Pumpkin something

[GuyBob]

My taste buds are watering for a delicious pumpkin ale. Never ever made one. I was hoping for some feed back on any that have been made. Things done well or things that didn't do well at all. I am currently doing extract and specialty grain brews. I can do full boils of 5 ga. Any good recipes out there that are solid and taste good. I like spice but want something balanced that you can have a few and not be overwhelmed. What ever you got would be appreciated. Was thinking of going off Midwest pumpkin recipe as a back one. Thanks

 

[BRENTMAN]

I brewed Midwest's pumpkin ale a couple years ago, used safale US05. I thought it came out great. I used my own spices, and 2 cans (60 oz) of Libby's Pumpkin PIE filling, baked in the oven @ 350 for 30 min, then added it right when the boil came back after dying from adding the LME. Only issue was it fermented at like 75 room temp, so it wasn't as clean/crisp, but still really good nonetheless. Lost quite a bit of beer to all the pumpkin sludge; got 48 bottles total --would have been less, but we topped the primary off to 5.3 gal to account for that. I'm about to brew the same recipe again tomorrow, but with 3 cans (90oz) pumpkin pie filling this time. Overall a nice balanced session pumpkin spice ale imo.

 

[GuyBob]

Sounds awesome. If I understood, you added pumpkin at beginning of 60 min boil. I wonder if it would be better at end. Overall sounds like a solid recipe. I was thinking of doing same but maybe add some maple syrup and honey with pie filling then bake. Any thoughts?

 

[BRENTMAN]

Sounds awesome. If I understood, you added pumpkin at beginning of 60 min boil. I wonder if it would be better at end. Overall sounds like a solid recipe. I was thinking of doing same but maybe add some maple syrup and honey with pie filling then bake. Any thoughts?

Correct on the 60 min. I also wonder how it would be adding it at the end. I'm about to brew the pumpkin ale today, but I'm going to bake the pumpkin with crushed graham crackers on it this time. I don't really know much about maple syrup, but that sounds like it would be pretty awesome. Have to do some research on syrup and honey.

 

[GuyBob]

Good luck. I brewed a honey ale with cinnamon and I added 3 lbs honey at 30 and added 1 extra lbs and cinnamon at flameout. Came out nice. I would be curious to hear how yours comes out. I have kept my keg around 38 today at 10-12 psi and I'm noticing some carbonation. Here's my honey ale I am enjoying right now. Where you from in Florida?

 

[GuyBob]

Good luck. I brewed a honey ale with cinnamon and I added 3 lbs honey at 30 and added 1 extra lbs and cinnamon at flameout. Came out nice. I would be curious to hear how yours comes out. I have kept my keg around 38 today at 10-12 psi and I'm noticing some carbonation. Here's my honey ale I am enjoying right now. Where you from in Florida?

Edit: where you from. I am in sw florida?

 

[BRENTMAN]

Finished up the brew, cooling it in an ice bath for yeast pitching. Taking forever. Smells delicious and tastes delicious. It was a total pain in the ass to siphon, as all that pumpkin really gets in the way. So far so good.

 

[GuyBob]

Sounds good. Can you taste the gram cracker? Im gonna do this kit and add some honey and may be some maple syrup. Should bring the gravity up and account for extra water

 

[bboyeruga]

I bought a Session Saison from AHS and I'm planning on brewing it with pumpkin pie spice this weekend. I think the spice characters will be great together and I've never really seen a light colored pumpkin ale. Just an idea.

 

[GuyBob]

bboy. That sounds good. Good luck. Adding cinnamon at flame out is best. Just my 2 cents

 

[BRENTMAN]

Sounds good. Can you taste the gram cracker? Im gonna do this kit and add some honey and may be some maple syrup. Should bring the gravity up and account for extra water

Only got to taste it before pitching the yeast, but I do believe the graham cracker had a slight presence. The spices were pretty strong since they were fresh so I won't be able to really get a feel for this beer until I take another gravity reading. Maybe over the weekend.

 

[bboyeruga]

bboy. That sounds good. Good luck. Adding cinnamon at flame out is best. Just my 2 cents

Yeah. I have Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice and I'm going to make a strong tea with it and add the tea at flameout.

 

[GuyBob]

Brentman. Few questions on your brew. Did u used canned pumpkin that had spices in it? How did bake the gram cracker in pie filling? On top? Did it burn? Is this AG or extract? Curious on you recipe. Thanks.

