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

[Yuri_Rage]

I like the Cinnamon Plus and recommend it. Bake the pumpkin at 350 for an hour.

 

[ManyBrews]

does this extract recipe call for 1# caramel or crystal malts or both?

little confused by how recipe is written there. thanks.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Caramel and Crystal malt are the same thing. Use one pound of the 60L variety.

 

[BakerStreetBeers]

Hey Yuri

Just wanted to say thank you from a new homebrewer. Just read through this entire post (which I guess gets revived at around this time every year), and your constant improvements and patience with all these questions is very admirable.

I am looking forward to brewing this at the end of the month.

Thanks!

+1 to this. Thanks, Yuri and the rest of the contributors. Going to do my first pumpkin beer in a couple of weeks and it will owe almost everything to this thread (reserving a modicum of credit for the brewer).

Oh, and I'm thinking about going Saison with it.

 

[cjcochran]

I am going to make this tonight. I have only made 1 batch ever so hopefully I can make this work. I do have a few small questions:

1. For the spice tea, I've read in the forum that you can add it the last 5 mins of the boil or at secondary. Can you do both? Which way is better? Maybe add it to the boil and add more at clearing if needed?
2. For the spice tea, do I just dump it in boiled water, let it cool, then pour it in? I don't actually steep like like tea, right? The spices actually go in the boil or the beer, right?

Thanks for your help - great recipe and forum!

 

[jspence1]

I made this on Saturday, the sparge took 3 hours for my 11G batch. It smells FANTASTIC! I had a huge amount of blow off so be prepared.

Thanks for a great recipe!
John

 

[nutty_gnome]

This thread has inspired me to do the following:

1. Buy a very mellow english-style pale ale extract kit with steeping grains (willamette bittering hops, fuggles aroma hops)
2. For a 5 gallon batch: Mash one 30-ounce cans of pumpkin with around 2 pounds of 6 row and the kit's steeping grains. Strain everything through a paint strainer and sparge with a bit of hot water.
3. Brew the pale ale kit as a full volume boil using the kit hops.
4. Ferment with dry nottingham.
5. Add the spice tea to secondary as suggested.

Using TLAR philosopy, I think I'm good to go. Any thoughts?

 

[tomwirsing]

If it finishes too dry (below 1.010), add 4 to 8 ounces of lactose. I did that this year, and the sample I just pulled is really good. The fix for next year's batch is to mash a little higher (I was a little lower than the planned 158°F) and perhaps accomplish a mash out.

My pumpkin went down to 1.006 from 1.050 with California Ale yeast for some reason. As soon as I took the reading I threw the carboys in the fridge to stop fermentation. My plan is to keep them cold and add some lactose to get the body and sweetness back where I want it. I'm thinking 8 ounces in each carboy.

I'm not certain how to do this, though. My first notion was to dissolve the lactose in the minimum amount of water needed and boil for 15 minutes. I would then add this solution to my carboys. I'm concerned about the boiling breaking down the lactose into fermentables. I know boiling breaks down some sugars, I'm not sure about lactose.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[ManyBrews]

uh oh... i made this last night and had an OG of 1.07?????

i steeped grains for a little over an hour and little too hot b/c i had to run out of house to pick up wife and accidently left stove on. also, used 6# of dme and 1# brown sugar.

could the brown sugar have thrown off my gravity that much?

 

[womencantsail]

I searched through the thread but didn't see anyone asking/answering this question:

I am going to be building a mash tun out of a cooler in a few days and plan on making this recipe and using the baked, canned pumpkin. I was wondering if putting the pumpkin in a nylon grain bag and then putting that in my mash tun would help out at all on the slow sparging that has been mentioned repeatedly?

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

I searched through the thread but didn't see anyone asking/answering this question:

I am going to be building a mash tun out of a cooler in a few days and plan on making this recipe and using the baked, canned pumpkin. I was wondering if putting the pumpkin in a nylon grain bag and then putting that in my mash tun would help out at all on the slow sparging that has been mentioned repeatedly?

I just brewed this on Saturday and with a pound of rice hulls and I had no problem sparging at all. It was a little slower but not the 4+ hours some had.

 

[womencantsail]

Do you just throw the rice hulls in the mash with all the other grains and the pumpkin? Or do you put them in after steeping the grains?

