left. Thinking about a pumpkin ale but have no idea if replacing one gallon of water woth a gallon of juice would work well

 

[DrunkleJon]

I can't see why it wouldn't work. It should be that beautiful orangey color and that is most of what you get out of pumpkins (aside from stuck sparges). Pre-roasting the pumpkins before juicing would probably add a little something extra but you should get the same sort of effect out of the juice that you would from the whole thing as you strain the solids out anyhow. Give it a go and let us know.

 

[jtd_419]

Im thinking either this weekend or next I'll give it a go......

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

I brewed a version of this the other day (added another pound of two-row and Crystal for an O.G. of 1.071) and man did fermentation take off. I watched it for two days and there was plenty of headspace even though the krausen was thick and there was a lot of off-gassing through the airlock (I use fermcap), but I went downstairs to change out the ice bottles this morning and the airlock assembly had blown off sometime in the night. There was still active fermentation and foam up to the brim, so I'm not too concerned about infection - I replaced it with a clean airlock which should hopefully hold the fort until the fermentation dies down a bit.

 

[half_whit]

Finally kegged mine the other day. Smells like pumpkin pie!

 

[half_whit]

I brewed a version of this the other day (added another pound of two-row and Crystal for an O.G. of 1.071) and man did fermentation take off. I watched it for two days and there was plenty of headspace even though the krausen was thick and there was a lot of off-gassing through the airlock (I use fermcap), but I went downstairs to change out the ice bottles this morning and the airlock assembly had blown off sometime in the night. There was still active fermentation and foam up to the brim, so I'm not too concerned about infection - I replaced it with a clean airlock which should hopefully hold the fort until the fermentation dies down a bit.

Yeah man, mine went crazy too. Had 4.5 gallons go into the bucket and I almost had to do a blowoff. Krausen was dense as hell too

 

[half_whit]

So I just sampled mine the other night and was a little horrified at first, thinking I had botched something up. The lady and I have suspected from the past few brews that we might need to switch from tap to bottled since moving to this new place, but then I double checked my math. Had a sub-par grind (first time using my new mill) and I went with a slightly higher AA hop (German Tradition)

Now that I've placed the flavor, I rather enjoy my 35 IBU "Pumpkin Pale Ale." Still has a nice pumpkin pie undertone while being a nice earthy pale ale.

I think I'll bring a growler with me today to ask the man if I can be his son in law....

 

[Reno_eNVy]

HA! Yeah it's only an off-flavor until you figure out what it is. I'm glad it worked out... if I remember correctly, New Belgium had a hoppy pumpkin ale one year.

 

[FatsSchindee]

I think I'll bring a growler with me today to ask the man if I can be his son in law....

Congrats! ( Saw on the other thread they said yes) Did the pumpkin ale help?
So what beer are you going to serve her tomorrow ( with a ring in it, right?!)?

 

[Matteo57]

I have brewed this beer around 6 times now, it's absolutely fantastic! I have found that this spice actually is much more flavorful in it instead of McCormicks if anyone wants to try it and can find it. I actually just recently did 2 batches back to back, one with McCormicks and one with this and everyone has has tried the both all like the other.
Just thought i'd pass it along if anyone wants to give it a try!
Thanks OP for the recipe, it's amazing!

 

[half_whit]

My new in laws have just about kicked the keg! Happy thanksgiving!

 

[charlestonsailing]

Brewed this a few weeks ago to have for my 40th birthday. Tapped the keg Wednesday. Omg. This one is so good. My wife is an IPA girl but this one is all me. I may brew this one year round. I really love the malt flavor in it. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!

 

[kzimmer0817]

I'm drinking my next-to-the-last bottle of this that I brewed in 9/2012.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/punkin-ale-145060/index88.html#post4439400
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/punkin-ale-145060/index89.html#post4441994
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/punkin-ale-145060/index97.html#post4494568

And here's my brewday for this beer:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f244/my-first-all-grain-biab-no-chill-356409/

I'm not sure what to think. It's probably that I don't really know what I pumpkin beer is supposed to taste like. I get a bit of soap. A lot of mine overcarbed. I think 2 bottles exploded early on. The one I poured this evening turned into a bunch of foam - that I poured into two large glasses and poured back and forth. By the time I got my little dogs fed and walked around the house, the foam had settled and I could combine the 2 glasses into one. It tasted a lot better once the foam had settled.

I will probably try this recipe again next Fall. Depending upon how I progress with getting an electric setup, I may try the Partial Mash version of this recipe that you gave in posting #3:

Partial Mash
6# Pale LME
2# Pale 2-row
0.63# Crystal 60L
0.63# Victory Malt

1. I'm assuming that - even for BIAB - you will mash the 2-row, Crystal, and Victory. But for how long? 30 minutes at the usual mash temp?

2. I may try "late extract addition" as has been discussed in other threads and add the LME very near the end of the boil while following the recipe insofar as hops and honey additions are concerned.

