St Arnold Pumpkinator clone recipe anyone?

Cant start brewing pumpkin beer in the fall, it wouldnt be ready till after the first of the year.....theese things need to age a bit.

 

Maybe it is just me, but that doesnt seem like near enough pumpkin. I know the math works out, but that just seems like a drop in the bucket. That is less than half of a small sized can for a 5 gallon batch. I wonder if they meant 4370 pies, lol. I kid of course, but is it just me? Does this seem like there should be more pumpkin in something called Pumpkinator? I used a lot more than this when I made mine. It still has a bit to go before bottling, but I tasted it last night, and it tasted amazing.....although I do recall thinking it could use more pumpkin.

 

Most of the pumpkin flavor is the spicing. Pumpkin doesn't give off much flavor once you ferment out the sugar.

 

I just bottled it. There is still a LOT of pumpkin flavor in it, although I did used more than SA does. Since the pumkin pie spice that is in it doesnt have any pumkin flavor at all, I would have to disagree the the pumpkin flavor comes from the spices....that is where the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice flavors come from. My spice tastes nothing like pumpkin as there is none in it. I am a stickler for pumpkin flavor vs. pumpkin PIE Flavor being completely different things, because they are. I do agree however that Pumpkinator has more of a Pumpkin Pie flavor to it than just Pumpkin....so yes, in Pumpkinator it does seems as though more flavor may be coming from the spice than the actual Pumpkin. I wanted to slightly reverse that....and it seems to have come out pretty well. Cant wait for it to be conditioned and ready.

 

I'm going to have to convert this for extract brewing. Pumkinator is one of my favs! Can't waint for my next SA brewery visit.

 

This is the message I was trying to convey above....pumpkin spice is what people think of when they think pumpkin flavor, but it is not really pumpkin flavor at all. Those pumpkin spice lattes are just that, pumpkin SPICE....no pumpkin at all. I love to eat straight baked pumpkin slices with brown sugar....I enjoy the taste of the pumpkin more so than the spice associated with it. Mine has so much pumpkin that is has a creamy character to it. It is lovely. Let us know how yours turns out....when will the aged stuff be ready. Maybe we can send each other a bottle....no?

 

I have extended the above into a partial. I'm late to the game this year, but plan to start this weekend. Maybe try it come Thanksgiving. No where did I see vanilla in other clones, but I believe it is there. Yes/No? I gave it this name... only seemed fitting after last year. LOL

Drunken Pumpkin Imperial Stout (Pumpkinator Clone)

3.0 Gallon Boil
5.5 Gallon Batch
60 Minute Boil
75% Efficiency

Specs:
OG: 1.105
FG: 1.035
ABV: 9.17%
IBU: 22.33
SRM: 32.73

Ingredients
6.5 lbs. Light LME
6.5 lbs. Amber LME
1 lb. 3 oz Cara 20, 6.5%
1 lb. 3 oz Cara 45, 6.5%
14.6 oz Special B, 5%
8.7 oz Chocolate, 3%
5.8 oz Black, 2%
“The Pie” - Mash Pie with grains
30 oz Caramelized Canned Pumpkin (not pie)
12 oz Brown Sugar
4 oz Molasses (molasses baked on top of the pumpkin)
1 Tbls Pumpkin Pie Spice (baked on top of cake)
Cook for 1 hour at 350.
“Tea” make at start of primary. Add to secondary.
3 Vanilla Beans (soaked in 8 oz bourbon or rum)
2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
3.5 oz Cascade Hops (@30 min)
2 tsp cinnamon (@30 min)
1 tsp nutmeg (@30 min)
3 oz Liberty hops (10 min)
2 packs Safale S-04 ale yeast

Directions
Heat 2.5 gallons of water to 155-165˚F.
Place crushed grains and pumpkin pie in the steeping bag and steep for 90 minutes.
Sparge, transfer, and heat to boil.
Mix in 6.0 lbs of light LME and 6.0 lbs of amber LME.
Bring to a boil.
30 minutes, add Cascade Hops, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Last 10 Minutes, add Liberty Hops.
Pour wort into fermenter.
Top off to make 5.5 gallons and cool wort to 70˚F using an ice bath.
Pitch Safale S-04 ale yeast.
Ferment at 70˚F for two weeks
Secondary, add Tea!
Secondary for three to four weeks.
Age until you run out of patience.

DTR

 

Just to be clear, and because it was thrown in the middle, the "tea" is just bourbon soaked vanilla beans right? I'm sure this will taste delicious. I'm just surprised by the bourbon soaked vanilla beans. I don't remember tasting that in previous pumkinators.

