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Old Pumpculiar Pumpkin Ale – BYO Magazine October 2005

You either love or hate pumpkin beers. Personally, I’m on the love it side. But in recent years pumpkin beers have started to appear on shelves as early as June. Which is far too early for my taste. Who really wants to be drinking a heavy spiced beer when it’s 90 degrees F out? Not me, that is for sure. Anyway, fresh pumpkins aren’t available in April or May, the months in which beers released in June would have been brewed.


This year I decided to brew my own version of a pumpkin ale. It was my first attempt at any kind of fruit beer. I picked up a neck pumpkin at a local farm and did my research. I started with a base recipe from the October 2005 issue of BYO magazine. Then did some additional research on what spices to add. The original recipe only called for .75 TSP of pumpkin pie spice which I didn’t feel was anywhere close to enough.

Craft Beer and Brewing magazine has a list of recommended spices. They also have a pumpkin ale recipe that I used as guidance in selecting spices and amounts. Finally I also looked at several pumpkin pie recipes to get a better idea on what really goes in to a traditional pumpkin pie.

The final beer is toasty and flavorful. It really does smell and taste like fresh baked pumpkin pie. There is still plenty of time to get out there and brew this up for the holiday season.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 90 min 26.1 IBUs 17.4 SRM 1.058 1.010 6.4 %
Actuals 1.06 1.01 6.6 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Viking Pilsner Malt 9.5 lbs 73.08
Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L 1 lbs 7.69
Wheat, Torrified 1 lbs 7.69
Molasses 8 oz 3.85
Maple Syrup 1 lbs 7.69

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Sterling 0.6 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 11.6
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 0.6 oz 15 min Boil Pellet 4

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Baking Soda 1.00 tbsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 1.00 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Pumpkin 7.00 lb 90 min Boil Flavor
Whirlfloc Tablet 1.00 Items 15 min Boil Fining
Yeast Nutrient 6.00 tsp 15 min Boil Other
Ginger, Powered 1.00 tsp 5 min Boil Herb
Cinnamon Powder 5.00 tsp 5 min Boil Spice
Allspice 0.50 tsp 5 min Boil Spice
Nutmeg 0.50 tsp 5 min Boil Spice
Ginger, Powered 0.25 tsp 0 min Bottling Herb
Cinnamon Powder 1.50 tsp 0 min Bottling Spice
Allspice 0.25 tsp 0 min Bottling Spice
Nutmeg 0.25 tsp 0 min Bottling Spice

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
German Ale (1007) Wyeast Labs 75% 55°F - 66°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Fermentation

Step Time Temperature
Primary 14 days 67°F
Aging 30 days 65°F

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Chinook Session IPA – All the Flavor with half the ABV

Session IPA’s are an interesting subset of the beer market. Your typical IPA would be at least 7% ABV and be hopped to reach 60+ IBU’s. Session IPA’s fall in the 4% to 6% range with an IBU range of around 40 to 50. I set out to create a recipe that was light but still had enough body to stand up against 40 IBU’s. I started with pilsner base malt and added enough crystal to reach an SRM of around 6.5.


Despite the issues I had with the mash reaching 160 F, this IPA turned out great. The higher mash temperature created body and head retention I had not expected. Certainly next time I will mash at the correct temperature. But I’m very happy with the end result here.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 44.0 IBUs 6.6 SRM 1.056 1.012 5.9 %
Actuals 1.053 1.01 5.7 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 11 lbs 88
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L 1.5 lbs 12

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Chinook 0.75 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 13
Chinook 0.5 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 13
Chinook 0.5 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 13
Chinook 0.5 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 13
Chinook 0.5 oz 15 min Aroma Pellet 13
Chinook 1 oz 4 days Dry Hop Pellet 13
Chinook 1 oz 2 days Dry Hop Pellet 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 1.50 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Baking Soda 1.00 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Whirlfloc Tablet 1.00 Items 15 min Boil Fining
Yeast Nutrient 5.00 tsp 15 min Boil Other
Gelatin 1.00 tsp 5 days Primary Fining

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
California Ale (WLP001) White Labs 77% 68°F - 73°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Fermentation

Step Time Temperature
Primary 14 days 67°F
Aging 30 days 65°F

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Double IPA Brew Day with With Citra, Simcoe, Ekuanot, Centennial and WLP095

This time out I brew up a double IPA using a new recipe. I chose Citra, Simcoe and Ekuanot hops because they seemed to be the most common hops used in many of the big IPA’s I sampled earlier in the summer. I added in Centennial because I had it on hand and it’s one of my favorites.


