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

[BrewLou]

1st off thanks for posting the recipe!

I did a similar version to this, but I excluded the "spice tea" since I was worried it would be almost overkill for the way I went about things. Short and sweet of it was that I cut your 15gallon AG into a 3rd and went from there. I "baked" the pumpkin in the oven with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on it until it started the carmelize. I then mixed it up in the dish and let it bake again until it was just slightly carmelizing again. At this time I sprinkled just a hair more cinnamon onto the pumpkin. I placed the pumpkin in a nylon bag and let it sit in my mash for the entire hour. Everything came pouring out nicely into my bucket and the house smelled like pure pumpkin pie. Wife walked in and was like !#%@ what smells so good! Needless to say we were both VERY excited to try this.

I am about half way through my bottle conditioning on this, and just had to taste it early! Honestly I am a bit letdown and I wanted to ask if forgoing the spice tea would play that much into the flavor difference I am noticing. I figured with how it smelt that it was going to be very pumpkiny. It is not bad by any stretch of the imagination ( I am really quite impressed with it) but there is only a slight taste of pumpkin. It (to me) tastes a great deal like a Sam Adams Octoberfest with a nice hint of pumpkin. Do you think the "spice tea" woudl make that much of a difference in the taste? Everything I did to it was done at the beginning. I did nothing after it was fermenting/fermented other than move it to a 2ndary, and bottle it.

 

[BrettV]

Unfortunately, yes, the reason you're let down is that pumpkin ales don't really get their flavor from pumpkin: they get it from the spices. By cooking the cinnamon with the pumpkin and then boiling it for an hour, you greatly reduced its potency. Cinnamon flavor fades over time, which is why the recipe recommends the spice tea in the secondary.

 

[ChrisTags]

Bottled last night......AMAZING!

 

[Dilligaf76]

Unfortunately, yes, the reason you're let down is that pumpkin ales don't really get their flavor from pumpkin: they get it from the spices. By cooking the cinnamon with the pumpkin and then boiling it for an hour, you greatly reduced its potency. Cinnamon flavor fades over time, which is why the recipe recommends the spice tea in the secondary.

I don't even use pumpkin anymore in mine. It's just the spices that I'm after.

 

[brices121]

I don't even use pumpkin anymore in mine. It's just the spices that I'm after.

You probably don't get that orange color though, do you?

 

[awarner322]

Here is roughly what I am getting from beersmith after scaling the 15 gallon AG version. Thinking about pumping up the pale malt a bit and maybe rounding up everything else a touch to get to the gravity the OP has (1.057). Anyone have any experience with this or advice otherwise?

Est orig Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.012

7 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 71.2 %
1 lbs 11.2 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 17.3 %
12.8 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.1 %
5.3 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 4 3.4 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 16.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 6 -

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Here is roughly what I am getting from beersmith after scaling the 15 gallon AG version. Thinking about pumping up the pale malt a bit and maybe rounding up everything else a touch to get to the gravity the OP has (1.057). Anyone have any experience with this or advice otherwise?

Est orig Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.012

7 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 71.2 %
1 lbs 11.2 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 17.3 %
12.8 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.1 %
5.3 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 4 3.4 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 16.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 6 -

I brewed it exactly as OP did, cut to 5 gallons with the same stuff you listed there.

I ended up @ 1.056 OG, @ 73%, my first ever AG brew ...so i dont know that you need to alter it much. I think i had maybe 6 oz of Flaked wheat, and usually just rounded up my oz's for everything since the brew shop has analog scales.

 

[terrenum]

Bottled this one year ago and just opened a bottle. Still delicious. Spices have fade a bit but nice ans balance with a good malt backbone structure

 

[BullGator]

Can anyone help with some of my questions? Sorry if these were already covered but there sure are a lot of pages in this thread.

1 - I do partial mashing on the stove top in a pot (BIAB method). I usually mash about 7 to 8 total pounds of grain due to the capacity if my pot. Do I just put the pumpkin in the bag and mash as usual? If so, no pumpkin in the boil or primary?

