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

[jeepinjeepin]

I might convert this one to a PM recipe and then put the pumpkin in the mash. Not sure how that would work since I wouldn't be doing AG. I figure it might be worth a shot.

It would work. Be sure to keep some base grain in the PM to convert the pumpkin and other grain starches.

 

[MMJfan]

Anyone ever make this recipe using BIAB?

 

[ajohnson153]

Anyone ever make this recipe using BIAB?

Can't think of why it wouldn't work. Reduce your efficiency by 10 or so then add enough base grain to get the OG back up. I've not tried BIAB myself but that seems to be the most popular way to convert recipes to it.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Just tapped the keg of this. Pretty tasty! I was worried that 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice at kegging wasn't going to be enough, but its just where it should be! You can smell it in the nose, taste it in the beer, but it is not overpowering. Thanks for the recipe Yuri!

 

[PowderHoundMJ]

Just bottled this weekend. Time is your best friend on this recipe. I tasted out of the secondary about 2 weeks after racking onto the 1tsp spices and thought it tasted like crap. Just poorly balanced. Due to lack of empty bottles, it sat in that secondary for about 5 weeks and when I tasted it Saturday prior to bottling it was a whole different animal. Very smooth, nicely balanced with a subtle yet distinct nose and a great maltyness (156 mash) to accompany the extra body from the pumpkin made this slide down like a piece of pie. Really looking forward to having it cool and carbonated.

I did a slightly amped up version that Yuri posted mid thread. about 14lb grain all in the same proportions.

 

[BullGator]

I highly recommend not adding it the mash. I have read most or all of this entire thread. From my perspective the amount of conversion you get is not worth the hassle. I threw mine in the boil kettle and aside from having more trub than usual, the brew day was very typical. There are posts on here that will make you cringe regarding stuck sparges and the like. Lastly, when people who have brewed this multiple times start asking if you can leave out the pumpkin all-together, you have to wonder if it is worth the risk of mashing.

As far as prep, I spread my canned pumpkin on a cookie sheet and baked for about 45min. I also spread about 1/2 lbs brown sugar on top thinking it would improve things. All it did was dry my beer out. My final gravity was 1.009. I did 10 gal and bottled half as-is but I added 2oz of malto-dextrin to the second half at bottling time. The difference is substantial. Adding only 2 oz really improved the beer in making it less dry.

 

[BullGator]

And so I properly disclaim myself and respond to MMJfan, I brewed it BIAB. If you don't put the pumpkin in the bag (i.e. the mash for the BIAB method) it's a piece of cake. Or in this case pie. Pumpkin pie to be exact. Thank you...I'll be here all night...

 

[brauchef10]

brewed this up yesterday, used a leftover uncarved Halloween pumpkin and rasted in the oven, and also for the spice, I grabbed Trader joes pumpkin pie spice mix, then used your method in steeping the spice.
Bubbling away happily this morning, so can't wait to try it

 

[eulipion2]

Anyone ever make this recipe using BIAB?

Basically I took the main all-grain recipe (15 gal), divided by 3, and made a few small adjustments. Also, adjusted the hops for No-Chill brewing. The recipe has changed since I brewed it, so the recipe below is a little different from current, but the numbers are almost spot-on.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

5 lb 11 oz Maris Otter
1 lb 5 oz Vienna
13 oz Biscuit
1.5 lb Crystal 60
3 oz Special B
5 oz Flaked Wheat

60 oz canned pumpkin, baked then added to mash
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Plus in the no-chill cube

3/4 oz Tettnang 4.7% AA, 40 min (adjusted for No-Chill - with chilling, 60 min)
2 packs Nottingham

Mash: 8.5 gallons @ 158 F for 75 min
Mash-out: 170 F for 15 min
Boil: 90 min

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.016
ABV: 4.9%

My biggest concern was that fermentation temps were a little high, resulting in fruity flavors. Next time I might mash a little lower (156 F), ferment cooler.

 

[eulipion2]

And so I properly disclaim myself and respond to MMJfan, I brewed it BIAB. If you don't put the pumpkin in the bag (i.e. the mash for the BIAB method) it's a piece of cake. Or in this case pie. Pumpkin pie to be exact. Thank you...I'll be here all night...

I added the pumpkin to the bag and found that it nearly dissolved in the mash water. I didn't really have a lot more trub than any other beer.

