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

[scratchex]

Tasted a sample of the batch we brewed yesterday & I must say it tasted amazing. The pumpkin & the spices really come through quite nicely. It's not quite ready yet but from the sample I can tell it's going to be an awesome brew. Should technically be ready next Monday; the kegged batch that is. We were able to bottle some of it as well but those won't be ready for another couple of weeks.

Also just finished installing the taps on our "Keezer"

http://www.chrisgomezphoto.com/austin/h35741bfc#h35741bfc

 

[makisupa]

My Thunderstruck is starting to carb. I kegged and charged it about 6 days ago. My final gravity came in a bit high (1.020) yet the beer seems a bit thin and lacks any sort of chewiness. Thought it might have a thicker mouthfeel with a FG that high.

Details: Brewday was exactly four days ago from this post. I pitched Wyeats 1968. Gravity hit 1.020 five days later and the beer cleared as well. I agiated in the primary for another week but the gravity remained. I racked to a secondary, and left it there for ten days. The beer feremented at 65 for 4-5 days and then I ramped it to 70.

 

[refect]

Made the extract version of this about a week ago. Just racked to clear the other day so i tasted a sample and it was amazing! However, i was looking at the brew tonight and i noticed a faint, kinda white in color, oily film developing on the top. It wasnt across the whole top. Just kinda blotched. Could this be oil from the spices? I fermented with WLP002 yeast at 65 degress. Brew is still sitting at 65 degress as it clears. Gravity was around 1.012 when i racked, and the sample didn't taste sour or strange. Before i racked, I boiled 1 cup of water for 5 mins then pulled it off the burner and added spices (i used spice island's pumpkin pie spice blend) to let them steep as it cooled. I then dumped the spiced tea into my sanitized carboy and racked onto it. I hope it is not an infection starting. This beer tasted amazing when i took a sample as i racked. Would be a shame for it to turn sour on me Any input on this? Guess i will just keep an eye on it to see if the film worsens..

 

[rebrandsoftware]

Just wanted to add my opinion on this wonderful autumn beer: fantastic! Everyone loves it, I love it, and if you really want to make it outstanding rim your glass with a small bit of brown sugar! MMmmmm!

This will be an annual brew for me, thank you so much for the recipe!

-Mike

P.S. I can taste the pumpkin. Don't brew this without the pumpkin. I heard the BetterBrewing podcast about the pumpkin adding nothing and I think they got it wrong.

 

[lonepalm]

Wanted to share some pics of this brew. Needs 2 more weeks to condition but mighty tasty now.

Brewed on labor day and sat in primary for 10 days then another 14 in secondary.

Needs to be started the 1st of August.

 

[teetee523]

Brewed the extract version of this beer and it's been almost 4 weeks bottle conditioning. We tried it earlier on and before bottling and it had a weird aftertaste to it, almost medicinal. I think it was the spices that needed some time to mellow out. Just tried one last night and that flavor has faded quite a bit and now is really good! Slightly sweet and spiced but not overwhelming. But in our case, it needed longer bottle conditioning to let the spices mellow out.

 

[thetmaxx]

Made the extract version of this about a week ago. Just racked to clear the other day so i tasted a sample and it was amazing! However, i was looking at the brew tonight and i noticed a faint, kinda white in color, oily film developing on the top. It wasnt across the whole top. Just kinda blotched. Could this be oil from the spices? I fermented with WLP002 yeast at 65 degress. Brew is still sitting at 65 degress as it clears. Gravity was around 1.012 when i racked, and the sample didn't taste sour or strange. Before i racked, I boiled 1 cup of water for 5 mins then pulled it off the burner and added spices (i used spice island's pumpkin pie spice blend) to let them steep as it cooled. I then dumped the spiced tea into my sanitized carboy and racked onto it. I hope it is not an infection starting. This beer tasted amazing when i took a sample as i racked. Would be a shame for it to turn sour on me Any input on this? Guess i will just keep an eye on it to see if the film worsens..

Mine is doing the same thing, thought it was going to sour, but it tastes pretty good.

I used the McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice. It seems like it has too much Cinnamon Spice to it, but we are only 2-3 weeks in bottle.