2 - There are a few different versions of pumpkin beer recipes on here that are all similar but slightly different. Has anyone tried them all? Any tips or any combinations of the various recipes been done where improvements have been noted?

Thanks!

 

[ChrisTags]

My OG for extract was 1.052. I pulled it off pumpkin into secondary after 12 days, bottled 7 7 days later and my FG was 1.008. Was a bit surprised it dropped that low. Didn't taste very alcoholic, but 5.78% is a bit higher than I was expecting.

I used 1332 Northwest Ale with a starter.

 

[ChrisTags]

*7 days later, not 77

 

[bigebrewer]

Would Wyeast London ESB 1968 yeast be ok to use with this?

 

[Charlieatthedisco]

how could I import this recipe into beersmith...or a beersmith file avail?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Spend 5 minutes putting the ingredients into the software?

 

[Charlieatthedisco]

Spend 5 minutes putting the ingredients into the software?

Oh

 

[BullGator]

What temp is best to ferment this at? I used white labs English ale yeast.

White labs says between 65 and 68 for wlp-002. Better to be on low end or high end?

 

[brices121]

Yuri, tried today after adding the spice and racking, and it is exactly as advertised. I soaked the spice in about 1/4 C vodka.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Awesome. Glad you like it!

 

[reiffer75]

Where should the OG be on this beer? I brewed a batch today and it came out at 1.060. Is this a little high? Might have gone a little over on the DME

 

[Yuri_Rage]

1.050 - 1.060 is about right. Don't shoot for anything higher without increasing the crystal malt.

 

[hio3791]

I have an extra ounce of Cluster (7% AA). Would substituting it for Kent Goldings make much of a difference? Just thinking that a spiced ale shouldn't be hop forward and Cluster is a very neutral hop. Using it as the only bittering addition shouldn't affect the flavor too much. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[chairbornrangerx]

So I just brewed this over this past weekend. 10 hours total time... man the mash/sparge was a huge PITA... It just kept getting stuck and/or was draining immensely slow.

If I ever do this pumpkin batch again, I might just aim for the extract to save my sanity and time.

Pitched the yeast dry after racking 10 gallons into two 6.5 gal carboys, and had the fiancee run into the yard in her bath robe while I was mowing the next morning to get me back into the house... darn fermentation was going gangbusters and blew the cap's right off the airlock. Re-sanitized and put back on. After 36 hours it was calm enough to stop blowing the caps off the airlocks. Now I have a bit of beer to clean off the floor AND the ceiling.

 

[bradford0113]

Brewed the extract version over the weekend following the recipe exactly as written. After topping off the fermentor to 5.5 gallons, I took a gravity reading and was right at 1.050. I was expecting it to be higher so I did not continue adding to the 6 gallon mark as the recipe recommended. What are other people getting for OG for extract and at what volumes?

 

[MMJfan]

I had OG at 1.060 but I did a full 6.5-7 gal boil and I was at just about 6 gal in the fermenter for primary. Lost about a gallon to trub when transferring to carboy for clearing...

 

[BullGator]

So I just brewed this over this past weekend. 10 hours total time... man the mash/sparge was a huge PITA... It just kept getting stuck and/or was draining immensely slow.

If I ever do this pumpkin batch again, I might just aim for the extract to save my sanity and time.

Pitched the yeast dry after racking 10 gallons into two 6.5 gal carboys, and had the fiancee run into the yard in her bath robe while I was mowing the next morning to get me back into the house... darn fermentation was going gangbusters and blew the cap's right off the airlock. Re-sanitized and put back on. After 36 hours it was calm enough to stop blowing the caps off the airlocks. Now I have a bit of beer to clean off the floor AND the ceiling.

I brewed up a 10 gallon batch Saturday as well. While I mash the BIAB method, I chose to keep the pumpkin out if the mash after seeing how much there were and reading all the stories here. I just threw it all in the fermenter. It all mixed right in so I doubt the bag would have filtered much. I'm not even clear on what mashing the pumpkin does anyways.