 

[basepaul21]

This is my first time racking to a secondary. I have a 6 gallon plastic carboy and it's been sitting in there for a month. I still hear it bubbling away once every 10 minutes or so, maybe a little longer between. Either way, I feel like it should be finished, but haven't had the time to check the SG in a while. Any ideas why it might still be bubbling?

 

[letmeholleratya]

Just bought ingredients to make this again. Hoping that it will turn out. last year it took a long amount of aging before I enjoyed it; I think that was my bad though, and not the recipe.

 

[Dcmpres]

Made a 5 gallon AG batch for the neighborhood Halloween party and the keg didn't last the night. I did add my own twist by soaking 2oz. medium toasted Hungarian Oak soaked in 4oz of Capt Morgan spiced rum for 3 weeks. Added to keg after racking and aged it for 1 month. It adds additional layer of spicy goodness.

 

[quattro004]

My brewing friends and I brewed up a 5 gallon AG batch this past weekend. No big suprises. Had a momentary stuck sparge while taking first runnings but we fixed that quickly by removing the mash, cleaning out the false bottom unit and making sure the screen stayed flat while pooring the mash back in. Worked like a charm. We used 1lb of rice hauls for piece of mind just in case. Color and aroma were exactly what I expected going into the primary. I checked it yesterday and it was bubbling away nicely. Can't wait to try this!

 

[Calman2k]

Brewed this one a couple months ago. Did a couple things different. I added another .25oz hops at the last minute for flavor, worked well, kind of helped cut some of the sweetness from the pumpkin flavor. For the pumpkin, I ended up buying a pumpkin (large) and scraped the inside clean and cut it into about 1.5x1.5 inch chunks. Put on ALL of the different spices, then cooked the pumpkin in my waterless cookware. After it was softish (its a word now) I put the pieces into tight mesh hop bag and put it in at the boil, took it out after 60 min. I kept stirring it around every 10 min or so to get the wort moving through the bag. The result was AMAZING. I had some pumpkin ale at BJ's (SoCal brewery and pizza joint) and I liked this one better. Kuddos on the recipe.

 

[Eshorebrewer]

Made this last Saturday, scaled to a 10 gallon recipe and it was too much for my stainless braid to handle, collapsed it and caused a stuck sparge. After 7 hours of draining I finally had about 6.5g so I boiled... Imperial pumpkin anyone?

 

[Mojzis]

I made a this a few months ago and changed just the yeast. I thought a nice twist would be a Belgian (550) yeast. Nope. Either the yeast ate all the pumpkin flavor or my pumpkin pie spice blows. Still, the end product is tasty. It turned out to be a slightly spiced Belgian amber. I'll be using the grain bill for my next Belgian amber (very good), and us-05 for the next pumpkin beer. C'est la vie.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Just tapped the keg of this. Pretty tasty! I was worried that 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice at kegging wasn't going to be enough, but its just where it should be! You can smell it in the nose, taste it in the beer, but it is not overpowering. Thanks for the recipe Yuri!

So 3 weeks later and the spice has really subsided. Can't smell it in the nose and is not very prominent... Might need to make a tincture or use more spice next year. YMMV just keeping everyone in the loop on my thoughts

 

[RichardMNixon]

I copied the recipe for the most part with only a few changes.
I used 0.3 oz. of Nugget hops instead of the Goldings, I added more than a tsp of spices (8 g), and I added a small amount (0.33 oz) of vanilla extract at bottling (GF requested pumpkin roll beer).

Not really sure if I did something wrong but it came out tasting more like a Belgian wheat than a pumpkin beer. I don't taste the vanilla at all (which is ok, I wanted to play it conservative), but I can also barely taste the spice and it has a really pronounced Belgian yeasty taste.

It's also much lighter in color than I expected (like 4 or 5 SRM), lighter than another one I brewed using less specialty grain and late extract addition. Is that indicative of anything?

 

[brehuh]

Happy thanksgiving, london esb yeast brewed 3 months ago tastes great!

 

[letmeholleratya]

Kegged a few days ago and tried it today. Delicious. I used a spice mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves.

 

[Eshorebrewer]

Just bottled my "imperial stuck sparge" version and it tastes awesome. Can't wait for it to carb up.

 

[snowman48360]

I've read two thirds of the posts and haven't seen an answer to this and I wonder if I have a problem on my hands.

