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

[hio3791]

I just realized that I never reported back. This is the second time I brewed this recipe. The first time brewed was last year and I followed the recipe as stated in the first page for a 5.5 gal batch.

2nd batch was 11 gal brewed on 9/20/2013. The recipe was adjusted slightly:

2 row - 18.63 lbs
C60 - 2 lbs
Bisquit Malt - 1.5 lbs
Flaked Barley - 1 lb (as that's what I had in hand)
Rice Hulls - 1 lb
Pumpkin, hops, yeast and spices as per recipe

Mashed at 159F, OG 1.055, FG 1.019. Cold crashed at 2 weeks for a few days, kegged with gelatin. Spices were added at flameout.

First keg is already kicked. Beer is surprisingly crystal clear, very malty due to the high mash temp. It is a very balanced beer, the spices are just right, slight cinnamon aroma and flavor that is not in your face but more in the background, where it should be. I thought the high FG would affect this beer but it works well for me. I like it much better than how I remember it from last year.

I am hoping the 2nd keg makes it to Thanksgiving. As much as I enjoy this beer, I am not sure that I'll brew 11 gal again. That's a lot of spiced beer on hand!

 

[TheOnionKnight]

Just brewed a 10 gallon batch of this recipe. Please for the love of all that is holy, USE LOTS OF RICEHULLS! I made the mistake of only using 1lb of rice hulls and had the slowwwwesst sparge ever. Seriously, like a 5 hour sparge. Next time I brew this I will be using about 3-4lbs of rice hulls.

 

[brewski09]

When entering this into a competition (specialty beer in category 21A), what should I put as the base style for this beer?

I'd have to check the stats, but I would probably go with American Amber ale. That's what it seems like to me from when I made it.

 

[hio3791]

Just brewed a 10 gallon batch of this recipe. Please for the love of all that is holy, USE LOTS OF RICEHULLS! I made the mistake of only using 1lb of rice hulls and had the slowwwwesst sparge ever. Seriously, like a 5 hour sparge. Next time I brew this I will be using about 3-4lbs of rice hulls.

Really? Interesting. I've brewed this recipe twice. First time was 5.5 gal with 60 oz of Libby's Pure Pumpkin and second time was 11 gal with 120 oz. I used 1 lb of rice hulls on both batches. I typically open the valve between 25% and 50% for all my brews. No problems for me.

Did you pre-rinse the rice hulls? I soak mine in a couple of gallons of water for a few minutes, then drain, rinse and add to the mash. Not sure if that makes any difference but it works well for me.

It could also be the design of the MT. I use a 60 qt Igloo cube cooler with a SS braided hose.

 

[brewski09]

Really? Interesting. I've brewed this recipe twice. First time was 5.5 gal with 60 oz of Libby's Pure Pumpkin and second time was 11 gal with 120 oz. I used 1 lb of rice hulls on both batches. I typically open the valve between 25% and 50% for all my brews. No problems for me. Did you pre-rinse the rice hulls? I soak mine in a couple of gallons of water for a few minutes, then drain, rinse and add to the mash. Not sure if that makes any difference but it works well for me. It could also be the design of the MT. I use a 60 qt Igloo cube cooler with a SS braided hose.

I'm convinced that SS braided hose setup is the easiest overall sparge setup.

 

[bigelowsbest]

+1 ^

I also have the ss braid setup in an igloo 54qt. Made this batch for the fifth time yesterday with only 6oz of rice hulls, never had an issue with sparging this one on my rig

 

[Slow_Day]

I use a rectangular cooler with a slotted pvc manifold. Forgot about the rice hulls everyone recommends, but was surprised to have no issues. I added the pumpkin last, and even though I stir and batch sparge, most of it stayed in the upper half of the mash. I ended up opening the valve wide open after vorlauf just like normal. Maybe I was just lucky.

 

[TheOnionKnight]

Really? Interesting. I've brewed this recipe twice. First time was 5.5 gal with 60 oz of Libby's Pure Pumpkin and second time was 11 gal with 120 oz. I used 1 lb of rice hulls on both batches. I typically open the valve between 25% and 50% for all my brews. No problems for me.

Did you pre-rinse the rice hulls? I soak mine in a couple of gallons of water for a few minutes, then drain, rinse and add to the mash. Not sure if that makes any difference but it works well for me.

It could also be the design of the MT. I use a 60 qt Igloo cube cooler with a SS braided hose.