 

[k1200rsvt]

I have a couple of questions...I am fairly new to homebrewing and completely new to this forum. I bought the ingredients for the Extract version of this ale last night, but wasn't thinking and only bought 6.25# of Malt Extract Syrup. Based on what I have read online I believe I should have multiplied that by 1.2 and bought 7.5# since the recipe calls for Dry Malt Extract. As I thought through it I had three thoughts and am looking for a more experienced brewers opinion as to which is the best...

1.) Brew it with 6.25# thus being low on fermentable sugar and ending up with a lighter less alcoholic end product.
2.) Go back to the store and buy more Extract.
3.) Add some molasses to the boil (probably about a cup - 12 ounces) to make up for some of the lost fermentable sugar. I have seen other pumpkin ale recipes that include molasses.

Any suggestions as to which would be best...#2 is obviously the safest, but I am kind of curious about the molasses.

Thanks.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

Do you just throw the rice hulls in the mash with all the other grains and the pumpkin? Or do you put them in after steeping the grains?

I threw the hulls in with the grains before the mash.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

I have a couple of questions...I am fairly new to homebrewing and completely new to this forum. I bought the ingredients for the Extract version of this ale last night, but wasn't thinking and only bought 6.25# of Malt Extract Syrup. Based on what I have read online I believe I should have multiplied that by 1.2 and bought 7.5# since the recipe calls for Dry Malt Extract. As I thought through it I had three thoughts and am looking for a more experienced brewers opinion as to which is the best...

1.) Brew it with 6.25# thus being low on fermentable sugar and ending up with a lighter less alcoholic end product.
2.) Go back to the store and buy more Extract.
3.) Add some molasses to the boil (probably about a cup - 12 ounces) to make up for some of the lost fermentable sugar. I have seen other pumpkin ale recipes that include molasses.

Any suggestions as to which would be best...#2 is obviously the safest, but I am kind of curious about the molasses.

Thanks.

I am pretty new also but I would either get more DME or use some sugar. Molasses may impact the flavor.

 

[o0weno]

HEADS UP!

I just got back from a three store shopping search to find canned pumpkin. According to Fred Meyer (NW Walmart-ish chain) Libby's had some sort of mix up at the manufacturing plant and it's going to be a month before the next batch hits the stores. The place I found it in only had three cans on the shelf.

Get your pumpkin now, or order online if you plan on making this.

 

[dmbnpj]

Reviving this one...On page 3 there is a conversion for 5 gallons. I plugged the 15 gal recipe into BeerSmith and came out with these numbers:

Brew Type: All Grain
OG: 1.053
IBU: 14
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Volume: 7.67 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % (I get around 68%)

7.70 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US
1.83 lb Crystal Malt 60L
0.92 lb Biscuit Malt
0.37 lb Wheat, Flaked
1.10 lb Rice Hulls
60.00 oz Pumpkin (Canned) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
0.82 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min)
0.55 tsp Clove (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.55 tsp Nutmeg (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.10 tsp Allspice (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.10 tsp Cinnamon (Ground) (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) Yeast-Ale

Anybody else get different #'s when converting down to 5 gallons?

I came out with:

Brew Type: All Grain
OG: 1.053
Batch Size: 5.0 gal
Boil Volume: 3.53 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %

7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US
1.67 lb Crystal Malt 60L
0.83 lb Biscuit Malt
0.33 lb Wheat, Flaked
60.00 oz Pumpkin (Canned) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
0.92 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min)
0.25 ginger root
0.50 tsp Clove (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.5 tsp Nutmeg (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Allspice (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Cinnamon (Ground) (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) Yeast-Ale

Why is it telling me my boil volume is only 3.53 gal?

 

[k1200rsvt]

I brewed this weekend. I did the extract version with the following changes:

- 6.25# Liquid Malt Extract (approximately half pale and half amber).
- 12oz (1 cup) Molasses to make up for some of the lack of malt from the Liquid vs Dry.
- 1 oz East Kent Goldings.
- 7.25# Fresh Pumpkin cut up and roasted in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour.

I am really looking forward to tasting it...Its going to be a tough wait til Halloween.

