PumpkinSU2008

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Contents

Pumpkin Spiced Wheat, Summer, 2008

Beer Statistics

Beer Name Punpkin Spiced Wheat
Beer Style Pumpkin Ale
Bottle Label P8
Brew Date August 10, 2008
Starting Gravity 1.052
Starting Temperature 69° Fahrenheit
Target Gravity 1.011
Final Gravity 1.011
ABV 5.5%
Packaging bottle

Plan

The plan includes three stages of fermentation to reduce the amount of yeast sediment in the finished beer.
  • Brew day: August 10, 2008
  • Primary fermentation: 1 week
  • Secondary fermentation: 2 weeks
  • Tertiary fermentation: 3 days
  • Bottle condition: 3 weeks
  • Estimated competition date: September 27, 2008

Brew Details

Location Wallingford, CT
Weather Sunny
Water well water (hard)
Kettle 20 quart stock pot
Primary Fermenter food-grade bucket
Other Equipment propane burner

Recipe Notes

This is a Pumpkin Ale that I've been working on for the last few years. I decided to make some major changes to the beer. In the past, I used an Amber Ale as the base, removed the flavor and aroma hops, and added various pumpkin spices. This time, I used a Wheat Ale as the base, only used bittering hops, and added pumpkin spices. See below for the recipe:
Pumpkin Spiced Wheat Ale

August 10, 2008

Another great day to brew. I followed my own recipe (listed above). Nothing major to note during the brewing process. One thing that I'm nervous about is how strong the spices are. It might be too strong for my taste. The only way to know for sure is to finish the brew and see how it comes out.

August 16, 2008

Moved the beer from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter (glass carboy). The gravity measured 1.013 at 72° Fahrenheit. The beer tasted good. The spices were not as strong as I thought they would be. Actually. they are very subtle. It will be interesting to see how it tastes after aging for a few weeks. The beer is also very cloudy, which is standard for wheat beers. There is still lots of yeast in suspension that should settle out after a few weeks in the fermenter.

August 30, 2008

Moved the beer to the tertiary fermented (glass carboy). The gravity measured 1.013 at 72° Fahrenheit, which is where it was last time I checked. Again, the beer tasted good, even better then the last time I tasted it. The punpkin spices were more noticeable this time too, which is good. Also, the beer is crystal clear, which is strange for a wheat beer. If I knew, I would have bottled it this morning. It's ready to go. I will either bottle it on Monday or next weekend. Also, I put the carboy in the refrigerator for cold conditioning. It doesn't really need it though.

August 31, 2008

I decided to bottle this brew tomorrow since it was already very clear. I removed the beer from the refrigerator so it will be room temperature tomorrow.

September 6, 2008

Well, I didn't end up having time to bottle on Monday, so I did it today. I tried the beer again, and I think it's missing something. It's a good beer, but not my favorite. I'm going to give it 4 weeks to carbonate. Mike's wheat beer is taking longer then 3 weeks to carbonate, so I'm planning on 4.