 

[Veedo]

could one just add the spices along with the priming sugar, then add to the bottling bucket?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

P.S. I can taste the pumpkin. Don't brew this without the pumpkin. I heard the BetterBrewing podcast about the pumpkin adding nothing and I think they got it wrong.

Agree 100% that the pumpkin is mandatory.

 

[SourHopHead]

Pumpkin and Cinnamon.

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk

 

[refect]

Mine is doing the same thing, thought it was going to sour, but it tastes pretty good.

I used the McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice. It seems like it has too much Cinnamon Spice to it, but we are only 2-3 weeks in bottle.

glad to hear that! mine is about 4 days in the clearing stage and the film hasn't seemed to have got any worse/thicker, or more noticable. it is still faint and transparent, but it is still there though. not too sure what it is, but the best i can do is just keep an eye on it to see if it worsens. based on your results, i am hoping mine will still taste good, and hasn't become infected. I haven't taken a sample because i dont want to keep opening it so i am just gonna wait till it is time to bottle to taste it.

 

[silver02ws6]

Brewed this on sunday. I made a 1L starter with the WLP002 and it has taken it from 1.053 down to 1.012 in about 4 days, the batch was bubbling away in 4 hours after pitching. I took a sample last night for FG reading and brewed up a little spiced tea with cinnamon and nutmeg... i think it may turn out really nicely!

It does have a bit of a banana thing going on with it or maybe its just young and i am looking for something to worry about. Tasted ok.... was really good with a little spice tea in it.

 

[Stephonovich]

Mine's been in the primary for almost 2 weeks now, so I took my first gravity reading / sample. It's at 1.014, which puts the ABV at ~6.5%. The color is beautiful and crystal clear; the pumpkin flavor comes through, with some muted spice notes. As stated previously, I plan on doing a spice tea add before bottling.

Of note with the pumpkin, I think adding 2x the recipe actually worked out well for me - I love that about brewing, it all usually turns out OK.

In any case, I'm thrilled with this beer. Thank you so much for the recipe!

 

[jeepinjeepin]

2.5 weeks in primary, 2 days crashing in the fridge, kegged tonight with Catdaddy extracted cinnamon plus clone. Cold carbing now with OCD shaking. I may just be foolish enough to serve it tomorrow night.

 

[Aksig88]

I have everything for this brew but im not setup for a mash process. Question when can i add the 60oz of pumpkin and how? I read a little on the mash process but still not sure, if someone can help me out im ready to start this in the morning!!!

 

[Yuri_Rage]

What's "everything?" What do you have on hand?

 

[Aksig88]

Brew pot, all ingredients and that's it.....I've done grain recipes but never a mash. I hope this clears up my predicament. I need to look more into a mash setup but might be a little late for this brew, what do you think?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

That doesn't clear it up at all. Do you have the ingredients for the extract recipe or the all grain recipe?

 

[Aksig88]

6 gallon extract plus steeping grains recipe......

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Then you don't mash anything. You steep the grain by putting the milled grain in a mesh bag and dropping it into your boil kettle at 155º F for half an hour per the recipe. Take the grain bag out, let it drain, and continue with the boil. I just boiled the pumpkin right along with the extract when I made that recipe, and I liked the results. You can read other experiences throughout the thread.

 

[Aksig88]

That's what figured but I wasn't to sure cause all the threads I was reading were mashing. But that helps a lot! Do you strain the pumpkin out when pouring wort into fermenter or leave it in?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

It'll be almost impossible to strain. Just leave it in and accept a lot of trub.

 

[Aksig88]

Thanks Yuri for the help and the recipe ill for sure post my results when its done

 

[ckarpys]

That's what figured but I wasn't to sure cause all the threads I was reading were mashing. But that helps a lot! Do you strain the pumpkin out when pouring wort into fermenter or leave it in?

I actually boiled the pumpkin in a mesh bag for the hour with the extract. I got most of it out and when racking to secondary it was nice and clear.

Not sure of the results yet but i think I will get beer

 

[scratchex]

Again thank you Yuri for the great recipe! Ours is finally ready to serve. It's amazing the difference a week makes. I took a sample last week & as delicious as it tasted I knew it wasn't quite ready. Still needed a couple of days to carbonate & to let the spices balance out. We served this up last night at our block party and it was a HUGE hit. Everyone loved it. In fact most people preferred this brew over some of the others we have on tap. I must say this brew was by far the funnest beer I've brewed up as well as the most delicious. Everything turned out better than anticipated, taste, FG, ABV%, etc...

