Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale
Brewed: 9/19/2021 Kegged: 9/25/2021
The SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife), is really a fan of pumpkin ales. In fact, the past couple of years, her whole GABF strategy was to visit breweries with pumpkin beers to try. Every year the SheppyBrew Brew Master tells himself that he should brew a pumpkin beer, but every year just runs out of Autumn time brewing other things. Finally, in 2014, he decided to finally give it a try.
It took him a fair amount of time to figure out what he wanted the base beer to be. Eventually, he decided a basic Brown Ale would be the best. The recipe uses mostly rich English malts and a higher than usual mash temperature to add a bit of perceived sweetness, balanced up just a bit with bitterness.
Canned pumpkin is grilled and then added to the mash. This should provide some fermentable sugars, but the Brew Master was unable to determine how much and so left that off the recipe. The grains themselves should bring this to a 5% AVB beer. We will have to see how much more the pumpkin adds.
If everything goes as planned, this beer should be ready to drink sometime around mid-October.
Batch 7 was brewed on the Anvil Foundry.
For more information about this beer on the blog, see Sheppy's Blog: Will-o-Wisp.
For more information about this beer on the blog, see Sheppy's Blog: Will-o-Wisp.
| Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale --- Batch 7 (297) |
| Style | Autumn Seasonal Beer | Batch Size | 6.00 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 7.12 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 68.00 | Boil Time | 60 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.053 SG | Estimated FG | 1.013 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 25.9 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 5.2 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.489 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 18.4 SRM |
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| Measured OG: | 1.053 | Measured FG: | 1.013 | ||||
| ADF: | 74.6 | Measured ABV: | 5.3 |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.77 gal | Denver, Colorado | Water | 1 | - | - |
| 6.00 g | Calcium Chloride (Mash) | Water Agent | 2 | - | - |
| 2.00 g | Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash) | Water Agent | 3 | - | - |
| 2.00 g | Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) | Water Agent | 4 | - | - |
| 0.50 tsp | Lactic Acid (Mash) | Water Agent | 5 | - | - |
| 3 lbs 10.0 oz | Pumpkin (8.0 SRM) | Adjunct | 6 | 23.2 % | 0.41 gal |
| 9 lbs 12.0 oz | Golden Promise (Simpsons) (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 7 | 62.4 % | 0.76 gal |
| 2 lbs | Crystal, Medium (Simpsons) (55.0 SRM) | Grain | 8 | 12.8 % | 0.16 gal |
| 2.0 oz | Midnight Wheat Malt (550.0 SRM) | Grain | 9 | 0.8 % | 0.01 gal |
| 2.0 oz | Pale Chocolate Malt (200.0 SRM) | Grain | 10 | 0.8 % | 0.01 gal |
| 1.000 oz | Magnum [10.90 %] - Boil 35.0 min | Hop | 11 | 25.9 IBUs | - |
| 1.00 Items | Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) | Fining | 12 | - | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) | Other | 13 | - | - |
| 0.50 tbsp | Pumpkin Pie Spice (Primary) | Spice | 14 | - | - |
| 1.0 pkg | SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] | Yeast | 15 | - | - |
| 1.00 tbsp | Pumpkin Pie Spice (Secondary) | Spice | 16 | - | - |
| 1.00 Items | Cinnamon Stick (Secondary 5.0 mins) | Spice | 17 | - | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saccharification | Add 35.06 qt of water at 159.7 F | 152.0 F | 45 min |
| Heat | Heat to 158.0 F over 10 min | 158.0 F | 15 min |
| Mash Out | Heat to 170.0 F over 7 min | 170.0 F | 10 min |
If steeping, remove grains,
and prepare to boil wort
Brewing salts in the mash water. This should bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith) to
Ca=95,Mg=14,Na=21,SO4=108,Cl=111,HCO3=104
Acid addition to bring calculated pH around 5.4
Mash grains and pumpkin as directed.
Boil as directed. Cool to as close to 60 degrees as possble. Add first 1/2 tbsp of pumpkin pie spice to fermentor with wort.
Hold low temperature for first 24 - 48 hours of fermentation, allowing to raise where it wants after that.
After about a week of fermentation, add more pumpkin pie spice. Add spice and Cinnamon Stick to secondary fermentor and rack beer on top of this.
Make a tincture with more pumkin pie spice so that you can evaluate spicing of beer at time of bottling and add tincture to taste.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | Strike Temp: | |||||
| Mash Temps: | ||||||
| Pre-boil OG | (1.048 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | (7.12 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | |||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
Brewing Notes
10/29/2021 I've been drinking this more than the Beer Model. Strangely, this is because she thinks there is too much PP spice based on her first taste. Hopefully she likes it better once she tries it again.
1/15/2022 Still drinking this. I've mostly been blending it. Caliente Fuerte makes this taste better to me.
2/26/2022 The Beer Model has been drinking and think it is almost gone. Still good if you like this type of beer.
3/4/2022 Killed the keg. This beer has been on tap for 5 months. Nice to have that side of the kegerator spot open.
10/29/2021 I've been drinking this more than the Beer Model. Strangely, this is because she thinks there is too much PP spice based on her first taste. Hopefully she likes it better once she tries it again.
1/15/2022 Still drinking this. I've mostly been blending it. Caliente Fuerte makes this taste better to me.
2/26/2022 The Beer Model has been drinking and think it is almost gone. Still good if you like this type of beer.
3/4/2022 Killed the keg. This beer has been on tap for 5 months. Nice to have that side of the kegerator spot open.