Autumn Seasonal Beer Punkin' Ale

[DrunkleJon]

Yes I did.

 

[StoutNoDoubt]

I mixed the pumpkin in with the mash water as i was heating it. It seems to get better distributed through the grains and didnt stick. Then again the rice hulls probably helped too. Also that way you do not really have to account for the temperature difference of the pumpkin in the mash as it is at the same temp as the water.

I noticed that if you used canned pumpkin, your chances of a stuck sparge skyrocket. Try and use fresh pumpkin whenever possible I think. Much less issues. Just my thoughts.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I noticed that if you used canned pumpkin, your chances of a stuck sparge skyrocket. Try and use fresh pumpkin whenever possible I think. Much less issues. Just my thoughts.

Hmm... I used canned, mixed it in with the strike water where it practically dissolved entirely while heating, and stirred it in using the amount of rice hulls specified in the recipe. I dont even think that draining the tun was noticably any slower than usual.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Why didn't I think of that?!

I'll do that next time I BIAB this brew, that sounds a helluvalot easier.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I literally just read through every page.... I bought all of my ingredients today. Can't wait to brew saturday! Minus the people who add the pumpkin to the strike water, what is a good strike water temperature for the grain, rice hulls and pumpkin? Not sure what I am gonna do yet but I know I don't want to mash at a too low of a temp.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Sorry to bump but my Hallertaur that I bought are only 2.7% alpha, bringing me to only 11 ibu's instead of the original 19. Big deal? or should I add my 5 minute hop addition earlier in the boil to get more bitterness? Brewing in an hour or so. Opinions would be great! Thanks.

 

[mdbrewer1]

Sorry to bump but my Hallertaur that I bought are only 2.7% alpha, bringing me to only 11 ibu's instead of the original 19. Big deal? or should I add my 5 minute hop addition earlier in the boil to get more bitterness? Brewing in an hour or so. Opinions would be great! Thanks.

You would have to move a late addition much closer to 60 in order to bump the IBUs noticeably. Those late additions add flavor and aroma, but little bitterness.

Depending on the IBUs of your late additions, you might be able to move a small amount of them to 60 to get closer to the original. If you don't have something like Beersmith, you can use a website like Brewer's Friend's recipe builder to see how much you should shift. It will calculate the IBUs.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Currently mashing in. At 154 F with 40 minutes left! Going well so far, smells amazing in there.


Edit: Everything went terrific, currently chilling in my bathtub while I go to a cookout at my parents for fathers day. Will pitch the yeast when I get home! My apartment smells FANTASTIC.

 

[Wreck99]

Nice! I should do my pumpkin ale soon so it's ready for fall.

 

[treacheroustexan]

So I had some complications and chilled my wort overnight instead of instantly and pitching So I brewed yesterday and then put the hot wort into a sanitized pail and sealed it and let it cool overnight and just pitched. My OG was 1.062, so I really hope it turns out. I have used this method several times in the past and no issues but we will see.

 

[boicutt]

Hot wort in pail = bad. They aren't usually made for hot liquid. It's kinda toxic too, just fyi.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Hot wort in pail = bad. They aren't usually made for hot liquid. It's kinda toxic too, just fyi.

I'm well aware of the plastics industry and the last thing i'm worried about is a bucket being toxic. It can handle 100 degree wort (didn't dump boiling wort in it, I chilled it as best as I could first). I am just worried about infection. I pitched yeast yesterday and it's sitting at 64 degrees.

 

[mkyl428]

I'm well aware of the plastics industry and the last thing i'm worried about is a bucket being toxic. It can handle 100 degree wort (didn't dump boiling wort in it, I chilled it as best as I could first). I am just worried about infection. I pitched yeast yesterday and it's sitting at 64 degrees.

It will be fine RDWHAHB

 

[treacheroustexan]

It will be fine RDWHAHB

(and to above boicutt, I didn't mean to sound rude so I apologize if I did)

Lots of homebrews were consumed in this process. I normally chill in a ice bath due to no hookup for wort chiller, and I got a new pot with a thermometer sticking out of it and I didn't want to submerge it in ice water so I panicked.

 

[mkyl428]

(and to above boicutt, I didn't mean to sound rude so I apologize if I did)

Lots of homebrews were consumed in this process. I normally chill in a ice bath due to no hookup for wort chiller, and I got a new pot with a thermometer sticking out of it and I didn't want to submerge it in ice water so I panicked.

I used to brew similar to this all the time in the summer before I started recirculating ice water through my chiller with a pond pump. You basically did "no chill" it will be okay there are people who no chill in buckets

 

[treacheroustexan]

Couple pics. I also added a 15 oz can of pumpkin at 10 minutes left in the boil just because I had it extra and figured I would use it.

 

[madcore]

When do you guys brew your holiday pumpkin ale

 

[treacheroustexan]

I brewed mine a few weeks ago that way I could bottle it later this month, then let it sit til mid-august before cracking one open.

 

[madcore]

Yah just read the first page 6-8months fml already 2 months late

 

[treacheroustexan]

You still have time!

 

[glick]

Yah just read the first page 6-8months fml already 2 months late

This beer does not take 6-8 months! Unless you waaaaay over spice it and it needs to mellow out, this beer should be good to go pretty quickly. This is a great recipe, but it is also a pretty simple grain bill with moderate alcohol.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Anyone else have theirs ferment completely dry? I'm not sure why but it smells incredible. I brewed it June 20th and I checked my gravity today and it was at 1.000...I'm really discouraged. I hope I didn't ruin it.

 

[55x11]

Anyone else have theirs ferment completely dry? I'm not sure why but it smells incredible. I brewed it June 20th and I checked my gravity today and it was at 1.000...I'm really discouraged. I hope I didn't ruin it.

what yeast did you use?

 

[treacheroustexan]

what yeast did you use?

Us 05. I followed thenrecipe exactly. I'm thinking i really mashed too low and i need to recalibrate my thermometer. I'm thinking a # of lactose at bottling could save it? Ideas?

 

[55x11]

Us 05. I followed thenrecipe exactly. I'm thinking i really mashed too low and i need to recalibrate my thermometer. I'm thinking a # of lactose at bottling could save it? Ideas?

Should be ~80% attenuation, which should finish at 1.015 or so. Perhaps you mashed on the low side and produced more fermentable sugars, plus strong fermentation, but 1.000 is still surprising. Is your hydrometer well-calibrated?

I wouldn't worry. RDWHAHB!
So it is a bit more dry and a bit stronger ABV, should still be great beer.

Not sure why someone else commented it takes 6-8 months. It will go stale in that time. I plan to brew it in early August or so, to be ready by mid-Sept or October. Looks like a great recipe. Let us know how it turns out!

 

[treacheroustexan]

Should be ~80% attenuation, which should finish at 1.015 or so. Perhaps you mashed on the low side and produced more fermentable sugars, plus strong fermentation, but 1.000 is still surprising. Is your hydrometer well-calibrated?

I wouldn't worry. RDWHAHB!
So it is a bit more dry and a bit stronger ABV, should still be great beer.

Not sure why someone else commented it takes 6-8 months. It will go stale in that time. I plan to brew it in early August or so, to be ready by mid-Sept or October. Looks like a great recipe. Let us know how it turns out!

Hydrometer and thermometer calibrated! Like I said it tastes and smells fantastic still. I am still adding 1# of lactose at bottling time. Should give it a little more creaminess.

 

[55x11]

Hydrometer and thermometer calibrated! Like I said it tastes and smells fantastic still. I am still adding 1# of lactose at bottling time. Should give it a little more creaminess.

sounds great. I am pretty sure you are worrying over nothing, if it smells and tastes great, and from your photos it looks pretty "clean" - no biofilms of bacteria etc. - high attenuation is just the way some yeast works. Not a problem at all, quite the opposite!

Good luck, let us know how the final product tastes.

 

[treacheroustexan]

sounds great. I am pretty sure you are worrying over nothing, if it smells and tastes great, and from your photos it looks pretty "clean" - no biofilms of bacteria etc. - high attenuation is just the way some yeast works. Not a problem at all, quite the opposite!

Good luck, let us know how the final product tastes.

I sure will, thanks!

 

[Brew_G]

snip

I've been reading this thread for the past week or so and have finally finished the most recent post. Holy crap, what a read!

I'm planning to brew a pumpkin ale as my next batch on July 25, and I've been planning it for a long time. I guess it's the time of year to start brewing fall beers! All the feedback in this thread has really helped inform me as to how to go about brewing this. It'll be my 11th (I think) batch ever, all but one of which have been all-grain BIAB.

I'll be making just a couple changes from Reno's OP, but I'm leaving it pretty much intact. I have 2-row, but I just really like what MO has brought to the table in the beers I've made thus far. I know others have brewed this beer with MO before, and I personally think it'll work really well.

Here's the general plan:

General Batch Info
Batch Size: 6 Gallons
OG: 1.065
FG: 1.017
Efficiency: 77%
Color: 15 SRM
Bitter: 21.7 IBU

Grain Bill/Fermentables
10.00 lb Maris Otter (Crisp)
1.00 lb Crystal 60
1.00 lb Victory
1.00 lb Dark Brown Sugar - Late addition (10 minutes)
58 oz Libby's pumpkin (baked at 375*F for 60 minutes)

Mash
BIAB, 60 minutes
Sparge with 2 gallons of 170F water

Boil Additions
0.50 oz Magnum (12.1%) (60 min)
1.00 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker (2.1%) (10 min)
1 tablet Whirlfloc (10 min)
1.75 tbsp Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice (5 min)

Yeast
Safale US-05 (1.25 packages, rehydrated) at 65F

My plan right now is to bake the pumpkin and then add it to a 5-gallon bag that I'll drop into the BIAB bag during the mash. I'll tie the pumpkin bag to the handle of the kettle so it hangs inside. I just don't trust that the pumpkin will allow me to easily lift and drain the bag (I don't have a pulley system), so I'll try it this way to keep the pumpkin separate from the mash bag and hopefully it'll work out. I'll just drain them separately on a colander that sits on my 4-gallon "drain kettle."

I decided to make my own pumpkin pie spice based on a number of recipes that are available online. It's pretty much 4 parts cinnamon, 2 parts ginger, 1 part freshly ground nutmeg, and 1 part allspice...with a couple freshly crushed cloves to add that little something extra. It's pretty tasty on a coffee, so I'm thinking it'll work just fine for this beer!

I plan to cold crash and fine with gelatin at around the 18-day mark so it can go into bottles at three weeks. At that point, I'm going to let it sit at around 72F for a week, then move it to my ~62F basement until the beginning of October, for a total conditioning time of about ten weeks. I've got a decent pipeline set up at this point, so that'll help immensely in keeping in check my temptation to crack these open early!

Thanks to Reno and everyone else for all the feedback in this thread. It's been great reading it, and I'm really looking forward to brewing this!

 

[treacheroustexan]

Bottled this last night. We shall see