Autumn Seasonal Beer Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale (AG and Extract versions)

[Randar]

I'm doing a hashed up version of this. I see it was simplified later to just regular pumpkin pie spice. I added spices to the pumpkin mush and it seems to have gotten lost. I will probably add the spice tea later on. I also put two tea bags of green tea in with the pumpkin while I was boiling it down to try and start the starches to break down. Yuri seems to think that will cause the pumpkin flavor to fade away. I hope not.

It Will be beer.

I added mine at flame-out and I am starting to think they also are fading a bit. Still a very good beer, but I would prefer a bit more spice. Balance of spices is nice though.

 

[HalfPint]

I added mine at flame-out and I am starting to think they also are fading a bit. Still a very good beer, but I would prefer a bit more spice. Balance of spices is nice though.

Try serving it in a cinnamon sugar rimmed glass. That helps with the nose.

 

[akryder]

Made this 3 weeks ago, but instead of canned pumpkin, I used a sugar pumpkin from a local farmer. Worked VERY well, and has a great pumpkin taste. SWMBO made the pumpkin spice from scratch (her personal pumpkin pie recipe....) and we added that in the recipe's suggested amount. Now, she's suggesting I make it again....better get started.

We really enjoyed the balance of pumpkin to spice in this beer. Like drinking a bit of pumpkin pale, plus a great beer. Going to drive it 400 miles to the parent's place for Thanksgiving!

 

[MJDore]

Going to toss the pumpkin in the grain bag with all the grain. Should be fine, right?

This is what I've done twice now. I put the pumpkin in a grain bag with really fine meshing/holes. Some of it dissolved and leaked out of the bag but the bag kept enough of it intact to keep me from getting a stuck sparge.

 

[GoNova]

I entered my version of the recipe in a competition recently and got two scores of 40. :rockin: Amazingly, I didn't place. Stiff competition!

There is lots of discussion as to how to add the spices and how much spice to add. I think it is 100% personal preference. But since my beer scored so well in the competition (and both judges noted a very nice balance of spices) I thought I would share what I did to my 5 gallon batch....

I added 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice at flameout. After fermentation was complete, I tasted a sample. I really debated on whether to add more spice and ultimately decided to add 1 additional tsp (steeped in a cup of hot water) to the secondary. This resulted in a beer that has a very clear and distinct spice smell and taste. No mistaking that it is a pumpkin ale. However, the spices are not at all overbearing (IMO).

The stuff disappeared quickly. 10 gallon batch next year for sure!!

 

[deaton83]

This is what I've done twice now. I put the pumpkin in a grain bag with really fine meshing/holes. Some of it dissolved and leaked out of the bag but the bag kept enough of it intact to keep me from getting a stuck sparge.

There was a good amount of pumpkin that made it out of the bag. Now that its in the secondary I cant see anything other than crystal clear beer. The sample tasted great. Cant wait to get this into the keg.

thanks again for the recipe and all the notes.

 

[Randar]

I entered my version of the recipe in a competition recently and got two scores of 40. :rockin: Amazingly, I didn't place. Stiff competition!

There is lots of discussion as to how to add the spices and how much spice to add. I think it is 100% personal preference. But since my beer scored so well in the competition (and both judges noted a very nice balance of spices) I thought I would share what I did to my 5 gallon batch....

I added 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice at flameout. After fermentation was complete, I tasted a sample. I really debated on whether to add more spice and ultimately decided to add 1 additional tsp (steeped in a cup of hot water) to the secondary. This resulted in a beer that has a very clear and distinct spice smell and taste. No mistaking that it is a pumpkin ale. However, the spices are not at all overbearing (IMO).

The stuff disappeared quickly. 10 gallon batch next year for sure!!

What did you enter it as base style? I chose American Amber and all of the comments about the underlying style were spot on and no off flavors or faults noted. Almost all of the complaints were that it was over-spiced and that it needed more hops to accentuate the base style.

I was dumbfounded. Compared to commercial varieties, I thought the spice in mine was muted but well balanced and the comments of the neighborhood beer moochers agreed with this assessment.

Scored a 34.

 

[BigB]

Finally opened up a bottle. I made it special for Thanksgiving after all! Wow, definitely one of the best beers I have made to date. I used S-04 and the full amount of the Pampered Chef spice the OP listed. Perfect amount of spice. It turned out a tad sweet, but that doesn't surprise me because my OG ended a tad high. This one will be an annual, thats for sure!!

 

[Dynachrome]

I'm doing a hashed up version of this. I see it was simplified later to just regular pumpkin pie spice. I added spices to the pumpkin mush and it seems to have gotten lost. I will probably add the spice tea later on. I also put two tea bags of green tea in with the pumpkin while I was boiling it down to try and start the starches to break down. Yuri seems to think that will cause the pumpkin flavor to fade away. I hope not.

