Autumn Seasonal Beer Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale (AG and Extract versions)
- Thread starter Yuri_Rage
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Well, I've read this, and a lot of others, but no one has really said what the best method is. What's been your experience?
elproducto
Well-Known Member
Wow, I checked the hydro sample to see if it's ready to be transferred to secondary on the spice tea and man did it taste awesome!
Did you just use the spice ratio scaled down that Yuri said to on his AG post?
elproducto
Well-Known Member
I havne't done the spice tea yet. which one?
Not the tea, the spices in boil.
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elproducto
Well-Known Member
Nope, I didn't put any spice in the boil.
oh, so you're just going to add a tea, I see. let us know how yours turns out.
elproducto
Well-Known Member
Will do.. very excited about this brew.
mojotele
Well-Known Member
Not really. I think people opt for the tea so they can progressively add spices rather than hoping to get it correct the first time in the boil. Some people like their pumpkin ales with more spice than others. Using the tea, they can add spice to taste.
I just used the amount of spice given in the recipe scaled down to 5 gallons in the boil. Turned out just fine in my opinion.
Thanks,
You know, I've brewed a crapload of beers, but never one with spices in it, and to be honest, I don't feel like having an over-spiced fall beer that I have to wait till next summer to drink. I'm hoping to have this from grain to glass in six weeks especially considering I keg. So that spice was good? Would you change anything? I've noticed others saying that the ginger is steep. What do you think?
OP
OP
All great suggestions in the past few posts. I keg mine quickly (about 3-4 weeks), and it turns out fine. The spices don't fade quickly, so if you're not sure about the amounts listed, add the spices incrementally to taste by using the tea method.
Thanks for staying up to date on this post Yuri.
So you just add the spices to the boil in the amounts that you specify in the OP? I guess I just got a bit confused about the one post saying pumpkin pie spice, and the other having the individual amounts that you use.
OP
OP
I really prefer the Pampered Chef "Cinnamon Plus" as the only spice addition. A teaspoon is PLENTY for a five gallon batch. 1/2 tsp of the stuff at flameout would probably be adequate.
Isn't that only sold at pampered chef stores? I wonder if I just use a good pumpkin pie spice that would be good, perhaps this one http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Pie-Spice-II/Detail.aspx.
OP
OP
I think you can order it online. I dunno. SWMBO gets it.
EDIT: You can get it here:
http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=13857&catId=12
FURTHER EDIT: This link claims a copycat recipe for Cinnamon Plus. I can't vouch for its accuracy.
http://www.food.com/recipe/baking-spice-copycat-pampered-chef-cinnamon-plus-mix-45672
The same amount of a decent pumpkin pie spice mix would likely do just fine. I prefer more cinnamon than allspice both in my beer and my pumpkin pie. Many pumpkin pie spice mixes are heavy on the allspice. You can always very lightly sprinkle a bit of the spice mix on some vanilla ice cream to get an idea of the flavor profile.
EDIT: You can get it here:
http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=13857&catId=12
FURTHER EDIT: This link claims a copycat recipe for Cinnamon Plus. I can't vouch for its accuracy.
http://www.food.com/recipe/baking-spice-copycat-pampered-chef-cinnamon-plus-mix-45672
The same amount of a decent pumpkin pie spice mix would likely do just fine. I prefer more cinnamon than allspice both in my beer and my pumpkin pie. Many pumpkin pie spice mixes are heavy on the allspice. You can always very lightly sprinkle a bit of the spice mix on some vanilla ice cream to get an idea of the flavor profile.
I used a Pumpkin Pie Spice because i could not find the "Pampered Chef" stuff, I think it will turn out just is good,look on the back and make sure there are no additives. The brand I got was at stator bros. for like 4$ its allot cheaper than buying individual spices even though I had mostly everything already. "McCormick" is the brand name it has Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg and Allspice in it. Hope this helps
I also prefer more cinnamon than the other flavors in pumpkin pie. I think it's really easy to overdo clove, nutmeg, and allspice if you're not careful with them. I think it'd be best to maybe just make it as said, then fine tune if needed after fermentation completes.
mojotele
Well-Known Member
I thought the amount of ginger was great. I really like ginger, though. I used fresh ginger root and used a cheese grater on it until I reached the required amount. Powdered ginger stinks, in my opinion. It has nowhere near the flavor of real ginger.
As a ginger fan, I couldn't agree more.
jgilbreth
Well-Known Member
So my usual impatience got the better of me, and I tried this after two weeks in the bottle. My gravity readings were way off on brew day, fermented to warm, I didnt think there was enough biscuit to get the taste I was hoping for, so I was interested to see how far off it got.
Ended up turning out great! No green taste to speak of, perfect balance, just the right amount of spice. Exactly what I was looking for. One more case to chalk up to RDWHAHB. I do think I need to calibrate my hydro though...
Ended up turning out great! No green taste to speak of, perfect balance, just the right amount of spice. Exactly what I was looking for. One more case to chalk up to RDWHAHB. I do think I need to calibrate my hydro though...
elproducto
Well-Known Member
Great to hear! Congrats.
Do you mind detailing how you did the spice tea? I'm about to do it tonight and I'm not sure exactly what the process is. Do I just mix in the 1tsp of pumpkin pie spice in a cup of hot water and rack on top of it once it's cool? Do I strain out the spices after steeping for 10 min?
jgilbreth
Well-Known Member
I just brought 1 cup of water to a boil, shut off the heat, mixed in the spices. let it cool down, poured it into the bottling bucket and racked over it.
elproducto
Well-Known Member
Awesome thanks.. that's exactly what I was going to do. How long did you have it in your fermenters before you bottled? Also did you use 1 or 1.5 tsp of spice?
Cheers!
jgilbreth
Well-Known Member
3 Weeks in the primary. Did a good job of cleaning up anything that resulted from the fermentation being at about 75 for the first few days.
I used 1 Tbsp during the boil, and added another Tbsp at bottling (yes tablespoon). There was almost no flavor from the spices after the boil. What I found was that while bottling the spices tended to settle below the bottling spigot, so the last few bottles might be a little stronger, but what I've tried so far is right on.
elproducto
Well-Known Member
Great thanks! I didn't add any during the boil so i was thinking of adding half when I rack and then taste it throughout the secondary.
My friend is throwing his annual "Lobster Party" and wanted to have this thing kegged and ready by saturday...It has been in secondary for a little over a week now. I was wondering if anyone sees this as a problem? I was just gunna go for it, and see what happens since its his batch and not mine...aren't I a good friend!
I'm not sure about this particular beer, but I know most beers of this complexity and alcohol content need a bit more time than 14 days grain to glass. Let us know how it turns out.
