Zymurgy Pocahontas Pumpkin Ale (2013)

[msjulian]

This is by far the best pumpkin beer I have ever tasted! It is pumpkin pie in your mouth! The brewery in town couldn't believe how good it was. They were floored. I brewed it exactly as per the recipe except for the roasting of the pumpkin. It will definitely be on my yearly brew list.

 

[loctones]

My saison version is still very slowly fermenting away. It was at 1.008 when I checked it last week. Even with a lower OG, this thing is on it's way to 8.5% ABV or so. Hopefully it finishes up in a week or two and I can have it bottled and tasting good for Christmas dinner

 

[Mycues1982]

Going to give this a shot this week. Is the recipe in the first post the same as written? Going to do a 5 gallon batch so I'm going to split the recipe in half.

 

[Mycues1982]

Meant to say 10 gallons in the last post.. Anyway I brewed this and hit my levels and numbers perfectly! I'm going to keg the ale and bottle the saison I think. Does anyone have a suggested co2 volume for these especially the saison? Thanks

 

[Kfun123]

I just brewed this yesterday and the wort sample was great, my wife wouldn't put it down. I am actually thinking about splitting off 2 gallons and aging it on brandy soaked oak chips. Other than overshooting my OG (1.076 vs 1.071) the brew day went pretty smoothly. Only thing I really changed is I used Wyeast American Ale II (WY2772) instead of the East Coast Ale.

To any of the previous posters, any updates on how this beer came out or how it aged?

Recipe scaled for full volume BIAB,
9.5 Gallons mash water
9 Gallons wort collected
6.75 Gallons wort at flame out
6.5 Gallons wort at ambient
.5 Gallons wort lost
6 Gallons wort into fermenter


Perfect Pumpkin Ale (Zymurgy 08-13)
Style: Christmas / Winter Specialty Spiced Beer
OG: 1.071
Type: All Grain FG: 1.019
ABV: 6.81 %
Calories: 233 IBU's: 28
Efficiency: 85 % Boil Size: 9.00 Gal
Color: 12.4 SRM Batch Size: 6.00 Gal
Preboil OG: 1.047 Boil Time: 90 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
Primary 10 days @ 68.0°F

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
11.4 lbs 58.91 % Pale Malt (2 Row) US 60 mins 1.036
0.60 lbs 3.10 % Crystal Malt - 60L 60 mins 1.034
0.60 lbs 3.10 % Victory Malt 60 mins 1.034
0.75 lbs 3.88 % Melanoiden Malt 60 mins 1.037
3.60 lbs 18.60 % Pumpkin (Canned) 60 mins 1.???
1.20 lbs 6.20 % Maple Syrup 0 mins 1.???
1.20 lbs 6.20 % Honey 0 mins 1.???


Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
1.00 ozs 28 Magnum 90 mins 10.30

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.00 pkg American Ale II Wyeast 1272

Additions
Amount Name Time Stage
1.00 tbsp Pumpkin Pie (McCormick) 00 mins Boil

Mash Profile - BIAB 9.5 gallons water
Protein Rest 10 min @ 121.0°F
Saccharification 60 min @ 154.0°F
Mash out water 10 min @ 168.0°F

Water Profile
CA 54.5 Mg 0 Sodium 8 Sulfate 48.2 Chloride 63.9 SO4 / Cl Ratio .8

9.5 Gallons RO Water
3g Gypsum
4.5g CaCl
4ml 85% Phosphoric Acid

Notes
Add Honey, Maple Syrup, and Pumpkin Pie Spice at Flame Out

 

[MrSnacks]

Has anyone done this recipe with just straight ale yeast, no saison? I don't have the capacity to do 10 gallon batches at the moment.

 

[JLP]

KFun, the beer ages well. I saved some to try at a year old, and I liked it. I'm traveling, so I don't have any tasting notes on me. MrSnacks, just scale the recipe down to a 5 gallon size, and pitch your preferred ale yeast. WLP008 works very well with it. I brewed as per the original recipe last year, and used it as a base for my own interpretation this year.

 

[cuda6pak]

What grade maple syrup did you guys use (and does it mention it in the Zymurgy article)? From what I understand Grade B or C will bring along some flavor while A will pretty much completely ferment out. Also, what kind of honey?

 

[loctones]

What grade maple syrup did you guys use

I used grade B. Tasted both A and B side by side and I decided I liked the flavor of the grade B more. I've heard that the B grade will leave more flavor, too, but I've not done any actual comparisons.