I was a little concerned that I over did it w/ the spices. I didn't make a tea for the boil and when I took a sample prior to transferring to the 2ndary I felt like it needed more spice. I went ahead and added the "tea" to the 2ndary and when I took a sample last week I was like "crap I think I used too much" Most of my friends thought it tasted delicious last week but everyone said "wow you can really taste the spice" Exactly 1 week later the beer is finally ready to serve & the spices tapered off; in fact exactly the way I was anticipating, so mission accomplished! Like Yuri stated initially, just add the spice to taste. I'm definitely going to brew this again & may keep it on heavy rotation depending upon pumpkin availability.

Yuri, if you're ever in Austin hit me up b/c I owe you a beer or 2 for the amazing recipe!

Picture below for what we are calling "Smashin Pumpkin Ale"

http://www.chrisgomezphoto.com/austin/hbe3b17b#hbe3b17b

 

[refect]

It'll be almost impossible to strain. Just leave it in and accept a lot of trub.

I tried to strain my batch with a funnel and one of those nylon bucket strainers. It was a huge mess! I got a lot of pumpkin out, but it took forever because i had to constantly dump the pumpkin out of the strainer and move it around to unclog it. Even then there was still a good amount of pumpkin in the primary. I think I lost some fermentable sugars too in the still wet pumpkin thAt was dumped, because my OG cAme in a little low, around 1.045. I plan on brewing this up again in a few weeks, and I'm just gonna dump it all into the primary and not even bother straining the wort. Less mess, less hassle, and less time consumed. just let time separate the pumpkin from the wort as it ferments and clears. It might even add some more pumpkin flavor sitting on all that pumpkin trub?

 

[Dynachrome]

Has anyone else placed their pumpkin on top of the grain bed to use the grain as a strainer, it works pretty well.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

The all grain recipe provides the ability to keep a lot of the vegetal solids out of the wort through lautering. That's much harder to do when brewing the extract version.

 

[terrenum]

Well... so far so good. Brewed a 10gallons batch of this brew yesterday and it went well. Beer smelled really good and tasted good as well. I drank my hole hydrometer sample!!! First time it happens.
I used Maris Otter grain for the 2-row; it is a more consistent grain so if I want to brew this again this should help in terms of consistency.
The beer is now sitting at 68-70F degrees and it is a slow start for fermentation; It's been there since 5 p.m. last night and very little activity so far. Didn't make a starter but split the batch in 2 carboys and had one WL002 flask for each. Should kick-off soon I guess.

Don't know if you have access to the Celestial tea in the US but I used tea bag of the Bengal spice tea and it smelled awesome. It has Cinammon, Ginger, Nutmeg, cardamom, clove.... it is amazing; I used 2 teaspoon 5 minutes before end of boil and I suspect I will have to do a spice tea before bottling as well. The spices were very subtle. Here is the link : http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/herbal-teas/bengal-spice

Anyhow, just wanted to share my experience and thank Yuri for what seems to be a very solid brew.

Oh yeah... I have used a real pumpkin and 1 lbs of rice hulls; the sparge was good, despite a broken sparge arm so I had to be creative; my efficiency was a little lower than usual and got an after boil OG of 1.055...not far from the recipe. Pre-boil OG was 1.049. And for people that are not sure about using pumpkin in this recipe I can assure you it adds some complexity. I could totally taste the pumpkin in my pre-boil hydrometer sample and this is before the spice addition so it is not the spices that reminded me of pumpkin!! Mash started at 158F and went down to 150F (it is getting cold in Montreal) so put a bit of heat back after 30 minutes and brought it back up to 158F; I guess it will be fine...anyone could comment on a mash temperature that swings like this? Is it a big deal?


Cheers

 

[eulipion2]

Yuri, I brewed the recipe you posted back on page 69. It's been in the bottle for about 5-6 weeks. It's pretty tasty, but I feel like there's a little too much dark fruit character (Special B?) that clashes with the pumpkin and spice. Have you tried yours yet, and what did you think? It could also be that my fermentation temps were a bit too high, so I'm curious to hear your opinion.

Thanks