It Will be beer.

It was 1.048 at the start of fermentation. It finished at bottling at 1.004.

My wife's brother who is usually a Bud Light drinker said it was the best of the three beers I brought up fot Thanksgiving.

 

[worth]

Thanks for the great recipe. It was a huge hit at my New Years day lunch and didn't last long. I was a little low on my mash temp, so it was a little less body than I was hoping for, but noone seemed to notice and it received rave reviews by all.

 

[refect]

i know i am bringing this up kind of early or late, but i have been eyeing the recipe and want to give it a shot for next fall. i pretty much read/skimmed through all 55 pages, but am still unsure about a few things. i am going to do the extract version, because i do not have equipment for all grain.

first, i know the recipe says to just steep the grains, but would it be better to use a mini sparge and steep like you would in a partial? or would it not really make much of a difference?

second, my brew pot is your basic 4 gallon so i was thinking about only doing a partial boil of 2.5, maybe 3 gallon boil (if i can fit it with the amount of pumpkin added). then just top off in the fermenter to the 5 gallon mark. does anyone think this would have any major effects on the outcome of this recipe?

and my final question, when bottling, what would the recommend amount of priming sugar be for this beer? the usual 5 oz?

 

[BigB]

says to just steep the grains, but would it be better to use a mini sparge and steep like you would in a partial? or would it not really make much of a difference?

Won't make much of a difference... You are only steeping, not mashing.

second, my brew pot is your basic 4 gallon so i was thinking about only doing a partial boil of 2.5, maybe 3 gallon boil (if i can fit it with the amount of pumpkin added). then just top off in the fermenter to the 5 gallon mark. does anyone think this would have any major effects on the outcome of this recipe?

Nope, you will be fine to do it that way

and my final question, when bottling, what would the recommend amount of priming sugar be for this beer? the usual 5 oz?

Perfect.

 

[evilhomer]

I've got a quite a few pumpkins that I've been trying to figure out what to do with. All of a sudden realized I should make beer with them. How do you use real pumpkin for this? I know how to make pumpkin puree, do I just boil that like does the canned pumpkin in the recipe?

Also, if you guys don't know already, pumpkins stay good all winter in a cool place. I keep them in the garage, we got these pumpkins before halloween.

 

[TheWeeb]

I think earlier in the thread there are others who used fresh pumpkins, cubing them and baking them for an hour to sterilize and soften them up. Good luck!

 

[refect]

I've got a quite a few pumpkins that I've been trying to figure out what to do with. All of a sudden realized I should make beer with them. How do you use real pumpkin for this? I know how to make pumpkin puree, do I just boil that like does the canned pumpkin in the recipe?

Also, if you guys don't know already, pumpkins stay good all winter in a cool place. I keep them in the garage, we got these pumpkins before halloween.

i found these recipes online that i was also looking at. they have fresh pumpkin as a part of the recipe, and they kind of tell you how to prep it for the brew...

http://www.kegerators.com/articles/pumpkin-spice-ale.php

http://www.thebrewsite.com/2004/10/11/pumpkin-ale-recipe.php

hope this might help some!

 

[AugustDerleth]

I tried using search on this thread to avoid asking something that may have been covered already, but found nothing so here goes:
Would it be beneficial to add pumpkin to secondary to really impart those flavours? What I noticed in the pumpkin ale I did before this was that it seemed like most of the pumpkin-y-ness was boiled out. It was there, just more subtle than what I was looking for. Granted, this recipe is different, but I was wondering if adding a can of pumpkin to the secondary would strongly impart pumpkin flavours without problems (other than clarity)? I was thinking about putting a can in with the spice tea. A note: I only added 2 cans to the boil, the stores around me had no more. I imagine that 4 cans in boil would have been enough, but since that didn't happen and I've now found more cans I was wondering if I could use secondary to help with the flavour. Thanks-

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I've never read anything about "dry pumpkining." My gut says that adding pumpkin directly to the fermenter will add starch haze and vegetal flavors. I'd love to know for sure, though. Wanna be the guinea pig, August?

 

[AugustDerleth]

I've never read anything about "dry pumpkining." My gut says that adding pumpkin directly to the fermenter will add starch haze and vegetal flavors. I'd love to know for sure, though. Wanna be the guinea pig, August?

Hmmm, the haze I don't mind so much. If it just tastes like veggies, and not so much pumpkin-y, that'd be kinda weak. I wonder if I were to bake it before adding it, what effect that would have. I just might have to be the pig.
Though, I certainly wouldn't want to ruin your beautiful recipe! It smells delicious in primary.