This does look awesome though. I wish I had a chest freezer so I could ferment more than one thing at a time.

 

Add the whole thing... only 6 oz. Use to kill any unwanted's as you are adding a whole bean.. No telling what may come with it and I don't want a sour pumpkin ale. I would not be concerned with only dry spice. 6oz of bourbon shouldn't impact flavor. I am also considering soaking charred oak strips in bourbon for aging (after secondary); I would let it dry a bit before adding in my keg. This would give it some of the Bishop's Barrel #9 flavor. I would also end up with some bold bourbon to dispose of...

Bishop's Barrel No. 9
Style: Imperial Pumpkin Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels
Date Brewed: July 16, 2014
Date Racked: August 15, 2014
Date Bottled: March 27, 2015
Beer style in bbl: Pumpkinator
Type of Barrel: Woodford Reserve and Willett Bourbon Barrels
Original Gravity: 1.100
Final Gravity: 1.018
Alcohol: 10.4% ABV prior to barreling
12.9% ABV after barreling
Bitterness: 24 IBU

Description:
The base beer of BB9 is Pumpkinator. This beer pours a dark brown to black color with a tan head. The nose is pumpkin spice up front with oak, bourbon, vanilla and dark fruit in the background. The taste starts with sweet chocolate and pumpkin spice up front and finishes with a bit of alcohol heat and spices. This beer has a medium-full body with a soft mouthfeel. BB9 was aged in both Woodford Reserve and Willett bourbon barrels and blended prior to packaging.

The warmer this beer gets the better it tastes. We recommend enjoying between 55°F and 65°F.

Also see: Bishop's Barrel 9 | Saint Arnold Brewing Company

 

This is fermenting along. I did add 2.8 oz of oak and let it sit for 24 hrs. The oak soaked in bourbon for a week. I pulled it early as I was worried I would forget it and leave it in too long. I also reduced the bourbon for the "tea" to about 5 oz. (I actually didn't have enough.) I only wish I had filtered the tea as there was some leftover spices and parts of the beans which now are floating on top of the secondary.

 

Have you made this before? Or are you making this right now for the first time?

If it is in secondary, if should not be fermenting along. Fermentation should be finished.

FYI - it is definitely fine to have the vanilla beans floating in secondary. In fact, they should be. You might get some vanilla flavoring in the bourbon from them sitting in there a day or two, but I think you are wasting perfectly fine (and pricey) vanilla beans. But if that is what you want to do, I would suggest you make your own extract with vanilla beans and vodka. Just add 1-2 tablespoons of that to your bottling bucket / keg. It would be cheaper in the long run, and a better / more efficient use of vanilla beans.

You should have included the beans, and any oak additions with the bourbon you add. By "pulling it early" are you using a mesh bag? If so there really is no need to do that. Just add the adjuncts to secondary and let it age for however long you want it to age. Then siphon off as usual. All the oak, and beans will come out easy enough with a rinse of water.

I'm sure your beer will turn out good, but I think there is an easier way to do this.

 

I was able to try bishops barrel number 9 at a st arnold beer pairing dinner back in july. It was an awesome beer but not something i felt like drinking in the 100 degree la heat and humidity. we each got a whole bottle and I'm proud to say not a drop of the bishops barrel placed in front of me was wasted. had to use uber after that though

 

Fermentation will still continue in the secondary depending upon how long it sits in the primary. I choose to not let my beer sit in the primary. There is a lot of talk about whether a secondary is even necessary in home brew as the volume is so low compared to industry brewers. I don't care to get into all of that as I know what has worked well for me for over twelve+ years. One week in primary and one in secondary. I then age in bottle or keg.

I did not add the beans directly to the beer. The "tea" is an extract. But rather than vodka, I use bourbon - but less than I originally noted in my recipe. I just wish I had filtered it as there was organic matter in it. I started to use the oak but pulled it. It was just an oak rod. But with oaking you really need to taste the beer every day until you get the amount you want. The surface area is different in such small quantities. I had to travel so I pulled it.

UPDATE

A month ago I kegged 3 gallons and bottled the rest. My wife and tasted it during the transfer. The flavor is SPOT-ON at the start but the finish is not smooth. Aging will fix that. It is just the right amount of flavors and malt. I will pop a few bottles come Oct 31! The keg will wait until Thanksgiving with a few bottles to sit for a year.

 

I agree. BB#9 should have been released this fall. Why St. Arnold released it in the dead heat of summer, I do not know. But it is definitely worth the cost of uber!

 

Maybe they didn't have the time or space to store the finished product.