So I guess my point is, instead of going straight to extract, consider brewing like normal and just boiling the pumpkin instead.

 

[yellowjacket151]

Any thoughts/experience with using Challenger hops in a Pumpkin Ale?

I've got an ounce in the freezer but don't have a lot of experience with using it. I'm concerned the aroma and bitterness quality might clash with the pumpkin spices.

I'm thinking 1/2 oz first wort and 1/2 oz @ 15 minutes into a Northern English Brown base. BeerSmith estimates 21 IBUs with 0.459 IBU/SG.

 

[bradford0113]

Brewed the extract version over the weekend following the recipe exactly as written. After topping off the fermentor to 5.5 gallons, I took a gravity reading and was right at 1.050. I was expecting it to be higher so I did not continue adding to the 6 gallon mark as the recipe recommended. What are other people getting for OG for extract and at what volumes?

Also, after 48 hours I had no more signs of fermentation going on. After 72 hours, I took a gravity reading and it's down to 1.012. I'm guessing it's still possible for this to drop another point or two before it's completely done. Is this going to be too dry? I was hoping for a little sweetness and am wondering if I should get some lactose to have on hand for when I transfer to my "clearing vessel." I could potentially add a little at a time until I get the sweetness I'm looking for. Right now, I can't really tell how it's going to taste because there are several off-flavors that still need to be cleaned up by letting sit longer.

I fermented with rehydrated S-04 dry yeast at a temp of 63F. I can't believe how fast and clean this fermented out. I was expecting a lot of blow-off like I had on my last couple of batches, but this one went so fast (1.050 to 1.012 within 48 hours) without leaving any residue or anything on the sides or lid of the bucket!

 

[awarner322]

FWIW...I brewed this earlier this week. 5 gallon all grain batch. I used 1# of rice hulls to improve my extraction and prevent any issues....about half way through (3-4 gallons) my extraction came to a complete stop. I shut it down and stirred it up then pulled a few runs to set the grain bed again...anyway after all that I still hit my gravity

 

[MMJfan]

Also, after 48 hours I had no more signs of fermentation going on. After 72 hours, I took a gravity reading and it's down to 1.012. I'm guessing it's still possible for this to drop another point or two before it's completely done. Is this going to be too dry? I was hoping for a little sweetness and am wondering if I should get some lactose to have on hand for when I transfer to my "clearing vessel." I could potentially add a little at a time until I get the sweetness I'm looking for. Right now, I can't really tell how it's going to taste because there are several off-flavors that still need to be cleaned up by letting sit longer.

I fermented with rehydrated S-04 dry yeast at a temp of 63F. I can't believe how fast and clean this fermented out. I was expecting a lot of blow-off like I had on my last couple of batches, but this one went so fast (1.050 to 1.012 within 48 hours) without leaving any residue or anything on the sides or lid of the bucket!

Did you already add your spices? I think a lot of the sweetness and flavors actually come when you add your spices. I had spread some pumpkin pie spice as well as a layer of brown sugar on top of my pumpkin while it was baking so that gave the wort some nice flavors. I haven't touched the brew since I picthed the yeast in my fermenting bucket over 2 weeks ago. I'm planning on adding a spice tea made with Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus when I rack to my bottling bucket next week.

 

[bradford0113]

Did you already add your spices? I think a lot of the sweetness and flavors actually come when you add your spices. I had spread some pumpkin pie spice as well as a layer of brown sugar on top of my pumpkin while it was baking so that gave the wort some nice flavors. I haven't touched the brew since I picthed the yeast in my fermenting bucket over 2 weeks ago. I'm planning on adding a spice tea made with Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus when I rack to my bottling bucket next week.

Haven't added any spices yet. I was planning to primary for one week, add the spice tea upon transfer to secondary, then secondary for two weeks. I was looking to see if anyone had experienced dryness at this FG (1.012-1.010). I don't plan to add anything unless it seems dry on bottling day. I just want to be prepared (possibly with lactose) if I feel it needs sweetened up at that time.