Mine is being made for family. She's looking for a strong pumpkin pie taste.

We made a spice tea (1 teas pumpkin pie mix in 1 cup) and she liked 6 teas per 4 oz of a sample that did not taste green.

That's 1/8 cup per 1/2 cup. Or 20 teas in 20 cups per 5 gallons. Her Husband figured that 4 teas tasted about the same but its still a lot.

My problem is that the beer in my secondary tastes green. I added 10 teas in 7 cups. (got a little slimy when it cooled - before adding, the mix didn't say it has gelatin but i think it did.)

Could barely tasted the spices after adding because of strong green flavor. After couple of days spice flavor is twice stronger but not like the really pronounced flavor she favors.

Would appreciate some advice....

 

[moscoeb]

The greenness will age out, this takes a minimum of 6-8 weeks before the taste really shines.
And the later you add the spices, the more pronounced it will be. Try adding them to your bottling bucket. As far as this one getting thick, I have no idea!

 

[ZombieBrew83]

I've read two thirds of the posts and haven't seen an answer to this and I wonder if I have a problem on my hands.

Mine is being made for family. She's looking for a strong pumpkin pie taste.

We made a spice tea (1 teas pumpkin pie mix in 1 cup) and she liked 6 teas per 4 oz of a sample that did not taste green.

That's 1/8 cup per 1/2 cup. Or 20 teas in 20 cups per 5 gallons. Her Husband figured that 4 teas tasted about the same but its still a lot.

My problem is that the beer in my secondary tastes green. I added 10 teas in 7 cups. (got a little slimy when it cooled - before adding, the mix didn't say it has gelatin but i think it did.)

Could barely tasted the spices after adding because of strong green flavor. After couple of days spice flavor is twice stronger but not like the really pronounced flavor she favors.

Would appreciate some advice....

I'm not sure if I'm following your additions but it sounds like you are talking about way too much spice for this recipe. I used a half tsp at KO and 1 tsp at bottling. Mine tasted great at 3-4 weeks after bottling and peaked soon after. The spices faded slowly over time leaving a roasted pumpkin flavor with soft spice notes. I prefer this fresh.

How long has yours been fermenting? This tastes very different warm and flat before adding spices at bottling. As usual, I would recommend sticking to the original recipe and seeing how you/others like it and then make adjustments the next time around. It worked for me.

 

[snowman48360]

How long has yours been fermenting? This tastes very different warm and flat before adding spices at bottling. As usual, I would recommend sticking to the original recipe and seeing how you/others like it and then make adjustments the next time around. It worked for me.

30 days in primary 10 in secondary. You're right about sticking with the original and adjusting. Making for a relative to celebrate her having a baby. She really likes Pumpking an out of town commercial beer. I was trying to use the suggestion of making a tea and spicing to taste. may have gotten carried away.

I guess if its too spicy I could let it age and lose some spiciness?

 

[ZombieBrew83]

30 days in primary 10 in secondary. You're right about sticking with the original and adjusting. Making for a relative to celebrate her having a baby. She really likes Pumpking an out of town commercial beer. I was trying to use the suggestion of making a tea and spicing to taste. may have gotten carried away.

I guess if its too spicy I could let it age and lose some spiciness?

A friend of mine said my result was close to Pumking and I added an extra half tsp to the base recipe. I'm not sure how that spice will age out. Some actors in the blend may fade quickly others may never at all. Let your customer decide I suppose.

 

[automobiliben]

Got a jump on my pumpkin beer for the season, just put 12G in the fermenter! Had a slow mash, I will probably do a partial mash of sorts next time with the Pumpkin in the boil kettle...

Ben

 

[moscoeb]

I kegged mine this year.

It was lighter than I remember, could late extract additions really lighten it up that much, or am I misremembering the color?
It tasted VERY green and almost a young wine flavor, I was worried I screwed up. But after four days in the keg, it is already tasting better. How long do y'all normally give it to age in the keg?

 

[MMJfan]

Can't wait to try this recipe doing BIAB this year! I made 2 batches of this doing extract last fall and thought it was EXCELLENT! But since I started doing AG using BIAB, my beers have been turning out even better so I'm kind of excited to see how the AG version of this turns out!

Probably should think about brewing this in the next few weeks...

Gotta brew my house IPA for college football season first though...