 

[BLANK1911]

So I brewed this in December and I am not pleased with the results. It did have a haze and tasted pretty good warm. As soon as I put it in the fridge the haze cleared to leave about 1/2 inch of light sediment on the bottom of the bottles. Usually this would be fine but in this case it is so light that any movements of the bottle disturbs it to the point of it floating all the way to the top.

What gives? I even let the brew sit in secondary for 2 extra weeks to settle out as much as possible.

 

[BLANK1911]

Oh August, I heard a blind taste test on basic brewing radio a while back on pumpkin ale's. One had actual pumpkin in it the other did not. The taster could not tell which had the pumpkin and which one did not.

Next time I brew this I think I will leave the pumpkin out and rely in the spices.

 

[AugustDerleth]

Oh August, I heard a blind taste test on basic brewing radio a while back on pumpkin ale's. One had actual pumpkin in it the other did not. The taster could not tell which had the pumpkin and which one did not.

Very interesting!

Yuri: did you bottle or keg this? if you bottled, did you prime with dextrose or with brown sugar?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I've done both. I always prime with dextrose. I don't believe in using a priming agent to add flavor.

An HBT'er sent me a batch of this beer in which he didn't use pumpkin. I tasted it side by side with mine. His tasted a bit thin in comparison. I will always use pumpkin when making a pumpkin beer.

 

[muse435]

I am sorry if this was asked before but after reading a lot and realizing that there are well over 500 I'll just ask my question.

What is a spice tea? Do i just add my spices to a cup of water boil, cool, then mix (do the spices get dumped in as well) or do i make a tea bag for them to steep in.

My pumpkin ale is in the secondary right now. I was planning on adding some more spice to the keg at transfer and wanted some advise.

 

[MJDore]

I am sorry if this was asked before but after reading a lot and realizing that there are well over 500 I'll just ask my question.

What is a spice tea? Do i just add my spices to a cup of water boil, cool, then mix (do the spices get dumped in as well) or do i make a tea bag for them to steep in.

My pumpkin ale is in the secondary right now. I was planning on adding some more spice to the keg at transfer and wanted some advise.

I just use a hotpot to boil 8 ozs of water. Pour it into a sanitized jar or glass measuring cup, scoop the desired amt of spices into the water with a sanitized spoon, cover with some sort of lid and let that "steep" for 15 mins or so. Then i just poured it into the keg when racking the beer. For the spices I used "pumpkin spice." McCormick makes it or, in my case, I bought the Kroger brand.

 

[muse435]

I just use a hotpot to boil 8 ozs of water. Pour it into a sanitized jar or glass measuring cup, scoop the desired amt of spices into the water with a sanitized spoon, cover with some sort of lid and let that "steep" for 15 mins or so. Then i just poured it into the keg when racking the beer. For the spices I used "pumpkin spice." McCormick makes it or, in my case, I bought the Kroger brand.

Thats what i thought. One more thing do you let the "tea" cool down or just after 15 min dump it in?

 

[AugustDerleth]

Thats what i thought. One more thing do you let the "tea" cool down or just after 15 min dump it in?

To quote the recipe on the very first page. . .

"During clearing stage, add a spice tea of 1-1/2 tsp "Pumpkin Pie Spice" or Pampered Chef "Cinnamon Plus." Steep spices in 1 cup hot water for 10-15 minutes, cool then add. Consider adding the spice tea a little at a time to achieve the desired flavor profile."

 

[UnchartedBrews]

I plan on brewing a 5 gal extract batch for my wedding in Nov. I planned on starting it in early Sep to make sure everything goes well. SWMBO is "requesting" I make a practice batch now so she can see how it tastes. I would like to be able to keep about half this batch if all goes well until November. Has anyone kept this around for around 9 months and notice any big changes? Kinda worried that I would lose some of the spice. Thanks!

 

[Strangebird]

I'd get on it now. It took mine about 5-6 months to mellow and all the tastes to blend nicely. For a while it was pretty bad at first. Then some month later I was like what the heck, let's see if it's any better. Lo and behold it was like a different brew and you could finally taste the spices.

 

[AugustDerleth]

I'd get on it now. It took mine about 5-6 months to mellow and all the tastes to blend nicely and. . .you could finally taste the spices.

Odd. Mine has been bottled for about 1 month and tastes delicious. I'm sure it will get better with time, but it already has a great pumpkin taste and the spice tea is present but not overpowering. Did you bottle, I assume? And if so, what temps were your bottles at?
Also, just curious: how much dextrose did you prime with?

 

[UnchartedBrews]

When adding the spice tea, do you pour it into secondary and rack on top of it? Will the racking be enough to mix it well?