I once again had priming and carbonation issues. This was the last piece of the puzzle that pushed me in to kegging. I’m very frustrated with putting in all of the hard work it takes to make a great beer. Only to be let down by priming and carbonation issues.

There is one more beer in the pipeline that went in to bottles. Then it’s kegging from here on out.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 75 min 135.5 IBUs 7.6 SRM 1.084 1.010 10.0 %
Actuals 1.072 1.01 8.3 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel 13 lbs 76.47
Victory Malt 1 lbs 5.88
Wheat Malt, Bel 1 lbs 5.88
Corn Sugar (Dextrose) 2 lbs 11.76

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
HopShot 0.35 oz 75 min Boil CO2Extract 65
Centennial 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 12
Equinox (HBC 366) 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 15
Simcoe 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 13
Centennial 1 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 12
Equinox (HBC 366) 1 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 15
Simcoe 1 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 13
Citra 1 oz 10 days Dry Hop Pellet 12
Equinox (HBC 366) 1 oz 10 days Dry Hop Pellet 15
Simcoe 1 oz 10 days Dry Hop Pellet 13
Citra 1 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet 12
Equinox (HBC 366) 1 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet 15
Simcoe 1 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet 13

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
California Ale (WLP001) White Labs 77% 68°F - 73°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 150°F 75 min

Fermentation

Step Time Temperature
Primary 4 days 67°F
Secondary 10 days 67°F
Aging 30 days 65°F

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Brewing a Belgian Dubbel with WLP611 – New Nordic Yeast Blend

I first heard about the White Labs Yeast Vault back in September of 2017 from the Brew Dudes. At that time I ordered several different yeast strains, including WLP611. The first strain I received was WLP066 which I used in the Sherman’s Planet IPA recipe.

WLP611 as described by White Labs

Isolated from spontaneously fermented apples on a remote island off the coast of Denmark in the fall of 2009, this culture is a unique blend of three yeast strains (two belonging to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and one Torulaspora delbrueckii).

My original thought on a brew for this yeast was to brew a traditional Finnish Farmhouse Ale. It is unbelievably hard to find juniper branches. A main ingredient in the boil for a Finnish Sahti/Farmhouse Ale. At least I couldn’t ind them any where around central Pennsylvania in April. I settled on a Belgian Dubbel. I had been wanting to brew with Belgian candy syrup for a while. And I felt the style would lend itself to the originating nature of the yeast.


The recipe below references WLP500, Monastery/Trappist Ale yeast.  I picked that up when I purchased the grain. I was not sure the delivery from White labs was going to arrive in time.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5 gal 60 min 21.0 IBUs 24.6 SRM 1.074 1.010 8.4 %
Actuals 1.073 1.013 7.9 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt, Maris Otter 5 lbs 35.4
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 4 lbs 28.32
Munich Malt - 10L 1 lbs 7.08
Victory Malt 1 lbs 7.08
Wheat Malt, Bel 1 lbs 7.08
Cara-Pils/Dextrine 8 oz 3.54
Special B Malt 8 oz 3.54
Black (Patent) Malt 2 oz 0.88
Candi Sugar, Dark 1 lbs 7.08

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 1 oz 60 min First Wort Pellet 4.4
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 0.5 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 4.4

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Trappist Ale (WLP500) White Labs 78% 65°F - 72°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 150°F 75 min

Fermentation

Step Time Temperature
Primary 4 days 67°F
Secondary 10 days 67°F
Aging 30 days 65°F

Notes

Originally From: https://beerandbrewing.com/make-your-best-belgian-dubbel/

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