10 gal batch with 120 oz of libbys pure pumpkin mashed in a 10 gal orange rubbermaid cooler with a false bottom. No I didn't pre-soak the hulls. I've done it before but didn't bother with it this time around as I already upped my water volumes to compensate for the pumpkin absorption. You know, I brewed a 5 gal batch of this last year and didn't have the same problem. I think the weight of the pumpkin in the cylindrical cooler was too much for the false bottom this time around.

 

[Dynachrome]

I think the weight of the pumpkin in the cylindrical cooler was too much for the false bottom this time around.

I've never made this actual recipe, but one like it.

I used real pumpkin, baked, peeled, and whipped in a food processor.

I poured the pumpkin mush on top of the mash in progress and batch sparged through it. I just agitated the top during the sparges and used the grain bed as a filter.

 

[ilv4xn]

I made this for the first time several weeks ago. Tonight is the night to keg and bottle. I have read a pretty good portion of this thread and either missed or didn't see how much priming sugar to use. Thinking about priming with light brown sugar but have corn sugar in hand just in case I change my mind.

 

[bigelowsbest]

The one time I bottle conditioned this I used the standard 1oz/gallon and it came out great! No reason you can't use brown sugar either, id maybe go a little heavier (6.5oz/5gal) due to brown sugar having a higher moisture content than dextrose

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Had my first taste of this tonight after 11 days conditioning in the bottle. This truly ONE IF THE BEST pumpkin ales Ive had this year. Ive tried everything else I could find and this is right on par with Schaflys pumpkin ale, liquid pumpkin pie in a glass! Thanks for the recipe!!

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

I use a rectangular cooler with a slotted pvc manifold. Forgot about the rice hulls everyone recommends, but was surprised to have no issues. I added the pumpkin last, and even though I stir and batch sparge, most of it stayed in the upper half of the mash. I ended up opening the valve wide open after vorlauf just like normal. Maybe I was just lucky.

Same setup, use 1/2 lb rice hulls, no problems

 

[ClunkClunk]

Kegged this about a week ago, force carbonated, and served some at our family's pre-Thanksgiving get together today along with dessert.

Got good reviews from the family! The nose was a strong pumpkin pie. Taste reduced the pumpkin pie spices, but brought in the brown ale flavors. Fairly clean finish.

I liked it, though if I make it again in the future, I'll probably reduce the spices by a third or half. I found it very drinkable without spices, and with the spices, it's a bit much for more than a ~8oz serving. However as the weeks go on, if the spices mellow a bit I might enjoy a larger amount.

 

[jturie]

+1 on going easy on the spice. Overdid mine and it detracts from the beer.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

This truly is an amazing pumpkin oie ale recipe. And with a shot of whipped cream vodka, WOW!!!

 

[BrettV]

This truly is an amazing pumpkin oie ale recipe. And with a shot of whipped cream vodka, WOW!!!

Ooh, good idea! I still have ONE bomber left of the batch of this I brewed last fall. It'll be a Thanksgiving Day treat this year.

 

[yyvjpv]

Although I feel like I am jumping on the bandwagon a bit I just brewed this and put into the primary today. Did the extract version, OG came out to 1.050. Pretty much followed exactly as written except the crystal malt I was able to get a hold of was 65L, not 60, and I used a WL Irish Ale Yeast that I harvested/washed from my first batch last month. Hoping that it turns out ok despite the yeast substitute I had the jars to use up so wanted to do that before going and buying a brand new strain. I'll tell you in 3 weeks whether that was a good idea or not.

Finally, just wanted to say thanks to Yuri in particular, but also to everyone who has posted on this. I've spent the last week or so reading through every last post taking little bits of info and getting more and more excited for today. Its pretty cool to be part of something where even the most accomplished expert will take time to answer hundreds (if not thousands!) of questions from people like myself who are still trying to figure out which end of the hygrometer is up! Now I am excited for the "clearing stage" when I get to add my spice tea. If all turns out well and I can be patient enough to age it, this should be really freaking good come Thanksgiving.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Although I feel like I am jumping on the bandwagon a bit I just brewed this and put into the primary today. Did the extract version, OG came out to 1.050. Pretty much followed exactly as written except the crystal malt I was able to get a hold of was 65L, not 60, and I used a WL Irish Ale Yeast that I harvested/washed from my first batch last month. Hoping that it turns out ok despite the yeast substitute I had the jars to use up so wanted to do that before going and buying a brand new strain. I'll tell you in 3 weeks whether that was a good idea or not.