 

[berger]

I brewed Midwest's pumpkin ale a couple years ago, used safale US05. I thought it came out great. I used my own spices, and 2 cans (60 oz) of Libby's Pumpkin PIE filling, baked in the oven @ 350 for 30 min, then added it right when the boil came back after dying from adding the LME. Only issue was it fermented at like 75 room temp, so it wasn't as clean/crisp, but still really good nonetheless. Lost quite a bit of beer to all the pumpkin sludge; got 48 bottles total --would have been less, but we topped the primary off to 5.3 gal to account for that. I'm about to brew the same recipe again tomorrow, but with 3 cans (90oz) pumpkin pie filling this time. Overall a nice balanced session pumpkin spice ale imo.

Had a ton of sludge as well. 1st attempt at the pumpkin ale. It's in the bucket for 2 weeks or so. The sludge line looks to be just below the 1 gal. Line, don't know if that is normal or not.
Cheers,
Ed

 

[Sudsy426]

Planning to bottle a pumpkin ale later today. Took nb smashing pumpkin recipe and got stuff from lhbs. No canned pumpkin addition just 1tbsp. Pie spice @flame out. Last taste was very nice not over powering but enough to know it's there. I also bottled some early using maple syrup as a primer, will update once tasted.

 

[FermentusMaximus]

I am going to brew the NB pumpkin ale tomorrow and tweak the hell out of it. I am going to do a mini mash with the steeping grains, 2 15oz cans of organic pumpkin, and 2lbs of 6row at 151degrees for one hour. Then for the boil I am going to tweak it to resemble a Pumking clone recipe I found on here. Fermentables include:
8oz. Lactose
3/4lb Demerara Sugar
1/4lb Light Brown Sugar
1/4 lb honey

I am using the cluster hops that come with the kit and adding 2tbsp finely chopped candied ginger and 1tsp pumpkin pie spice to the boil. Then some homemade vanilla extract, one more tsp pie spice, and graham cracker extract to secondary. Pitching Safeale 05.
Here's the recipe I used to tweak the kit.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/st-pumking-clone-390957/

 

[BRENTMAN]

Brentman. Few questions on your brew. Did u used canned pumpkin that had spices in it? How did bake the gram cracker in pie filling? On top? Did it burn? Is this AG or extract? Curious on you recipe. Thanks.

Sorry for the late reply. Yes I used the Libby's pumpkin Pie Filling, not just the plain Pumpkin filling. It tastes like pumpkin pie right out of the can basically. I used 3 full cans, and dumped them in a 13x9 baking dish. Then opened a box of honey graham crackers and took out 2 of the bags, and crushed them up real fine, then stirred/mixed them all in with the pumpkin pie filling, and put in the oven . There was no burning or anything as the crackers were basically crushed to crumbs & powder and mixed in. This brew was extract;

6 lbs Midwest's Gold LME

1/2 lb Carapils
1/4 lb Caramel 10L
1/4 lb Cara-8

1oz cascade (bittering) @ 60min
1oz Mt. Hood (aroma) @ 10min

Safale US-05

Misc: 3 cans (90 oz) Libby's Pumpkin Pie Filling and 2 bags crushed honey graham crackers mixed together, baked @ 350 for 30 min, then stirred & baked another 20 min. Added with LME at initial boil.
1 tblsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 tblsp Ground nutmeg
1 tsp Ground cloves
1/2 tsp (all i had) Ground ginger
**i added all the spices at 40 min, then a tiny pinch of each at flameout.

 

[BRENTMAN]

Had a ton of sludge as well. 1st attempt at the pumpkin ale. It's in the bucket for 2 weeks or so. The sludge line looks to be just below the 1 gal. Line, don't know if that is normal or not.
Cheers,
Ed

I'd say that seems pretty normal. Putting it in secondary will help a lot with getting rid of the sludge. If you can, cold crash it for a few days before bottling. I'm definitely going to with mine. Tastes amazing so far.

 

[BRENTMAN]

Planning to bottle a pumpkin ale later today. Took nb smashing pumpkin recipe and got stuff from lhbs. No canned pumpkin addition just 1tbsp. Pie spice @flame out. Last taste was very nice not over powering but enough to know it's there. I also bottled some early using maple syrup as a primer, will update once tasted.