 

[cuda6pak]

I used grade B. Tasted both A and B side by side and I decided I liked the flavor of the grade B more. I've heard that the B grade will leave more flavor, too, but I've not done any actual comparisons.

How did your batch end up? Did you wind up using a spice tincture into the keg?

 

[loctones]

The batch turned out well. I did the saison variant. I did end up adding spices along with some vanilla extract, when I bottled. I should have used a tincture, but I needed to bottle that day. Consequently, the beer was cloudy and ugly when poured--little rafts of spice on top of the head.

I liked the recipe enough that I brewed another variant of it this weekend. This time, I used WLP008 and a little lactose with the intent of putting it on nitro come November.

 

[JLP]

I prefer to use the Grade A Maple syrup, as it leaves a bit of a woody taste after fermenting. It recommends flower honey based on memory; however you do not get any flavors from it. I removed that and added 4 ounces of honey malt to the 6 gallon batch. I just tried it yesterday, and after a month old it is a bit muddled in flavor. Because it is 9% ABV it is needing to condition some more. I do get a balanced woody pumpkin honey biscuit with spices supported by a strong light bread back bone. It has some heat too, but that will be aged out shortly. For conversation sake I removed the melanoidan malt as I didn't like it in the recipe the first time. I may potentially bring it back, but we will see.

 

[Kfun123]

I just tapped this beer this week. It is a huge hit with my wife and her friends and I find it to be very drinkable for a pumpkin beer (not my favorite style), it isn't cloyingly sweet like most commercial pumpkin beers.

The one addition I made is adding 3 ounces of Korbel Brandy that had been soaking in oak chips. I wanted to see how close this beer would be to Lake Front Brewing Imperial Pumpkin Lager. I actually like this beer more than the Lake Front because I think the vanilla they use overwhelms the beer.

I will definitely make this one again next year.

 

[cuda6pak]

Anyone planning to brew this one again in 2015?

 

[sleepystevenson]

This is a very solid recipe as originally written. (although I scaled down the abv a bit) I highly recommend it as an alternative to the many pumpkin beers that are just.... "too much". I am definitely gonna make it again, exactly as I made it last time!

Only big problem with this beer..... it is expensive to make!

 

[cuda6pak]

Thinking about making it again as well - turned out really well last year, but needed a month+ of conditioning to mellow out a pretty sharp hot flavor in mine. Not sure what happened as it was carefully fermented in my chamber.

Considering putting the maple syrup and honey in right at the peak or right after the peak of fermentation to try and maintain some of the flavor of it, rather than put it in at the end of the boil. Thoughts?

 

[cuda6pak]

Well going to try this recipe again this weekend with a few changes from last year.

Maple and honey will be going into primary at peak fermentation. Going to use east coast ale wlp008 instead of S05. Also considering hot steeping the pumpkin in the strike water instead of mash, and if mashing then maybe using a strainer bag. Just don't want to deal with a stuck sparge with my new recirc system vs last years cooler mash tun.

 

[cuda6pak]

Fermenting away at 68*, put the 2lbs of honey and 2lbs of Grade B syrup in at day 2 right as peak fermentation slowed down. Hopefully will be kegging in a few weeks and then let it condition until late September.

 

[cuda6pak]

Kegged this a week and a half ago. Ended right at 7.9% at FG 1.012. Color looked great and flavor was much better than I remember straight out of the fermentor last year. Adding the syrup and honey at peak fermenation definitely lended more of their flavor than adding at flameout as I did last year IMO. Added 1 tsp of spice per keg and am aging/carbing until late September.

 

[Mycues1982]

Thanks for the feedback. Made this the last 2 years and considering a couple changes. Possibly cutting up and roasting a couple baking pumpkins instead of using puree.

 

[TripleHopped]

I made a slight variation of this last year and enjoyed it a lot. I used baked yams instead of the pumpkin puree I also added rice hulls in the mash. This year I used Challenger hops FWH and did a 60 minute boil (I usually do a 90 minute). For a 5.5 gallon batch going into the fermenter I'll be adding 3/4 pounds of Maple syrup and 3/4 pounds of Pecan honey when things start to slow down a little. I did the Maple syrup and Pecan honey in at the end of the boil last year, so I wanted to try something a little different. I didn't have Victory Malt so I used Amber.

Last year I used WLP001 and this year I had a packet of Windsor so I used that.