Finally, just wanted to say thanks to Yuri in particular, but also to everyone who has posted on this. I've spent the last week or so reading through every last post taking little bits of info and getting more and more excited for today. Its pretty cool to be part of something where even the most accomplished expert will take time to answer hundreds (if not thousands!) of questions from people like myself who are still trying to figure out which end of the hygrometer is up! Now I am excited for the "clearing stage" when I get to add my spice tea. If all turns out well and I can be patient enough to age it, this should be really freaking good come Thanksgiving.

Yes, youre jumpin the bandwagon! But thats ok. I'll be surprised if this lasts til Thanksgiving. Better plan on brewing another batch in August lol


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[brewski09]

Anyone try yams in this instead of pumkin?


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[GrizzAndFish]

Edit: Accidental double post

 

[GrizzAndFish]

At the end of last summer, I brewed up a 5 gallon extract batch of this. It was my first time using a starter, fruit or veggies, and my craigslist turkey fryer. I guess making a starter in a kitchen with live sourdough residing nearby allowed a lacto-bug to join the party. When we tasted it at clearing (secondary), there were some harsh / astringent flavors, but we added the spices and continued anyways, hoping they would clear up. By November, it was a full-blown sour ale, the lacto-bug eating most of the priming sugar and leaving the beer nearly flat. I still brought it to Thanksgiving, letting my family know that homebrew doesn't normally taste like this. Some loved it, most tried it out of courtesy but didn't care for it.

Fast-forward to mid-January, I brought a bottle to my local homebrew assn. (shout out to Rogue Brewers / Bear Creek Homebrew Assn.!) and nearly everyone was ecstatic about it, asking me my secret. I hesitantly told them that poor sanitation caused this happy accident. It sat for months in my shop, until my brewing partner encouraged me to enter it into the sour category in a local competition. I humored her, expecting to get a middling score at best. Imagine my surprise taking the ribbon in my first competition on an accidental sour! And against two Saisons!

So thank you to Yuri_Rage for publishing this recipe , and to Felicia for pushing me to enter Beerzilla !

 

[Itsott]

This is one of my favorite brews. I have brewed 15 or 20 gallons of this and it is always a hit. In the past I have always had trouble getting it nice and clear, partially due to my habits. I recently built an eherms and decided to do a batch of this as my pilot brew. I am going to let it age and serve it either around college football kickoff or at a friendsgiving event. Friendsgiving being that get together after thanksgiving where everyone is in town and wants to get away from family. Don't get me wrong I love my family but after making rounds to inlaws, then my parents being split it turns into an all day event. Anyways back to the point of the post. I had the pleasure of running into a brewmaster and got to sit and chat with him and a high ranked beer judge for a few hours and mentioned this beer. The judge has had it and loves it. The brewmaster recommended that I try this but leave the pumpkin out of the boil and add it a few days after fermentation starts. I made the batch and I am about to transfer to secondary. I will post back once we tap it and let everyone know the difference if any. Lastly thanks for the great recipe yuri

 

[CraigKing]

Forgive me for not reading the hundreds of posts thus far, but is this recipe still current for the extract version? Have their been any updates?

Has anyone tried using some darker malts to get more of a pumpkin stout?

 

[moscoeb]

Yes still current, I am actually going to brew a batch this week.


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[venomfast]

i just put my batch into the secondary and it smells great i will be barrel aging mine after it finishes in the secondary will let it sit till october aging then will keg it hope it turns out good

 

[alby44]

With Fall coming, this one's definitely on my radar! Has anyone added brown sugar to the boil? On page 10 of the thread, and it seems like it would be a good addition. If so, how much and when?

 

[Benedetto]

With Fall coming, this one's definitely on my radar! Has anyone added brown sugar to the boil? On page 10 of the thread, and it seems like it would be a good addition. If so, how much and when?

I've made this twice. Added brown sugar to the boil with my "spice tea" both times. I think I used a cup.

The 2nd time, I also primed with demerara sugar before bottling.

 

[Winterpeg]

how prominent is the spice character if you add only 1tsp for a 6 gallon batch? I was adding almost 1/4 tsp to the gravity reading tastes and it was very subtle. I assume if you steep it in hot water and give it a week or two it will come out more, but how much? I'd like a fairly up front spice character. I'm also aiming to bottle mid august and let it condition until October before I crack into them and I understand spice fades with age.

 

[MMJfan]

With Fall coming, this one's definitely on my radar! Has anyone added brown sugar to the boil? On page 10 of the thread, and it seems like it would be a good addition. If so, how much and when?

When I bake the pumpkin, I spread a layer of brown sugar on top of the pumpkin for about the last ten minutes of the bake. I also sprinkle pumpkin spice on it as well.

So to answer your question, yes I do add brown sugar to the boil and I've been happy with the results every time...