Recipe
Batch Size: 5 gal
Boil Size: 3 gal
Target OG: ??
Target FG: ??
Style: Specialty (Pumpkin) beer
Recipe Type: Extract with specialty grains
Boil Time: 45 minutes
Water:
Acadia bottled spring water
Specialty Grains:
1 lb English Crystal, 60L
Fermentables:
6.6 lbs Amber LME
1 lb Orange Blossom Honey @ 15 min
Hops:
1oz Willamette (pellets) @ 45 min.
1oz St Celeia (pellets) @ 15 min.
Other:
2 lb Libby canned pumpkin @ 45 min.
2 Cinnamon Sticks @ 15 min.
1 Cinnamon Stick @ 0 min.
Yeast:
WLP001 California Ale Yeast
Brewing Notes
8/30/2014 - Brew Day:
- Sanitized (star san) my cold side equipment in the Big Mouth Bubbler
- Steeped Specialy grains in a muslin bag in 3 gallons of water as it heated from around 75F to 170F, which took 23 minutes.
- Removed and drained the bag when the temperature reached 170F.
- Brought to boil
- Removed kettle from the burner.
- Added all of the LME and the pumpkin
- Return the kettle to the burner and bring back to boil
- Set timer for 45 minutes and added hops, honey, and cinnamon per the recipe schedule
- At 0 minutes, moved the kettle to the ice bath in my sink to chill.
- Chilled/diluted until I had 5 gallons at 75F
- Took an OG reading of 1.053, corrected to 1.056
- Pitched 1 vial WLP001 directly
- Moved BMB to the beer corner for fermentation.
Nothing of note. This one is visible in the background of this picture. Looks like I didn't need or use a blowoff tube.
9/29/2014 - Bottling:
Measured FG of 1.013, which I calculated out to 5.5% ABV. Yield was 48 12 oz bottles. This time we successfully primed with orange blossom honey. I used 1/2 cup honey, boiled in 1 1/2 cup water for 10 minutes and then cooled.
10/11/2014 - First Taste:
I noted "well carbonated" Later, this one, like many of my earlier brews, got a bit over carbonated and the head got out of hand. I didn't do anything about this until Brew #16 in April 2015.
10/18?/2014 - The Throwdown:
I'm going to write about this silly little contest because, well, it's my blog and I can do what I want to. This was a fun little event where I and my 2 co-workers who also homebrew each made our own version of a pumpkin beer. At the time we were all relatively equal in brewing experience/skill so it was a fair contest. Each of us made an extract pumpkin ale. I made the one described above, Bob made the Pumpkin Patch Harvest Ale from Monster Brew, and Joe made a recipe he hasn't shared with me, but I know it involved some roasty malts in the specialty grains and fresh oven roasted pumpkin.
Most of the engineering department along with our families gathered at Bob's house for an evening party and each attendee was encouraged to taste all 3 beers and vote for their favorite. I think the most remarkable thing about this little contest was how different each entry was. Bob's was very light, almost like a blonde, and had champagne-like carbonation. Mine was somewhere in the middle, and Joe's was almost as dark as a stout and tasted roasty and creamy. I think most of us agreed that since we were at a party with free beer we were all winners, but the trophy is sitting on my desk. I'm told that this may be because I was the only one who was really serious about the contest aspect. For some reason we didn't do this event again in 2015, but maybe we'll need to do another one this year.
Bonus - Pumpkin Beer Opinion:
I don't have a problem with pumpkin beer. There is nothing wrong with the addition of pumpkin and spices to an amber or a porter or a belgian dubbel or whatever you want to try it in. I have a problem with the timing. At least here in PA, pumpkins are harvested in September/October. When I visited Dogfish Head in mid-July last year, they were bottling and stockpiling their Punkin Ale for distribution once it came in season (September-November). This means that the pumpkin used in that production run was (at best) harvested a full year before the beer was distributed to the public. Now, I'm not saying that mine was any better since the pumpkin also came from a can, but wouldn't it be better if we planned to enjoy pumpkin ales in December-February, using the more recent pumpkin harvest? I also think this is another (one of several) example of why production craft brewing can't touch the freshness of home brewed beer. Because of my extremely small batch and 0 distribution network, I can go from brew to enjoy in 3-4 weeks minimum. This means I can brew a pumpkin beer in early-mid September using freshly harvested pumpkins and serve it to my friends and family on Halloween and Thanksgiving. Just another advantage to brewing my own beer.
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