Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (Batch 297)

It's that time of year again ... pumpkin spice beer time.

Sigh.

As you probably know if you've been following this blog for awhile, the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) likes pumpkin spice ales.

Unfortunately, back in September of 2014, I brewed a pumpkin spice beer that she really liked.

Unfortunately, I've been brewing this beer every year since.

Unfortunately, last Sunday it was time to brew it again.

Fortunately, the Beer Model was willing to help. So we brewed it together.

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

2020 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (batch 268)

The SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) brewed this weekend.

Really, she did.

I helped, but she was the Brew Master Sunday. In fact, I had to leave right when the boil started, so for a significant portion of the brew day, she was the only brewer.

Every Autumn since 2014, SheppyBrew has brewed a pumpkin spice ale, "Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale".

The base beer is an awesome Autumn Ale, and we basically flavor it with a pumpkin pie spice tincture.

I wouldn't brew it if the SheppyBrew Beer Model didn't like pumpkin spice beers, but you know what they say ... Happy Wife - Happy Life.

Anyway, Sunday we brewed it. 

As with all brew days that the Beer Model participates in, we got started later than my usual start time.

2019 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (batch 240)

Pumpkin. Spice. Ale.

If you follow this blog at all ... you probably know that the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) enjoys drinking Pumpkin Spice Ales.

Mid September, 2014, I brewed my first Pumpkin Spice Ale. Mostly, I did it to make my wife happy.

Happy wife. Happy life.

I'm not proud of it, but I am pretty good at brewing Pumpkin Spice Ales.

I'll even drink some of mine without complaining too much.

It being close to mid-September, now is the time to brew a Pumpkin Spice Ale for it to be ready by Pumpkin Spice season.

So, last weekend, I made the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) help me brew. (I actually can't make my wife do anything she doesn't already want to do).

Since it has been such a hit in the past, we left the recipe pretty much the same as it has been since 2014 ...

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

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.

2016 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

I brewed Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale this past Sunday.

Why would I brew a Pumpkin Ale? Well ... the reason I brew one is that the SheppyBrew Beer Model likes Pumpkin Spice Beers. 

.... Duh! ...

I started early in the morning by mashing the base-beer grains.

I had to run to the grocery store to pick up pumpkin.

My Wife's Pumpkin Ale

If you follow the SheppyBrew Facebook Page, or my twitter feed, you may have noticed that I posted another article to The Homebrew Academy. 

My Wife's Pumpkin Ale

If you haven't seen it, go take a look. Please Please Please Leave a comment. I want Billy to think it is worth having me "on staff" at his blog.

In the article, I go a little more into detail about making a pie-spice tincture, and how I try to use it to spice the beer "to taste". Again, go read 

Currently, the Will-o-Wisp Pumpkin Ale is in its fermentor waiting to be transferred to secondary at which point I'll add some of the tincture, but most likely less than I'll think I need. After a few days, I'll keg the beer and add more of the spice tincture if I think it needs it.

Every few days I'll add more until we think it is where it should be.

I hope to get the beer into secondary over the next few days. I'm not sure when a keg will open up, but I do think  Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager is about finished.

Again, please go visit My Wife's Pumpkin Ale and leave comments. So far there are only 2. I want to see closer to 20.

Go Bears!

Brewing the 2015 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

As you know if you follow this blog or the SheppyBrew Facebook Page, Sunday was a brew day for me.

Specifically, I brewed Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale.

We actually grew pumpkins in our garden this year, but we didn't use those in the pumpkin beer. They are not pie pumpkins. They are jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Plus, my wife tells me that they are not ready to pick yet. Something about a finger nail test?

Who knows?

Anyway, instead of real live garden pumpkins, I used 58 ounces (a couple cans) of Libby Canned Pumpkins.

The mash is the same as a usual beer mash except I added mashed up pumpkin to the tun about 45 minutes into it. Before adding pumpkin, I heated it to 350 degrees. The idea of cooking the pumpkin was to get maybe a bit of caramelization, but that didn't really happen in the amount of time I cooked it. Not a huge deal.

I'm brewing a pumpkin beer

I'm brewing a pumpkin ale this weekend.

Why?

Don't be stupid, you know why I'm brewing a pumpkin ale this weekend.


I'm brewing a pumpkin ale this weekend because of this chick --->

aka, The SheppyBrew Beer Model --->

aka, My wife. --->

This chick, aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model aka My wife really likes pumpkin spice beers.

Really. She really likes them.

Really.

I don't think she's actually ever met a pumpkin beer that she has not liked, and she has tried a lot of them.

Will-o-Wisp Brew Day

Well, this certainly should not surprise anyone. As I mentioned in my last blog post (see Pumpkin Ales), I was going to brew this weekend. And brew I did.

I brewed SheppyBrew's first ever pumpkin ale

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

I started super early, and was finished before 8:30AM. As a result, all my pictures of this brew day except one are with my crappy camera phone flash. I applogize for the lack of quality photographs. Not that they are all that great most of the time.

Brewing a pumpkin ale was a bit of a learning experience, but everything went great. 

I started out the brew-day by spreading my canned pumpkin onto a cookie sheet and baking it at 350 degrees. While the pumpkin was cooking, I got my mash going. I hit my temperature perfect, which is rare. 

Pumpkin Ales

I am brewing a pumpkin ale this weekend. Pumpkin ales are not my favorite, so why am I brewing one? The main reason is that the SheppyBrew Beer Model really likes them, and (let's face it), it is a good idea to keep the Beer Model happy.

Plus, a pumpkin beer is something that I've never brewed before, and it is fun to try new things.

Actually, it is really more surprising that this is the first time I've attempted to brew a pumpkin beer.

You can take a look at my recipe on the SheppyBrew website: Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale.