Autumn Seasonal Beer Samhain Pumpkin Ale

[beesy]

FYI - DON'T buy your spices at Fresh Market . Thought I was doing a better thing by buying there vs a big box store, but I paid the price. Kegged 2 pumpkin brews the other day, one being this one (sub in .5# victory for 1# home toasted) and my spices are non-existent and I added at 1 minutes vs 5.

So I boiled up some water and split it between two tall tumbler glasses(~6oz H2O). In one, I put .5 tsp cinnamon, .25tsp nutmeg and .25 ground ginger from Fresh Market. The other had .5tsp of Penzy's pumpkin spice from last year. Well, guess which one had more flavor? Hint - it wasn't the Fresh Market glass. Now I'm gonna have to experiment to get it spiced correctly. F U Fresh Market!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

 

[celticcolorado]

Well I brewed up 5g of the original recipe and let me tell you...it is amazing. There is no way the keg will make it to Thanksgiving. I will be lucky if it lasts until Halloween.

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

Just brewed this tonight. Hit all my numbers spot on and it looks fantastic. Couldn't help but get a little bit of cloudy wort into the fermenter but I'm going to do some gelatin at kegging to clear it up.

The mash got really really slow there towards the end but never stuck completely thanks to the rice hulls. OH and please change that front page recipe to a 60 min hop addition I almost boiled for 90 minutes but luckily got to reading the first few pages.

Can't wait to try it!

I don't want to change your recipe at all but seeing all of these guys want to add some sweetness or more pie flavor to it here is an idea I used last year. Don't get offended as this is slightly foo-foo but crumple up some graham cracker, cinnamon, ginger snaps and some colored sugar into a nice powder then wet the rim of your glass and dip it in margarita style. You get the pumpkin pie beer then the sense of a graham cracker crust all at once and it was really really good. Just an idea you may like it or hate it.

 

[minsco1]

Kegged this last night, and already it's delicious. Like I said in an earlier post, I used wyeast 1968 (ESB), which really left a delicious malty sweetness. FG is 1.013ish, and it's delightful.

The spices are just about right, although next time I would cut down on the ginger a bit and switch to using real ceylon cinnamon (for the first second of the first sips, there's a bit of puckering harshness). I'm very excited about this beer; I'm going to have trouble letting this age much. Thanks a lot for the recipe!

 

[KingBrianI]

Has anyone had several pints of this beer before bed? If so, did you experience unusual dreams? Just curious as this beer gives me crazy dreams when consumed in largish quantities before bed.

 

[Zamial]

Has anyone had several pints of this beer before bed? If so, did you experience unusual dreams? Just curious as this beer gives me crazy dreams when consumed in largish quantities before bed.

I have had several...er...way more than several, in the past 2 days. I can not say I have odd dreams but I can say that EVERY person that has tried it has liked it. I have had a few "samples" of other commercial pumpkin beers and they mostly fail in comparison. They are over sweet (like a dessert beer) or over spiced, especially on the cloves.

It really seems a shame that I only have 10 gallons-ish left...hahahahahaha!

 

[KingBrianI]

I have had several...er...way more than several, in the past 2 days. I can not say I have odd dreams but I can say that EVERY person that has tried it has liked it. I have had a few "samples" of other commercial pumpkin beers and they mostly fail in comparison. They are over sweet (like a dessert beer) or over spiced, especially on the cloves.

It really seems a shame that I only have 10 gallons-ish left...hahahahahaha!

That's awesome. I'm really happy you are all enjoying it!

 

[muddylars]

Just served a pumpkin ale using this spice ratio. It was great, definite pumpkin pie flavor, but you could still have a whole pint, or two... or three. Went over very well and very quickly!

 

[KingBrianI]

Just served a pumpkin ale using this spice ratio. It was great, definite pumpkin pie flavor, but you could still have a whole pint, or two... or three. Went over very well and very quickly!

Just the spice ratio? You should have used the grain and hop ratio too! Just kidding, glad it worked for you!

PS. Happy Samhain everyone! Is anyone enjoying this beer to celebrate the occasion?

 

[mr_goodwrench]

I sampled the first bottle from this batch last night. It was quite good despite the fact that I forgot to toast the Maris Otter and mash temps wrong due to a faulty thermometer. It was a bit young (3 weeks in the bottle) but the color was good. I blame the so-so head and lack of lacing on my mash troubles, but it is still very drinkable. I'll post a picture tonight after I go vote.

 

[firefly765]

Brewed this about 1 week ago using S-05. How long does the primary usually take? (smells great!)

Another Question on the Torrified Wheat. Mine came uncrushed & crushing was not an option from morebeer. I tried crushing w/ a rolling pin & got nowhere. Finally i hit it w/ a food processor for a good while & the stuff was still not what i would consider a fine crush. Is this stuff not meant to be crushed at all?


Thanks.

 

[KingBrianI]

Brewed this about 1 week ago using S-05. How long does the primary usually take? (smells great!)

Another Question on the Torrified Wheat. Mine came uncrushed & crushing was not an option from morebeer. I tried crushing w/ a rolling pin & got nowhere. Finally i hit it w/ a food processor for a good while & the stuff was still not what i would consider a fine crush. Is this stuff not meant to be crushed at all?


Thanks.

It is supposed to be crushed and I always just run it through my barley crusher along with the rest of the grist. But it sounds like you at least cracked it which should have been plenty. As long as you hit your OG you know you crushed it well enough.

 

[shroomzofdoom]

KingBrian,

Had to chime in; over the past month, I've made 10 gallons of this beer. My girl, who hates beer--started drinking this and she loves it. She's not a fan of bitter or hoppy beers but just loves this. She asked for a full time tap, I think we settled on Sep-Jan.

