Pumpkilla! Pumpkin Ale - Beer Recipe - Brewer's Friend

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Pumpkilla! Pumpkin Ale

229 calories 23.4 g 12 oz
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Beer Stats
Method: All Grain
Style: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Pre Boil Size: 7 gallons
Pre Boil Gravity: 1.054 (recipe based estimate)
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Source: Porter's Pub
Calories: 229 calories (Per 12oz)
Carbs: 23.4 g (Per 12oz)
Created: Sunday August 27th 2017
1.069
1.017
6.7%
17.3
13.7
5.5
n/a
 
Fermentables
Amount Fermentable Cost PPG °L Bill %
10 lb American - Pale 2-Row10 lb Pale 2-Row 37 1.8 64.5%
1.50 lb American - Munich - Dark 20L1.5 lb Munich - Dark 20L 33 20 9.7%
0.50 lb American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt)0.5 lb Carapils (Dextrine Malt) 33 1.8 3.2%
0.50 lb American - Special Roast0.5 lb Special Roast 33 50 3.2%
0.50 lb Flaked Oats0.5 lb Flaked Oats 33 2.2 3.2%
0.50 lb Rice Hulls0.5 lb Rice Hulls 0 0 3.2%
1 lb Canadian - Honey Malt1 lb Honey Malt 37 25 6.5%
1 lb American - Caramel / Crystal 40L1 lb Caramel / Crystal 40L 34 40 6.5%
15.50 lbs / $ 0.00
 
Hops
Amount Variety Cost Type AA Use Time IBU Bill %
0.75 oz East Kent Goldings0.75 oz East Kent Goldings Hops Pellet 5 Boil 90 min 13.37 42.9%
0.50 oz Domestic Hallertau0.5 oz Domestic Hallertau Hops Pellet 3.9 Boil 20 min 3.94 28.6%
0.50 oz Cascade0.5 oz Cascade Hops Pellet 7 Boil 0 min 28.6%
1.75 oz / $ 0.00
 
Other Ingredients
Amount Name Cost Type Use Time
1 g Chalk Water Agt Mash 1 hr.
5 g Calcium Chloride Water Agt Mash 1 hr.
5 g Gypsum Water Agt Mash 1 hr.
4 g Baking Soda Water Agt Mash 1 hr.
 
Yeast
- -
Amount:
1 Each
Cost:
Attenuation (avg):
75%
Flocculation:
Med
Optimum Temp:
66 - 72 °F
Starter:
No
Fermentation Temp:
75 °F
Pitch Rate:
-
$ 0.00 Yeast Pitch Rate and Starter Calculator
 
Target Water Profile
Balanced Profile
Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl- SO4-2 HCO3-
80 5 25 75 80 100
Mash Chemistry and Brewing Water Calculator
 
Mash Guidelines
Amount Description Type Start Temp Target Temp Time
Sparge -- 154 °F 60 min
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb
Quick Water Requirements
Water Gallons  Quarts
Strike water volume at mash thickness of 1.5 qt/lb 5.81 23.3  
Mash volume with grains 7.05 28.2  
Grain absorption losses -1.94 -7.8  
Remaining sparge water volume (equipment estimates 3.44 g | 13.8 qt) 3.38 13.5  
Mash Lauter Tun losses -0.25 -1  
Pre boil volume (equipment estimates 7.07 g | 28.3 qt) 7 28  
Boil off losses -1.5 -6  
Hops absorption losses (first wort, boil, aroma) -0.07 -0.3  
Post boil Volume 5.5 22  
Going into fermentor 5.5 22  
Total: 9.19 36.8
Equipment Profile Used: System Default
 
Notes

2017:
Mash temp was 154º.
Boil was 90 minutes.
Spread one can of 100% pumpkin onto a pan lined with tin foil and baked for an hour at 350º.
Added 3 teaspoons of McCormick's pumpkin spice and half the baked pumpkin to the boil at knockout. Forgot to add the half pound of brown sugar. Cooled wort to 10º above pitching temp, and racked to primary. Left for a few hours, and pitched yeast when I got home.

Yeast used was Lallemand London ESB dry yeast.

Fermentation in the closet between 75-73º.
Fermentation began within a few hours of pitching yeast. 12 hours into pitching, fermentation was so strong I couldn't keep a stopper and blowoff tube on the fermenter.
By 48 hours, it appears that all fermentation has stopped, which is normal for this brand of yeast. It's best to add sugar to the kettle with this strain, which I forgot to do, so I'm hoping that it comes out okay.

Taste:
It tastes great! I'd like to tweak the recipe for 2018. Here's the feedback I've gotten so far: One friend said that it's the first pumpkin ale he's had where he can actually taste the pumpkin. It's a bit on the vegetabley side. Another friend said it's got a slight bit of a cider thing going on. My opinion is that it needs less pumpkin, and more body. Need to change the malt bill a little bit. Also I should consider sweetening it with a small amount of sugar in the keg before cold crashing.
Overall I'm happy with it. Friends enjoyed it and were coming back for seconds. I'm definitely in the ballpark with this one, but I'd like to continue to tweak the recipe.

Note: Add flaked oats next time. It needs more body


******2018********
By far the best Pumpkilla! yet. Nearly exactly what I wanted it to be. perfectly balanced, a good amount of sweetness, and a delicious taste with just the right amount of spices. The color was exactly what I think a pumpkin beer should look like.
This year, I changed the grain bill, the spices, and the pumpkin. The grain bill is as above. For the spices used 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice that I got from a spice store in Sarasota while I was on vacation. Spice was added at knockout. Their website is: www.spiceandtea.com. In the interest of time, I thought this to be a good compromise between using McCormick's and making your own, and it worked out very well.
Instead of using canned pumpkin, this year I took a butternut squash and peeled it, cubed it, and drizzled it in molasses before baking it in the oven for an hour at 350º. I then added it to the mash.

The only things that can be improved with this recipe is to possibly add a touch more bittering hops, as it it slightly cloying (it is a pumpkin ale after all), and a touch of vanilla. Use beans, not extract. This was a very, very good beer.

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  • Last Updated: 2018-10-03 19:33 UTC