Lines on Ale

by Edgar Allen Poe

Fill with mingled cream and amber,
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain -
Quaintest thoughts – queerist fancies
Come to life and fade away;
What care I how time advances?
I am drinking ale today.

The second brew I completed on my long Columbus day weekend. I’ve had a rather high demand for a pumpkin ale this fall. The Dude abides…

Here is my recipe -

1 Packet Burtons Water Salt
.5 lbs American Crystal Malt (20 Lov.)
.14 lbs Chocolate Malt
6 lbs of Pumpkin (sugar pumpkins)
6.5 lbs Light Malt Extract
.5 oz Crystal Hops (boil)
.25 oz Crystal Hops (15 min.)
.25 oz Crystal Hops (5 min)
5 inches Cinnamon Bark
3/4 tsp Nutmeg
3/4 tsp Freshly Ground Clove
1 tbsp Irish Moss
1 Packet of American Ale Yeast (1272 Wyeast Amercan Ale II)

To be honest, this brew was kind of a throw together of some extraneous brewing supplies that I had kicking about. I still tried to use things that I thought made sense.

All of the spices are from a really great pumpkin pie recipe that I had used last Thanksgiving. I chose light malt extract as the base to keep it simple and, well, lighter. I chose American crystal and Chocolate malts to add a caramel-like and vanilla undertone to the brew (much like most pies) but used them sparingly to avoid overpowering the pumpkin and spice.

Aside from having them in abundance,I used Crystal hops for their relatively low alpha-acid content. I wanted a hop that wouldn’t overpower the other tastes and Crystal has a nice floral and spicy aroma that I am hoping will compliment the brew.

I chose Wyeast American Ale II for its nutty, soft taste and slightly tart finish. It is also supposed to produce relatively clean beers without filtration.
I included Irish Moss to try and clear this beer up a bit more. Most of the commercial examples I have seen are crystal clear.

Here is the TastyBrew run down, without the pumpkin accounted for -

Color

Stats OG 1.047 FG 1.012 IBU 14 ABV 4.5 % SRM 9

Specifics Boil Volume 4 gallons Batch Size 5 gallons Yeast 75% AA

Style Comparison Low High OG 1.047 FG 1.012 IBU 14 SRM 9 ABV 4.5

With the pumpkin added, I got an original gravity reading of 1.052. I am not sure what sort of effect this will have on the color of the brew but I assume that anything adding body to the beer will reduce a drinkers perception of hop bitterness to some degree.

My method was fairly simply. I baked the pumpkin at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, skinning and cubing it upon completion.

I then added the pumpkin, Crystal and Chocolate malts to 6 quarts of 150 degree water. This stabilized the temperature at around 135 degrees, which I held for 45 minutes.

I then strained out the pumpkin and grains and sparged (as best I could with my strainer) with 2 gallons of water at 170 degrees.

I then brought this “sweet wort” to a boil, added my boiling hops and the malt extract and boiled the mix for 60 minutes. I added more hops at the 15 min. mark and the last of the hops at the 5 min. mark along with the cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and Irish moss.

I then moved the whole wort (with cover on) into an ice bath to cool for 20 minutes. Once cooled, I strained the brew in to the fermenter, pitched the yeast and sealed the container.

I can tell you that the brew smells amazing. Even the burps that are coming out of my three-piece air lock are amazingly spicy. I can’t wait for this brew to be done. I will let you know how it turns out.