3. Instead of the McCormicks Spice - or another one that I saw recently recommended - I may omit the spice and prepare a spice tincture as mentioned by a Greg Muller in a thread on the Morebeer forum:
http://forums.morebeer.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=23534&p=231385&hilit=+pumpkin+vodka+#p231385

Looking forward to another try,
Keith

 

[Reno_eNVy]

And here's my brewday for this beer:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f244/my-first-all-grain-biab-no-chill-356409/

Nice, I remember that thread.

And soap? No, not supposed to taste like that. I recently kicked a keg of a batch I brewed around the same time as you (September-ish 2012) that I haven't been able to get at very much since I worked out of town most of this year. But it was still good, spices very much faded, but definitely no soap.

Good luck on this go-around! Doing the tincture is a good idea.

 

[charlestonsailing]

It's already well into January but I am really thinking of making a winter version of this beer. Using more winter flavors than pumpkin. I really love the underlying malt flavor of this beer. It is pretty dead center to what I like. How much of the flavor do you think comes from the pumpkin in the mash? I was thinking that it may really just add to the body and feel more than anything.

 

[kenlock]

It's already well into January but I am really thinking of making a winter version of this beer. Using more winter flavors than pumpkin. I really love the underlying malt flavor of this beer. It is pretty dead center to what I like. How much of the flavor do you think comes from the pumpkin in the mash? I was thinking that it may really just add to the body and feel more than anything.

In all honesty, I believe little to no flavour comes from the pumpkin. It adds some colour and a small amount of sugar (if caramelised in the oven). It does lend authenticity. It's a the base is a great beer on it's own.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

In all honesty, I believe little to no flavour comes from the pumpkin. It adds some colour and a small amount of sugar (if caramelised in the oven). It does lend authenticity. It's a the base is a great beer on it's own.

THIS! I've tried brewing this without pumpkin in the mash and for some reason it just isn't the same. I don't know if it's familiarity-bias but I really think the baked pumpkin does make some magic happen.

And I agree on the authenticity. Everybody needs to experience a stuck or painfully slow mash at least once when making this brew. It makes it special.

It's already well into January but I am really thinking of making a winter version of this beer. Using more winter flavors than pumpkin.

What were you thinking of doing? I'm intrigued.

 

[jigtwins]

I know this thread is old. But I see people are still replying to it. One question I have is about aging. I didn't want to read thru all the pages to see if it has been asked, and the search on here really stinks. My question, has anyone bottled and aged this for any amount of time? I'm looking to make this in April . Would like to have some ready for the fall without having to make it. I assume that the spice will fade with time, but was wondering how the beer fared from cellaring. Any recomended changes for aging?

Sent from my PG86100 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[jtd_419]

I can't see why it wouldn't work. It should be that beautiful orangey color and that is most of what you get out of pumpkins (aside from stuck sparges). Pre-roasting the pumpkins before juicing would probably add a little something extra but you should get the same sort of effect out of the juice that you would from the whole thing as you strain the solids out anyhow. Give it a go and let us know.

Did brew this up and if I had it to do again I think a little more spice would be good but definitely a good beer letting it age a little bit before I really get into it

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I know this thread is old. But I see people are still replying to it. One question I have is about aging. I didn't want to read thru all the pages to see if it has been asked, and the search on here really stinks. My question, has anyone bottled and aged this for any amount of time? I'm looking to make this in April . Would like to have some ready for the fall without having to make it. I assume that the spice will fade with time, but was wondering how the beer fared from cellaring. Any recomended changes for aging?

Sent from my PG86100 using Home Brew mobile app

Maybe add a bit more spice. But it ages really really well. It hits its stride at about 6-8 weeks and is amazing after a few months.

 

[jigtwins]

Maybe add a bit more spice. But it ages really really well. It hits its stride at about 6-8 weeks and is amazing after a few months.

Thanks for the quick reply. I think I'll hit it with more spice at bottling mixed in with the priming sugar. I made this 2 times last fall. It was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[PinzonCachondo]

Placing the order now to give this a go this weekend as a partial mash/BIAB. I know it's wrong time of year for you guys, but not here in the southern hemisphere. I hope to have it ready for our annual "half-mas" party. Since December is summer here, rich foods don't really work for Christmas like they do in the north. Hence some expats here get together every june/july/august and have a halfway-to-christmas party just to get together and enjoy have the seasonal eats. This year I'll be bringing Reno-eNVy's punkin' clone. Only I can't get canned pumpkin (or even fresh pumpkin) so I'll be using a closely related pumpkin like squash from Chile called 'zapallo' (pronounced "za' payo" here). Also instead of the pumpkin pie spice (which I also can't find), I'll be using a chai spice mix that I used last weekend in a zapallo pie that went over extremely well with SWMBO and friends.

Much thanks to Reno-eNVy for posting the recipe and all the rest of you for your contributions to the thread.

*edit: seems LHBS doesn't carry US 2row or Victory. Looks like it's going to be MO & Biscuit instead.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Sounds like a really interesting brew. Please be sure to post findings on brew day and sampling/drinking! :rockin: