Autumn Seasonal Beer Samhain Pumpkin Ale

[nate201]

Yeah, I just finished a little bit ago and it smelled awesome going into the conical. I'm pretty excited about getting to taste this one. I brewed my Oktoberfest a little early for here (Saturday was still 100+), but the temperatures seem to be dropping over the next week.

 

[cfonnes]

I read through 17 pages and nobody had asked this question.

The stuff that I bought is pumpkin pie mix. Is this the right stuff? Seems like it would already have spices in it.

 

[bottlebomber]

I read through 17 pages and nobody had asked this question.

The stuff that I bought is pumpkin pie mix. Is this the right stuff? Seems like it would already have spices in it.

Some people have used that for lack of unsweetened unspiced pumpkin. Its seems like they said the spices in the can were too wimpy to sub in for the spices added in the recipe. Just add the spices as called for IMO

 

[Bmorebrew]

I can attest to the spices from the pie mix being too wimpy. I used two 30 oz. cans of Libby's and its been 10 days in primary now. The smell was nice during the mash and boil but when I tasted it today it was evident I will need to make the spice tea. The spices it currently has were only barely perceptable, it does need a little booster. And I'm looking for subtle not over the top.

 

[AR-Josh]

I read through 17 pages and nobody had asked this question.

The stuff that I bought is pumpkin pie mix. Is this the right stuff? Seems like it would already have spices in it.

I think they get blown out after a 60 minute boil. I used some organic pumpkin pie filling. Made the mash smell good but I doubt much of those spices made it to the end of the boil. I did another recipe but I added more spice in the last couple minutes of the boil all the same.

It is in secondary and I'm happy with the spice level. I decided I'm not going to spice it up this year just to see what the base recipe is like. Maybe next year if I decide that this is too weak. I like that pumpkin spice in the background. I've had a number of commercial beers this year where the spice is in your face too much. To each their own.

 

[elproducto]

Brewed 11 gallons on Saturday.
Added a 15min. Willamette addition, and used 2.5 TBSP of pumpkin pie spice instead of the individuals.

Missed my mash temp of 154, and hit 152.. something to do with the pumpkin addition I guess.

Decided then to split between US-05, S-04 just in case it dries out too much.

Smells awesome, and S-04 needed a blowoff!

 

[Firebat138]

BOught the ingredients this week for this... just gotta find some pumpkin...

 

[milldoggy]

Returant supply store has it, 7.99 for 7lbs

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Brewed this on the 3rd following the recipe exactly except used WY1272. Scaled for my efficiency and hit my numbers exactly, even the FG.

This will be my first beer that I'll keg with my new setup, can't wait! I think I'll add about 2 teaspoons of real vanilla extract at kegging time as well to add a touch of whip-cream like flavor.

 

[bottlebomber]

Hmm... its missing something. Its only in the secondary now, but I definitely think it need something. I love the flavor, but for some reason the spices came through very little. I think I may add some spice tea to juke it up a notch. In the future I may add 8 ounces of caramel 60, I will definitely brew this again.

 

[phoenixs4r]

Brewed this about 2 months ago. Very bland. Not bad at all. But very bland. No spices, slight pumpkin smell, very little taste.

 

[bottlebomber]

Brewed this about 2 months ago. Very bland. Not bad at all. But very bland. No spices, slight pumpkin smell, very little taste.

Man I wasn't gonna be that harsh, but those were kind of my sentiments. It needs something... I was thinking of upping the spices and adding some crystal or caramel malt. I was considering dumping a pint of Myers dark rum in the batch I have finishing now.

 

[WarrantedFED]

Did anyone else have excessively huge amounts of sediment?

 

[joeybeer]

Man I wasn't gonna be that harsh, but those were kind of my sentiments. It needs something... I was thinking of upping the spices and adding some crystal or caramel malt. I was considering dumping a pint of Myers dark rum in the batch I have finishing now.

I was thinking the same thing as I moved it to secondary ... Let us know the details on the spice tea & rum, i'd like the spices to be very present, but not over the top. Right now they're barely perceptible

 

[KingBrianI]

It's weird the spices haven't been strong enough for some of you. I think they are just right, not overpowering but definitely noticeable. Some people earlier in the thread commented that they were too strong and that they would cut them down the next time. I guess it all comes down to personal preference. Well, that or using fresh spices. Did you guys who don't think the spice notes are strong enough use fresh spices or old dried up stuff?

 

[aceinthehole]

Did anyone else have excessively huge amounts of sediment?



View attachment 33833

Yeah, I had quite a bit of sediment, I racked to secondary after 14 days, which helped clean it up. I bottled saturday, and only netted 41 bottles though... So I lost quite a bit.

 

[bottlebomber]

It's weird the spices haven't been strong enough for some of you. I think they are just right, not overpowering but definitely noticeable. Some people earlier in the thread commented that they were too strong and that they would cut them down the next time. I guess it all comes down to personal preference. Well, that or using fresh spices. Did you guys who don't think the spice notes are strong enough use fresh spices or old dried up stuff?

I used fresh whole spices, which I toasted and ground so that wasn't the issue. As you say though, it really just comes down to preferences...

 

[midfielder5]

I made this brew yesterday: the spices came through nice when I tasted it post-boil. Delicious. Thanks Brian.

 

[KingBrianI]

I made this brew yesterday: the spices came through nice when I tasted it post-boil. Delicious. Thanks Brian.

I hope you like it Wendy!

 

[bottlebomber]

Whoever said they were going to brew this as a Saison, that's a great idea. Its not going to happen this year, but maybe next summer ill brew this mashing a little cooler, and use a saison yeast

 

[midfielder5]

Brian,
we are having our Indian Summer here in SF-- even in an ice bath for my bucket, my hydrated S-04 dry yeast ripped it to 1.012 in a few days. The more interesting development is that the hydrometer sample was excellent! Can't wait for it to condition, etc.

 

[WarrantedFED]

Yeah, I had quite a bit of sediment, I racked to secondary after 14 days, which helped clean it up. I bottled saturday, and only netted 41 bottles though... So I lost quite a bit.

I'm trying to decide if I should just consider this portion as waste. I wonder if there is anything drinkable in there that could be filtered out....

Maybe I could make something out of it. It seems a shame to waste it.

 

[bottlebomber]

I'm trying to decide if I should just consider this portion as waste. I wonder if there is anything drinkable in there that could be filtered out....

Maybe I could make something out of it. It seems a shame to waste it.

Dude did you live through the great depression? Its trub!

 

[WarrantedFED]

Dude did you live through the great depression? Its trub!

You're right. My wife just looked at me like I was kind of crazy when I asked her if she thought I could make soap out of it.

 

[sethwar]

Brewing this tonight. Cant wait after reading all the rave reviews. Baked my grains last night, I think 24 hours should be enough time for them to mellow. About to bake my pumpkin now. My local shops didnt have Denny's or Pacman so I am using my harvested 001 Cal Ale. Hopefully this will work fine????

 

[KingBrianI]

Brewing this tonight. Cant wait after reading all the rave reviews. Baked my grains last night, I think 24 hours should be enough time for them to mellow. About to bake my pumpkin now. My local shops didnt have Denny's or Pacman so I am using my harvested 001 Cal Ale. Hopefully this will work fine????

wlp-001 should work fine. Just bump the mash up to 154 and it'll be great.

 

[WarrantedFED]

I'm trying to decide if I should just consider this portion as waste. I wonder if there is anything drinkable in there that could be filtered out....

Maybe I could make something out of it. It seems a shame to waste it.

I've decided to order the pumpkin ale extract kit from Northern Brewer and to put the wort onto the trub.

I accept that for a variety of reasons that I do so at my own peril, but call it a personality flaw or whatever, I have never overpitched the heck out of a beer before in this manner and I'd like to form my own opinion of the merits of doing so!

Like a butter knife into the electrical outlet, here I go!!

 

[elproducto]

I just checked my hydro sample and it tastes really good, but feels like it needs a little extra flavor.

How much should I add to the keg?

 

[bottlebomber]

I just checked my hydro sample and it tastes really good, but feels like it needs a little extra flavor.

How much should I add to the keg?

I basically doubled the spices by making some spice tea. Some might call it an overkill, but the amount of spices (and I definitely used fresh ones) that the recipe called for really only imparted a faint odor of spice, not a real flavor.

 

[Rolly]

I brewed this about a week ago as written. It smelled and tasted amazing going into the fermenter. After the ferment it still smelled amazing with a lot of spice on the nose. But I couldn't really taste any spice. It tasted a like the toasted malt and had a vegetal character from the pumpkin.

So I brought about a cup of water to a boil and added to it 8 oz maltodextrin, the original amount of spices, and one split vanilla bean. I let this continue to boil for about 30 seconds, then cooled. I added this tea to the primary a few days ago, and haven't tasted it again. Hopefully it's not overspiced now, but at least there's still at least a month until pumpkin ale drinking season if the spices need to fade at all.

I'm thinking the vanilla bean will be a very good addition to balance out the vegetal flavors. I'm looking forward to this.