Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Had a bit of a rocky brew day. Woke up a few hours late and over sparged, so I missed my OG by a fair margin. Came in at 1.052.
Nothing to be done now, I guess it'll just be more sessionable

Side note, I've always thought wort to be almost undrinkable, but this one was pretty tasty

 

[AndMan3030]

Just brewed a double batch of this last night. Followed the recipe to a 'T' except I only used 1 lb. of Rice Hulls. Recirculating the mash got a bit sticky at times, but it was not too bad. Post boil volume was 11 gallons. OG 1.064. Super stoked.

 

[thefolkmetal]

I kegged this last weekend and it's been sitting on carb for a week now. Took a sample to see where it is and it's tasting fantastic so far! The spice is a little forward now, so I need to let it age a while. It's going to be hard not to break into this until October!

 

[btack]

This went crazy in the bucket installed blow off on day 2. Transferred to secondary yesterday after 14 days

 

[Bono09]

A Couple pictures from brew day

 

[DagoBrewer]

I forgot to show how much krausen I had goin on!! Blow off tube was spittin junk into the bottle!!

 

[waltzbrewingco]

My target gravity was 1.050, and ended up around 1.064. Is it permissible to pitch a few hours after to let wort cool better?

 

[madcore]

So question I brewed this yesterday and for some reason put my spices in for the 60min boil.... Not sure why. What's the vertic on what the results will be?


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[StoutNoDoubt]

Ok, I had an OG of 1.063 and a FG of 1.007. 7.4% ABV. This is the FIRST time I have ever had an ale ferment to a FG below 1.010. Anyone else ever had this happen?


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[DagoBrewer]

Ok, I had an OG of 1.063 and a FG of 1.007. 7.4% ABV. This is the FIRST time I have ever had an ale ferment to a FG below 1.010. Anyone else ever had this happen?


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Ive had it happen a few times when ive mashed low and fermented fairly warm

 

[StoutNoDoubt]

Ive had it happen a few times when ive mashed low and fermented fairly warm

My fermentation was at a steady range of 60 to 68 degrees the whole time. Must have been something I did in the mash. It still was pretty tasty and can only imagine how much better it will get over time. Thanks!

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

Took the yeast starter off the stir plate this morning. It is currently in the refrigerator. Brew day is supposed to be today but it is currently raining and I do not have an indoor setup. May push back brew day to tomorrow. I have a Hoegaarden clone in the Brew Room that needs to be bottled today or tomorrow, so may flip flop the two.

What yeast did you use? No yeast starter needed if you are using US-04.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

My target gravity was 1.050, and ended up around 1.064. Is it permissible to pitch a few hours after to let wort cool better?

Sure, there are people who do no-chill brewing. I personally like to drop the temperature quick. What was the temperature at the time of you posting? What did you end up doing?

So question I brewed this yesterday and for some reason put my spices in for the 60min boil.... Not sure why. What's the vertic on what the results will be?

Heh, it happens. The flavors will be incredibly muted, if not absent. Make a spice tincture. Get a liquor without any flavor, like vodka. Soak a tablespoon or two of the spice in the vodka for at least a week. Filter out the solids using a coffee filter or something of the sort. Then when you're ready to bottle or keg, pull a measured amount of the beer and add the tincture in very small increments. Note at what amount you like it the best, then scale up for a full-sized batch.

Ok, I had an OG of 1.063 and a FG of 1.007. 7.4% ABV. This is the FIRST time I have ever had an ale ferment to a FG below 1.010. Anyone else ever had this happen?

Yeah it's happened to me before on this brew. Inaccurate thermometer, I was mashing at (I suspect) 150*F.

 

[waltzbrewingco]

it was about 85° when I posted. Went to work and it was it room temp 76-78° when I pitched about 7 hours later. Just hope that temp wasn't too high.

 

[Bono09]

What yeast did you use? No yeast starter needed if you are using US-04.

I used the US-05. I know there is no need to but I just got my stir plate and was antsy to use it

 

[StoutNoDoubt]

I used the US-05. I know there is no need to but I just got my stir plate and was antsy to use it

I would advise using a starter for any high gravity wort even if it is a dry yeast. For what it costs to do, no harm done.


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[AR-Josh]

What would one change in this recipe if they wanted an imperial version? I was thinking about doing an imperial version of this then oaking half.

I was thinking just bump the 2 row up a pound or two. Then bump the victory and crystal up proportionally. What do you all think?

 

[waltzbrewingco]

she's percolating!
Now, a question about secondary fermentation. I used only one can of pumpkin before the boil, anyone considered steeping more pumpkin and adding it to the secondary? Maybe one can is enough but I've seen some recipes using two of the 29oz cans.

 

[Dunno]

she's percolating!
I used only one can of pumpkin before the boil, anyone considered steeping more pumpkin and adding it to the secondary?

I did not read the entire thread, but I did see several now don't do a secondary. Seems Reno lets it sit in primary for 2 months, kegs, drinks, rinse, and repeat. This is my plan as well, unless I get all crazy and feel like I need something to do.

