Drunken Pumpin Ale

[JayShaw91]

Wow, I am so stoked for this beer. I used Carl Spackler's spice amounts, minus the vanilla, used the 4 cans of pumpkin, but used my base amber recipe for the malts for a bit more complexity.

I upped the IBU's to the mid-20's, also. Tasting the wort, the hops hit you... and it's a wee bit hoppy, but finished soooo nice and those pumpkin spices really come through.

Here it is:
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground clove
Spices in the last 10 minutes of the boil.

2 29oz cans of 100% pumpkin, or 4 15oz cans - add to mash.
RICE HULLS!!!!!
7.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row)
1.50 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) toasted for 30 mins at 350
1.25 lbs. Munich Malt
0.30 lbs. Crystal 40L
0.30 lbs. Crystal 10L
0.30 lbs. Special Roast Malt
0.75 lbs. Biscuit Malt

Hops
0.75 oz. Centennial 7.40% 60 min
0.50 oz. Willamette 5% 30 min.
0.50 oz. Willamette 5% 10 min.
IBU ~ 25

Wyeast 1056 yeast or something else neutral.

Mashed at 150 for 1 hour
1.048 SG - 75% efficiency.

[Dexter]

What type of yeast are you using?

[JayShaw91]

DOH! I used the 1056 Wyeast. Since this is my first time doing this, I wanted something neutral so I could taste how this was without the yeast doing anything to the flavors.

If this turns out good - and I'll tell you what, I have *high* hopes for this - I *may* experiment with another yeast next year. Any suggestions?

[Mad Scientist]

When you say a 'big can' what size?

[JayShaw91]

Two 29 oz cans or 4 15 oz cans. And remember to get 100% pumpkin and not pumpkin pie.

Edited and added to the original post

[Fweezle]

How much rice hulls?

[darylM]

That looks like a good recipe without the pumpkin and spices let alone with

[iahebert]

I've been getting excited about the upcoming pumpkin ale season, and have to say this looks good. I think this one got bumped up to my next batch recipe.

One question though...If I get my grains milled my LHBS, can I still toast those 1.5lbs after they've been milled?

Thanks!

[Mad Scientist]

I don't think so...why not toast the grains, then bring them back to the LHBS for milling...if they are close enough that is...

[iahebert]

I don't think so...why not toast the grains, then bring them back to the LHBS for milling...if they are close enough that is...

Good Point, I'm sure they won't have a problem with it.

[darylM]

or buy toasted malt

[JayShaw91]

Other than the hops schedule here, this is my base amber beer recipe.

I must admit, it is a modified version of something I found on the net, so I can't take full credit for this. It turns out a nicely complex amber that seems to get better with some bottle aging - but what beers don't, right? :)

Just be warned that if you toast the grains, *do* let them sit for a week or so. I read this after I first toasted my own grains and found out that it imparted a bit of a grassy note when the beer was younger. That is now gone.

BTW, one reason for toasting your own is that you can vary the flavor of the toated malt. That's why I recommend this. Just how I do it.

[Mad Scientist]

So for the thread highjacking...you may now return to your normally scheduled thread.

And jay, my opinion is this: if you make a beer, and change the reciep, then it becomes your recipe.

[nemoh]

First time poster, long time lurker. I was looking into this recipe for a bit myself, I got something similar to this which is located here http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/pumpkin-ale-home-brew-recipe-and-commercial-microbrew-recipe
I think I am going to try this with your spices and possibly change the grains around a bit. I am looking at possibly adding in chocolate malt.

[JayShaw91]

Mad, that is a good point, but it's not like I did it from scatch. That's all I was saying. I didn't want to be taking credit for what I think is a very good beer where the vast majority of the recipe was not mine.

Nemoh, welcome and thanks for that post! I'd be interested to do a side-by-side of the caramelized pumpkin addition vs. my straight-in-the-mash version.