Damn fine beer...as mentioned earler my main subs are:
S04 (cuz I had some), Maris Otter for base grain, and Vanilla in the secondary.

 

[KingBrianI]

KingBrian,

Had to chime in; over the past month, I've made 10 gallons of this beer. My girl, who hates beer--started drinking this and she loves it. She's not a fan of bitter or hoppy beers but just loves this. She asked for a full time tap, I think we settled on Sep-Jan.

Damn fine beer...as mentioned earler my main subs are:
S04 (cuz I had some), Maris Otter for base grain, and Vanilla in the secondary.

Nice, another convert!

 

[cklages]

I had never had a pumpkin ale before, and was a little nervous about making 5 gallons. Two weeks in bottles now, and I'm already planning the next batch. I followed the recipe exactly, and it worked out very well, I wouldn't change a thing. I can't wait until this is fully conditioned.

 

[KingBrianI]

I had never had a pumpkin ale before, and was a little nervous about making 5 gallons. Two weeks in bottles now, and I'm already planning the next batch. I followed the recipe exactly, and it worked out very well, I wouldn't change a thing. I can't wait until this is fully conditioned.

Beautiful picture! I'm glad you like it!

 

[bad coffee]

So.

Denny's 50 little bastages still haven't flocc'd out. It's been kegged at 38* for a month and I still get a glass of yeast every time.

If it doesn't settle down by next weekend, I'm dumping it.

B

 

[KingBrianI]

So.

Denny's 50 little bastages still haven't flocc'd out. It's been kegged at 38* for a month and I still get a glass of yeast every time.

If it doesn't settle down by next weekend, I'm dumping it.

B

Hmm, they always floc pretty well for me. Have you tried using gelatin? I wouldn't dump it just because it's cloudy. How's it taste?

 

[bad coffee]

It's not just cloudy, but downright YEASTY. It tastes like a starter. This morning I drained off a liter and a half trying to purge the yeast out of the bottom of the keg if that's what it is. Tonight I'll see how it pours.

Here's a pic of it, my dunkle, and my morning coffee mug.

 

[minsco1]

Gelatin!! Don't dump it!

I served this at a party last weekend; 5 gallons gone in one night. I've only been brewing for about half of a year, so it was my first keg kicked in such a fashion. On one end, I'm very happy everyone enjoyed it, on the other end, I don't have any more of it for myself - It's sort of like I just sent my first kid off to college.

 

[KingBrianI]

It's not just cloudy, but downright YEASTY. It tastes like a starter. This morning I drained off a liter and a half trying to purge the yeast out of the bottom of the keg if that's what it is. Tonight I'll see how it pours.

Here's a pic of it, my dunkle, and my morning coffee mug.

Wow, I've never seen Denny's behave like that. If gelatin didn't work how about trying some polyclar or that new fining that removes gluten, can't remember it's name. It's worth the couple of bucks on a fining in order to salvage the $30 or so in the batch and the time spent making it.

 

[EO74]

My wife keeps bugging to make a beer she will actually drink,she loves pumpkin ale but only certian ones (ie shippyard).She didnt care for brooklynes pumpkin ale she said it had too many spices.My question to u since u compared urs to brooklyne is, are ur spices simmilar or less asstringent,what i mean is could they be cut in half or are they already subduded compared to brooklyns?

 

[KingBrianI]

My wife keeps bugging to make a beer she will actually drink,she loves pumpkin ale but only certian ones (ie shippyard).She didnt care for brooklynes pumpkin ale she said it had too many spices.My question to u since u compared urs to brooklyne is, are ur spices simmilar or less asstringent,what i mean is could they be cut in half or are they already subduded compared to brooklyns?

Post Road definitely has more spice flavor. I didn't get any astringency in the Post Road but this recipe definitely has no astringency from spices. If you make this recipe, I think you will be happy with the spice levels as written.

 

[EO74]

It wasnt astringint to me ......but to her well...... YOU KNOW! Cool im gonna go with it thanks. Ohh i also screwed up my order and instead of 1 pound marris toasted its 1 pound golden promise toasted should be fine though thanks again ill post to let u know how it turns out!

 

[nowise]

Bottled this over the weekend and oh my, the smell! Tasted great not even carbed up. I normally don't drink the whole sample but this time I finished it off.

First time using Denny's Favorite and I think I love this yeast. Very clear beer, and very compact yeast cake at the bottom. It went nuts with a 2L starter and was bubbling the next morning.

 

[EO74]

Well im drinking this now and thought id post. AWSOME beer a must brew!!! I will deff make this my fall seasonal brew.I had a b#@ch of a time sparging this even with 1# of rice hulls but sooo worth it.Next time i might add a little more spice.GREAT recipe K.B. thanx.

 

[KingBrianI]

Well im drinking this now and thought id post. AWSOME beer a must brew!!! I will deff make this my fall seasonal brew.I had a b#@ch of a time sparging this even with 1# of rice hulls but sooo worth it.Next time i might add a little more spice.GREAT recipe K.B. thanx.

If you had sparge problems even with the rice hulls, try conditioning the malt next time. I find it is very helpful in improving lautering.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_Conditioning

 

[EO74]

I did a mexican vienna lager this weekend and i conditioned the malt,easy technique with awsome results so worth the extra effort if u can even call it that!My only concern is my barley crusher rusting up, i know its not that much moisture but im not sure the rollers are ss.

 

[moconno1]

This recipe looks awesome!!! How much water did you include in the Mash? Also, what quantity of water did you use to Sparge?

 

[munklunk]

http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php

You're welcome.