That said, if you want to do secondary, I'd boil that pumpkin since you would be adding the pumpkin water into your flat beer. Keep it clean.

From what I understand, the pumpkin is there for color mostly. The flavor comes from the spice. Yer call. Let us know what you do and how it goes.

 

[ih8lag]

Brewing this again this year it was tasty and looking forward to this years. Ran into stuck sparge last year. I cannot remember if I used rice hulls or not. I cant get them this year everyone seems to be sold out.

So what if I put the pumpkin in a muslin bag and mashed like that or even mash the pumpkin separately?

 

[Dunno]

So what if I put the pumpkin in a muslin bag and mashed like that or even mash the pumpkin separately?

I did not have time for a stuck sparge on brew day so I did the pumpkin in the water as it heated for the grains. Had it in a fine mesh bag. Color leaked pretty well, thick gunk stayed in the bag for the most part. I'd probably do this again next year.

 

[DagoBrewer]

What would one change in this recipe if they wanted an imperial version? I was thinking about doing an imperial version of this then oaking half.

I was thinking just bump the 2 row up a pound or two. Then bump the victory and crystal up proportionally. What do you all think?

I did an Imperial version of a pumpkin ale using part of this recipe with a west coast twist! I used 16# of 2 row and ended up with 9.1% hahaha!

 

[dsaavedra]

I am planning on doing a 2.5 gallon extract version of this beer for the fall season. How does this recipe look?

4 lb light DME (or should I use 3.5lb?)
0.25 lb Crystal 60L
0.125 lb Special Roast
1/2 lb brown sugar
29 oz can Libbey 100% pure pumpkin

1/2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker@60min
1/2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker @5min
.75 tbsp McCormick spice @5min

 

[DustyBrew]

Here's mine ended up with a stuck sparge. Two cans of pumpkin and used 1lb of rice hulls.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I did not read the entire thread, but I did see several now don't do a secondary. Seems Reno lets it sit in primary for 2 months, kegs, drinks, rinse, and repeat. This is my plan as well, unless I get all crazy and feel like I need something to do.

That said, if you want to do secondary, I'd boil that pumpkin since you would be adding the pumpkin water into your flat beer. Keep it clean.

From what I understand, the pumpkin is there for color mostly. The flavor comes from the spice. Yer call. Let us know what you do and how it goes.

Thank you for the detailed response. I'm not always able to reply quickly due to work so it's nice to have helpful members such as yourself.

Edit: The pumpkin is mostly for color and authenticity but if you get some nice caramelization on the pumpkin you can taste the nice vegetal squash character.

 

[DagoBrewer]

I am planning on doing a 2.5 gallon extract version of this beer for the fall season. How does this recipe look?

4 lb light DME (or should I use 3.5lb?)
0.25 lb Crystal 60L
0.125 lb Special Roast
1/2 lb brown sugar
29 oz can Libbey 100% pure pumpkin

1/2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker@60min
1/2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker @5min
.75 tbsp McCormick spice @5min

Id say thay looks pretty good!

 

[Urkelbot]

I did this last year as my third homebrewed beer and first all grain. It sucked I waited a good 8 months hoping the off flavors would go away. They never did. I'm not sure what I did wrong what with being being a novice at the time and a year ago.

I'm going to try it again and it'll be good this time damn it!

 

[Gar]

The 2 large cans of libby's pumpkin puree (non-spiced) should be spread out on a baking sheet so it's about 1-1.5" thick. Bake between 250 and 325*F for 30-45 minutes or until the top starts browning slightly and the puree becomes less viscous. Then add to mash for the whole 60 minutes. Don't forget a few handfuls of rice hulls.

Also, be sure to use McCormick's Pumpkin pie spice. That's how I get my best results and the measurement of 1.5 tablespoons is the perfect amount... nothing worse than being disappointed by a beer that is over-spices.

I'll be adding this to the original post to make it easier

EDIT: oh, well nevermind. I can't edit the original post....

ill have to try this as most of the pumpkin beers ive had are over spiced to the point of i cannot stand them. rivertown pumpkin ale is the closest ive had to being right. for me anyway.

 

[AndMan3030]

Took a gravity reading yesterday. It was already down to 1.012. I racked to secondary to try to keep it at 1.012. My batch last year fermented all the way down to 1.008.

My question is, if you are recommending people skip racking to secondary all together, how do you keep the batch from fermenting too low?

Last years batch definitely had some solvent / hot alcohol notes in there...

I racked to secondary and threw both carboys in my ferm chamber, set at 50 deg F to cold crash and cease fermentation. My plan is to let it sit in there for a week or so, then bottle and set on the shelf to condition for a month or so....

 

[AndMan3030]

Ok, I had an OG of 1.063 and a FG of 1.007. 7.4% ABV. This is the FIRST time I have ever had an ale ferment to a FG below 1.010. Anyone else ever had this happen?


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This happened with my batch of this recipe last year. The batch was still pretty good, but it had solventy/hot alcohol off flavor. This year I checked my gravity after 5 days. it went from 1.064 to 1.012 QUICKLY...