Would love to hear updates on the maple syrup

 

[BRENTMAN]

I am going to brew the NB pumpkin ale tomorrow and tweak the hell out of it. I am going to do a mini mash with the steeping grains, 2 15oz cans of organic pumpkin, and 2lbs of 6row at 151degrees for one hour. Then for the boil I am going to tweak it to resemble a Pumking clone recipe I found on here. Fermentables include:
8oz. Lactose
3/4lb Demerara Sugar
1/4lb Light Brown Sugar
1/4 lb honey

I am using the cluster hops that come with the kit and adding 2tbsp finely chopped candied ginger and 1tsp pumpkin pie spice to the boil. Then some homemade vanilla extract, one more tsp pie spice, and graham cracker extract to secondary. Pitching Safeale 05.
Here's the recipe I used to tweak the kit.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/st-pumking-clone-390957/

Sounds pretty awesome. Keep us updated on it. Curious to see what you think of the graham cracker extract...

 

[BRENTMAN]

Took a gravity reading of my pumpkin pie ale yesterday. Smells and tastes amazing so far; good pumpkin presence. Spices not overpowering but add to the "pie" aspect. Nice orange color. Still got that young-homebrew taste right now. I'll post more detailed results when I transfer it...

 

[FermentusMaximus]

Sounds pretty awesome. Keep us updated on it. Curious to see what you think of the graham cracker extract...

Yeah I'm skeptical of the extract I've heard good and bad reviews about it. I'm about to crack a beer and start brewing. I'll let you know how it turns out in a few weeks.

 

[BRENTMAN]

Enjoy!

 

[Sudsy426]

Would love to hear updates on the maple syrup

Chilled the bottles I used maple syrup in last night and drank. Didn't notice any maple flavor at all, I'm guessing if I added it to secondary it would be a different story. May have to try that as well as a Graham cracker addition on the next batch.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Brewing Midwest's pumpkin extract ale as I type this. I baked 3 29 oz cans of Libby's pumpkin puree for 30 minutes at 350 and bumped up the spices that I did last year as my bumps from last year weren't enough to give me what I was looking for. I'm planning on adding an additional can with 5 minutes left in the boil just to give it a shot. I know I'll have some trub to deal with, but I screen the wort out pretty well before I put it in primary. I further added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla extract to see how that will come out with the pumpkin puree when I baked it. Mixed in brown sugar and spices with it as well as I've heard if you bake those with the pumpkin it makes a difference.

 

[opus345]

Halfway through the boil of

NB Smashing Pumpkin

BIAB Mash 60 min @ 152
.5 lb Briess Caramel 40
3 lb Rahr 6 Row
2 29oz Libbys Pumpkin Puree

Boil 60 min
3.15 lb Amber LME
1 lb Pilsen DME
1 oz Cluster Hops

Boil 15 min
3.15 lb Amer LME
2 lb Clover Honey

Flameout
3 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (equal amounts of Allspice, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger)

Wyeast 1056 American Ale

 

[GuyBob]

No worries Brentman. Thanks for getting back. This thread grew a little since I've been gone! Just moved into a new house and trying to get settled so I can get brewing a pumpkin ale. That recipe sounds pretty good. I'm deff gonna try the gram cracker. I may add honey, brown sugar and maple syrup to the pie filling and bake. All these recipes sound Freaking delicious. I've never made a pumpkin and can't wait. I love to hear what everyone does. Deff helps us all improve a little. I have to say I'm drinking a Surly Furious clone right now that's deff gonna be on my rotation. Highly rec it if you like IPA. Just an FYI.

 

[BRENTMAN]

All these recipes do sound awesome. I like to see al the different variations people do. The graham cracker was new for me this year. I also recently brewed a beer I pretty much put together myself. Calling it my Halloween ale. Has 3/4 can of pumpkin in it, little bit of chocolate malt, some cinnamon....sounds like Halloween to me! Belgian caravienne, briess chocolate, caramel 10L, German perle and tettnang hops. Used Munich as the lme

 

[BRENTMAN]

Racked pumpkin to secondary today, lost serious volume, but it tastes amazing. It's pumpkin pie beer.

 

[GuyBob]

Sounds yummy Brentman. How much did you lose? I'm thinking I may lose 1 gallon. I have a large nylon grain bag or even a strainer I could use when transferring from kettle to fermenter. Might help filter some of the gunk. Any thoughts on what you may have done differently? I am planning on brewing this weekend. Picked up some of the supplies today.