BTW, that is also a big difference. They're boiling the pumpkin in the beer, I added it to the mash. They had to rack a million times to get it to stop fermenting and clear, I just had to deal with a stuck sparge that can easily be corrected with rice hulls.

Will they get more pumpkin flavor? Maybe. Did I waste my time? No idea.

Results will be posted in 4 weeks after my first pull from the draft :)

[iahebert]

They're boiling the pumpkin in the beer, I added it to the mash. They had to rack a million times to get it to stop fermenting and clear, I just had to deal with a stuck sparge that can easily be corrected with rice hulls.

But you gotta admit, it'd may be interesting to see what, if any differences in body and flavor would come from boiling the pumpkin. Me personally, i'm not excited about racking at all, and the cleaning and sanitizing that goes with it.

Jay-I say your idea wins!

[brewwitch]

I hate to insult but how might one adapt this for a partial grain
(preboil tea) /extract recipe?

I like it because there are not so many spices... I like my pumpkin ales to have a nice earthy pumpkin feel to them and bag most of the candy-ass
pumpkin pie spice! LOL

[cul8rv8]

so adding rice hulls to the mash, how much do you add? I was throwing a very basic pumpkin recipe together (as I've only done one AG brew so far) and wasn't sure how much to use. Right now I've got 12 lb 2-row, .75 lb wheat malt, 3 lb pumpkin, and .5 lb rice hulls.

I was thinking about going to the local orchard to buy the pumpkins, cube them, and throw them in the oven before putting them in the mash. I dunno how much of a difference cubing them will make over using canned pumpkin, so not sure the amount of rice hulls to use.

[nemoh]

I think I want to try this out, it is starting to sound delicious. Question, when fermenting do you leave pumpkin in the fermenting bucket or do you strain it before fermenting? I am a beginner in home brewing and I would like to know. I plan on doing multiple stages of racking for clarity. Also should I use a muslin hop bag to take out the hops or should I leave that in the fermenting bucket as well?

[Mad Scientist]

Something just occurred to me: Is the title of this thread/name of this beer correct? :D Or is it a typo like I am very guilty of....Or course, I am also guily of drunkin pumpin, but SWMBO usually just shoves me away, and tells me to pass out somewhere off of her....

[JayShaw91]

Mad, No, not a typo. It's what I've named this brew. :D

Jeff, do a lb of rice hulls. They're like a buck, do nothing to flavor, and only aid in sparging. I'd suggest having a few pounds on hand at all times in case you get a stuck sparge. You can mix them in and start to fix your problems immediately. Lesson learned for me.

Iahebert, thanks. I also think my way will be easier, though I do wonder how much different it'd be doing it right in the boil.

Nemoh, if you're doing a mini mash or full mash, I put the pumpkin right in the mash tun. It leave it behind and you don't have to deal with it after you've mashed. You then boil and rack as normal. If you put it in the boil, you'd get a lot of it in to your fermenter, which is fine, but like Iahebert and I think, it may be a total PITA. You'd be moving this from carboy to carboy for a month getting the beer to properly clear. Every time you rack you're exposing the beer to oxygen and nasties - both bad for beer, and leading to chances of contamination.

The only way you'd ever have hops in a fermenter is if you were doing a dry hop addition to your beer. Otherwise the hops should only be in your brew kettle and left there after you're done. If you do pellets, some of the hops pellets will end up in your fermenter, but it's no biggie. They settle out during the fermentation process.

[nemoh]

Well I was talked into trying this, I got an idea and was wondering if this would work out, you think it would be a good idea to mix in cinnamon with sugar when priming? would that affect the carbonation? possibly add nutmeg as well?

[JayShaw91]

Cinnamon is not fermentable, neither is nutmeg, so adding those during bottling won't change carbonation. I wouldn't do it, though. I sampled a bud's cider that had cinnamon added during secondary and that was all you could taste. Ruined an otherwise excellent cider.

Add the spices near the end of the boil and move on. Believe me, what I have listed here as a spice list should be perfect. The sample I tasted prior to bottling was just enough for character and flavor and did not overpower the beer.