- Joined
- Nov 26, 2006
- Messages
- 3,996
- Reaction score
- 94
Yes, it's another pumpkin beer thread!
But this one has a twist. It's not an ordinary pumpkin beer. In fact, I'm not really a fan of pumpkin beers in general. Actually, I've only ever had one good one in my life-- from Flossmoor Station Brewing Company, about 8 years ago. From what I remembered, the beer was cloudy, orange, and really smooth and almost creamy tasting.
I didn't start out to make a Pumpkin beer. In fact, I was going to follow my 34 year old life tradition of NOT brewing one again this year. However, I had a WLP300 Hefeweizen yeast cake sitting around that I wasn't quite ready to toss out after having made 3 rounds of good Hefeweizen on it. I didn't want to make another 5 gallons of Hefeweizen though because fall is coming, so I started thinking about something a bit darker, and then it occurred to me...The flavor of a WLP300 wheat beer might actually make a tasty pumpkin beer. But, to bring it more in line with the fall season and the cooler temperatures, and for the sake of having a really cool name for my beer, I opted to design something with just a hint of darkness to it, and Punkelweizen was born.
It has just been carbed, after about 2 weeks in primary, and I must say, this is a damned fine Pumpkin Dunkelweiss. But please, don't bother following my recipe. I actually think that it would be really hard to screw up a Punkelweizen no matter what you added. The flavors just flat out work so well together. So have fun with it! But with that said, here's mine...
Punkelweizen
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 9/7/2012
Style: Dunkelweizen Brewer:
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 5.72 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 % Equipment: My Equipment
Actual Efficiency: 73.0 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): Yum!
The color is technically too light for the Dunkelweizen style, but I'm taking some artistic license here. I wanted the beer to have an autumnal orangish-pumpkin color.
Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 35.8 %
3.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 35.8 %
1.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 14.9 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 11.9 %
0.75 oz Hallertauer [4.10%] (60 min) Hops 11.4 IBU
20.00 oz Pumpkin Puree (Boil 0.0 min) Misc
0.13 lb Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 1.6 %
2 Tbsp Durkee ground Pumpkin Spice
Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.047 SG (1.044-1.056 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.012 SG (1.010-1.014 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Color: 9.9 SRM (14.0-23.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 11.4 IBU (10.0-18.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 0.6 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4.5 % (4.3-5.6 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 4.7 %
Actual Calories: 202 cal/pint
Process notes:
Spread the pumpkin puree out on a sheet of parchment paper, sprinkle with the brown sugar, bake at 350*F for 45-60 minutes. You will add this to your wort at flame out. Or, if you're using a wort chiller, maybe add it with about 10 minutes to go in the boil.
Pumpkin spices are added at flame out if you are slow-cooling in a bathtub like I am. If you have a wort chiller, maybe add it with about 10 minutes left.
The result? A beautifully cloudy, autumnal orange beer with a hint of pumpkin and a touch of spices in the background.
I'm a convert to pumpkin beers and I will be brewing this one again.
Possible tweaks and other thoughts:
If you really wanted to, this beer would easily stand up to another Tbsp of pumpkin spice. It already has the banana clove thing going and a bit more wouldn't be bad. But I'm happy with it being a bit more mellow.
Ferment at a warmer temp to bring out the "banana" flavor of the yeast... but in this case, call it "pumpkin/squash flavor". Trust me. Your palate will go along with that.
Go ahead and add another can or three of pumpkin puree if your fermenters can handle the trub. Personally, not being a pumpkin fan, I was erring on the side of caution by using 2 x 10oz cans. If you add more though, you can ferment at a lower temp and bring out more clove flavors to balance it out.
In this case, I think it's totally appropriate to design the beer by color, aiming for a pumpkin hue. Although it will technically be too light for a dunkweizen, consider this to be a brewer's artistic license. With the crystal and the munich malts, you're going to have a sweeter, darker beer than the traditional hefe. So in that sense, it's "dark". But it's not dunkel... it's just Punkel.