 

[amishland]

if you have a gfs they have plenty of canned pumkin, i used it and it tasted nice. gordons Food Service

 

[Mustangj]

I'm going to mash the pumpkin like my friend at Alt Platz Brewery does. I may also use a dry yeast like S-04 instead of the WLP002. Here's the recipe:

21.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
5.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L
2.50 lb Biscuit Malt
1.00 lb Wheat, Flaked
180.00 oz Pumpkin, Canned (a dozen 15oz cans)

2.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min)

0.75 oz Ginger Root (Boil 12.0 min)
3 Tablets Whirlfloc (Boil 10.0 min)
1.50 tsp Cloves, Crushed (Boil 5.0 min)
1.50 tsp Nutmeg (Boil 5.0 min)
3.00 tsp Allspice (Boil 5.0 min)
3.00 tsp Cinnamon (Ground) (Boil 5.0 min)

Yeast - English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)

Single infusion mash at 158° F for 45-60 mins
Mash out at 168°F
Sparge with 178°F water to collect 17.5g of wort
Boil 60 mins

Est OG: 1.057
Est FG: 1.018
Est ABV: 4.99 %
Bitterness: 13.0 IBU
Est Color: 14.2 SRM

Consider omitting the spices on brew day and adding them as a "tea" during clearing. See the extract version above for notes.

Is this still for 15gal?

 

[FishinDave07]

Is this still for 15gal?

Yeah, he says that in the title of that specific reply. You could always adjust using beersmith

 

[mattmcl]

I did 10 gallons a couple weeks ago, we had no problems at all sparging. I did have trouble finding the canned pumpkin, so yeah- buy it if you see it!

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

Brewed mine 10 days ago or so and last night it was at 1.015 from 1.054. The only thing is that the sample has hardly no pumpkin taste and I really only taste the clove and ginger now. When I brewed it the wort tasted exactly like pumpkin pie with whipped cream and was delicious. Now its just like a spiced beer. I thought it was going to retain more of the pumpkin flavor. Is this normal for those of you who brewed this before? And is it possible to get more of the pumpkin back using more pumpkin in a secondary? I brewed the AG.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

The pumpkin flavor is bound to be subtle. I actually increased the amount after the first year's batch (thread was edited to reflect the updated recipe). Even so, the predominant flavors are indeed the spices and malt.

There have been arguments in other threads that pumpkin isn't even necessary, but I do think it adds a bit of complexity.

 

[womencantsail]

I am brewing this as I type and am adding the spices in the boil. I was wondering if you think "dry spicing" with the "spice tea" before bottling would add anything beneficial or would it be overkill?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I am brewing this as I type and am adding the spices in the boil. I was wondering if you think "dry spicing" with the "spice tea" before bottling would add anything beneficial or would it be overkill?

Taste it first - it may not need anything. If you find that it needs something, add a little at a time until it meets your expectations.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

The pumpkin flavor is bound to be subtle. I actually increased the amount after the first year's batch (thread was edited to reflect the updated recipe). Even so, the predominant flavors are indeed the spices and malt.

There have been arguments in other threads that pumpkin isn't even necessary, but I do think it adds a bit of complexity.

Ok! Thanks Yuri, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t jack it up or something. It taste great and is clear as can be. I used 60oz in this batch and luckily the wife picked up 3 extra cans so I still have another 90oz at home. So I am thinking about brewing up another batch with 90oz and a tad more nutmeg and cinnamon. Since I used all fresh spices I scaled them down a little which I guess I should have done. But I would rather it be under spiced than over. I cant wait to get some of this on tap!

Maybe for batch #2 I should try the fermenting in a pumpkin…………

Thanks again for the recipe and the help!

Ryan

 

[FishinDave07]

Maybe for batch #2 I should try the fermenting in a pumpkin…………

How about mashing and fermenting in a pumpkin?

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

How about mashing and fermenting in a pumpkin?

I read a few threads about it but didn’t have the balls:cross: to do it on the first try. I wanted this beer to be ready for when I take the kids trick or treating. But since I have one done I may see what kind of trouble I can get into with the second! Hardest part is finding a big pumpkin this early.

 

[dmbnpj]

By adding the spices as a "tea", how can you do this with the very fine spices? I see the very fine spices leeching out of a tea bag.

Also, when using beersmith to scale the recipe down to 5 gallons, what mash profile should I choose? I use a 15 gallon keggle to mash in and I do a batch sparge.