 

[BRENTMAN]

Sounds yummy Brentman. How much did you lose? I'm thinking I may lose 1 gallon. I have a large nylon grain bag or even a strainer I could use when transferring from kettle to fermenter. Might help filter some of the gunk. Any thoughts on what you may have done differently? I am planning on brewing this weekend. Picked up some of the supplies today.

I lost well over a gallon this time, close to 2. Pretty unfortunate, but the racking became unbearable, so I cut my losses. Siphon tubing got clogged a lot. Last time I brewed a pumpkin I only lost about a gallon. The extra can of Libby's with the addition of graham crackers caused this greater lost, I assume. I think next year I'll try using pumpkin purée. And/or perhaps dabble with a strainer or cold crashing it for 24 hours before each time I need to rack it. Still, it's tasting phenomenal, so I'm not too sad. It'll be a special reserve batch, aka not too much sharing will commence! Good luck with your brew, do post on how it goes. When are you doing it?

 

[opus345]

I lost well over a gallon this time, close to 2. Pretty unfortunate, but the racking became unbearable, so I cut my losses. Siphon tubing got clogged a lot. Last time I brewed a pumpkin I only lost about a gallon. The extra can of Libby's with the addition of graham crackers caused this greater lost, I assume. I think next year I'll try using pumpkin purée. And/or perhaps dabble with a strainer or cold crashing it for 24 hours before each time I need to rack it. Still, it's tasting phenomenal, so I'm not too sad. It'll be a special reserve batch, aka not too much sharing will commence! Good luck with your brew, do post on how it goes. When are you doing it?

Take a look at the BIAB process. I use it for my AG and my Extract Mini-Mashes. Most of the trub gets left in the bag. Significantly reduced the amount of loss on batches.

 

[BRENTMAN]

Sounds good, I'll do some reading!

 

[BansheeRider]

Hey guys I'm brewing the MWS recipe in a couple hours. I doubled the spices in the recipe and I'm going to dump 45oz of canned pumpkin in the last 5 min of the boil. Can't wait to see how it's going to turn out. I'm also going to add some left over DME to bring up the ABV a bit.

 

[GuyBob]

So hey. I brewed Monday. It went pretty well. I used 60 oz of canned pumpkin. I put the pumpkin pie filling in baking dish, w/ 1# of brown sugar, 12 oz orange blossom honey, 6 oz maple syrup, 1 cup of gram cracker, tbsp vanilla extract and a little cinnamon and nutmeg. Baked for 30 mins. Added to boil at 30 mins. I followed the base line of MW pumpkin recipe. I did add more brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, pumpkin spices and last of hops at 2 min mark. Coiled down below 90 and pitched s-05 and stuffed in 50 degree fermenter chamber. Let sit for a few hours and then set to 62 degrees. She's bubbling like crazy right now (vent hose) multiple bubbles every 1/2 second. OG 1.070. Tasted pretty good. Will see what happens. Brentman, took your idea of gram cracker. Not sure if 1 cup was enough tho to taste. We will see. Thanks for reading.

 

[BRENTMAN]

Sounds good! How was the color? 1.070 is a lot higher than mine. Have fun with the siphoning. You'll have to post updates on everything. I'm going to be bottling my pumpkin in a few days.

 

[GuyBob]

Color looked to be pretty orange. Yea the gravity was high but I wanted something that had some kick to it plus all the sugars should keep it pretty smooth. I used Mt Hood and Cascade hops. Ill let you know progress. I did siphon from kettle to fermenter and ended up with about 6 gallons. Time will tell. I will cold crash this and will either keg or bottle. Not sure yet. Please do the same and update.

 

[opus345]

Oh my. OG = 1.080. Two weeks SG = 1.010. I think I need to call it the Imperial Smashing Pumpkin.

 

[GuyBob]

Update if any one is still following. Cold crashing pumpkin ale now and will be transferring to keg tomorrow night. Will let you know gravity and how much I lose from pie filling. Hope it tastes good.

 

[BRENTMAN]

Cool. Eager to hear how it comes out. Started popping some of mine this week. Very happy w it. Pumpkin flavor settled to a perfect level, and i can taste a small hint of the graham cracker. Needs to carb/condition a tad more, maybe another week or so. All who've had a taste so far really like it. Hope yours is a success.