One of the reasons why I love making my own beer is that I know exactly how to make it, and exactly what is going into my beer. Did you know that commercial brewers are legally allowed to add up to 79 different adjuncts into the beer without letting you know! Now everyone should be familiar with what an adjunct is from my last post, for example the cinnamon in my Three Horsemen pumpkin porter is an adjunct.
I first got the idea to brew this pumpkin porter from a clone recipe of the four peaks brewery in Tempe, AZ. I decided I needed to try theirs and see what they went for, and how I might be able to craft it more to my liking. Their porter was bland to me, very very soft notes of pumpkin, and I really couldn’t taste anything else. I decided it needed a boost of flavor! After acquiring the ingredients for my preference of a highly flavorful brew (I doubled everything from the pumpkin, cinnamon, and added some secret stuff too) I went to work! This particular 5 gallon batch took about 2 weeks to ferment with a wyeast starter (1 week in the primary and another in the secondary). Having a yeast starter can help your fermentation start off quicker and reduce the chance of infection and off flavors in your beer, so I recommend making a starter for your yeast. In general, lagers require a larger starter than ales. George Fix’s book “An Analysis of Brewing Techniques” recommends pitching rates of 0.75 million cells an ale and 1.5 million cells for lager. The number is measures in million of cells per milliliter per degree plato. Converting to homebrew units, his ale figure translates to 4 billion cells per point of original gravity per 5 gallon batch (1.048 original gravity would be 48 points or 192 billion cells). For a 5 gallon homebrew, lets use the figure of 192 billion cells.
Later I found that I probably shouldn’t have used the secondary because the beer came out a little clearer than I was hoping for, but I was still satisfied. This was the first batch that I was able to utilize an all glass fermenting, instead of the plastic buckets I was using before. Talk about a huge improvement! Glass is so much easier to clean than that plastic was, and I was always worried the plastic would degrade over time and affect the flavor of my beer.
When I get my brewery started this will be one of the beers I plan to have on tap for the special season of Winter! If you've tried this beer let me know what you think in the comments!
I'd rate this beer a B, but it is a work in progress I will try to brew again and perfect the recipe and process.
I love this beer. Not my favorite, mind you the orange peel wheat still holds that title, but still a great beer. This isn't a beer you should just hammer and move on to the next one. It is a dessert and a treat to be savored and enjoyed. The pumpkin flavor is full but not bold to the point that you forget its a beer. A delicious porter indeed. As far as porters go it seemed to be lighter bodied than others but you don't mind since you aren't getting punched in the mouth with overwhelming coffee or nut flavors. I give it two thumbs up!
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