Friday, September 28, 2018

2018 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

I have gotten bad at getting my blog posts out. This post should have been published at least 2 weeks ago.

But ... oh well ...

Here we go.

On Sunday, September 9 I brewed the 2018 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale.

For some strange reason, my wife REALLY loves pumpkin spice beers.

That being the case, in 2014, I designed a pumpkin spice ale. And I brewed it.

Happy wife ... happy life ... right?

It is actually pretty good. The base beer is fantastic and the pumpkin spice is subtle enough that I can drink it, while still being present enough for my wife to enjoy the beer.

Only highly skilled brewing craft men can walk that fine line. Good thing I'm awesome like that.


Some people will tell you that you don't need pumpkin in a pumpkin spice ale. I disagree. So, I put pumpkin in.





As you can probably tell from the pictures, I started the brew day fairly late for me. The sun was actually up when I started.

The brew day went pretty well, other than apparently my refractometer badly needed calibration. It was a good 5 points off.


I ended up diluting the wort as if my wort was 5 points higher than it should have been.

As a result, my OG was 5 points low. At least I'm consistent.

I'm actually a fan of lower alcohol beers, and the flavor is still awesome. So, it wasn't really a big problem for me.

Since then, I've calibrated my refractometer and will probably now remember to check it more often going forward.


As I am typing this, I've kegged the beer, carbonated the beer, and had a few samples.

The wife has even had a few pints.



 It is a tasty beer. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I really think the base beer is fantastic. The pumpkin spice is noticeable, but certainly not overwhelming. I think it is a great compromise between the pumpkin spice lover in my wife and the beer lover in me.

I might even have a fair amount of this batch.

Anyway ...

As always, you can always keep an eye on the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with beer and other things: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed;SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website. Of course, don't forget to visit this blog often as well!

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Go Rockies!

1 comment:

  1. I think a big part of the reason people are so crazy about pumpkin spice *everything* is because it's not widely available year-round. It's definitely a case of scarcity driving demand. (I'm not sure if this is the reason your beautiful and lovely wife likes pumpkin spice beer. Presumably she can get yours year-round).

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