But this one has a twist. It's not an ordinary pumpkin beer. In fact, I'm not really a fan of pumpkin beers in general. Actually, I've only ever had one good one in my life-- from Flossmoor Station Brewing Company, about 8 years ago. From what I remembered, the beer was cloudy, orange, and really smooth and almost creamy tasting.
I didn't start out to make a Pumpkin beer. In fact, I was going to follow my 34 year old life tradition of NOT brewing one again this year. However, I had a WLP300 Hefeweizen yeast cake sitting around that I wasn't quite ready to toss out after having made 3 rounds of good Hefeweizen on it. I didn't want to make another 5 gallons of Hefeweizen though because fall is coming, so I started thinking about something a bit darker, and then it occurred to me...The flavor of a WLP300 wheat beer might actually make a tasty pumpkin beer. But, to bring it more in line with the fall season and the cooler temperatures, and for the sake of having a really cool name for my beer, I opted to design something with just a hint of darkness to it, and Punkelweizen was born.
It has just been carbed, after about 2 weeks in primary, and I must say, this is a damned fine Pumpkin Dunkelweiss. But please, don't bother following my recipe. I actually think that it would be really hard to screw up a Punkelweizen no matter what you added. The flavors just flat out work so well together. So have fun with it! But with that said, here's mine...
Punkelweizen
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 9/7/2012
Style: Dunkelweizen Brewer:
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 5.72 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 % Equipment: My Equipment
Actual Efficiency: 73.0 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): Yum!
The color is technically too light for the Dunkelweizen style, but I'm taking some artistic license here. I wanted the beer to have an autumnal orangish-pumpkin color.
Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 35.8 %
3.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 35.8 %
1.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 14.9 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 11.9 %
0.75 oz Hallertauer [4.10%] (60 min) Hops 11.4 IBU
20.00 oz Pumpkin Puree (Boil 0.0 min) Misc
0.13 lb Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 1.6 %
2 Tbsp Durkee ground Pumpkin Spice
Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.047 SG (1.044-1.056 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.012 SG (1.010-1.014 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Color: 9.9 SRM (14.0-23.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 11.4 IBU (10.0-18.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 0.6 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4.5 % (4.3-5.6 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 4.7 %
Actual Calories: 202 cal/pint
Process notes:
Spread the pumpkin puree out on a sheet of parchment paper, sprinkle with the brown sugar, bake at 350*F for 45-60 minutes. You will add this to your wort at flame out. Or, if you're using a wort chiller, maybe add it with about 10 minutes to go in the boil.
Pumpkin spices are added at flame out if you are slow-cooling in a bathtub like I am. If you have a wort chiller, maybe add it with about 10 minutes left.
The result? A beautifully cloudy, autumnal orange beer with a hint of pumpkin and a touch of spices in the background.
I'm a convert to pumpkin beers and I will be brewing this one again.
Possible tweaks and other thoughts:
If you really wanted to, this beer would easily stand up to another Tbsp of pumpkin spice. It already has the banana clove thing going and a bit more wouldn't be bad. But I'm happy with it being a bit more mellow.
Ferment at a warmer temp to bring out the "banana" flavor of the yeast... but in this case, call it "pumpkin/squash flavor". Trust me. Your palate will go along with that.
Go ahead and add another can or three of pumpkin puree if your fermenters can handle the trub. Personally, not being a pumpkin fan, I was erring on the side of caution by using 2 x 10oz cans. If you add more though, you can ferment at a lower temp and bring out more clove flavors to balance it out.
In this case, I think it's totally appropriate to design the beer by color, aiming for a pumpkin hue. Although it will technically be too light for a dunkweizen, consider this to be a brewer's artistic license. With the crystal and the munich malts, you're going to have a sweeter, darker beer than the traditional hefe. So in that sense, it's "dark". But it's not dunkel... it's just Punkel.