The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Ale

Description
CUSTOMER REVIEWS
Questions and Answers

The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Ale

Ahhh fall is in the air! This brown ale is balanced with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and a little something special. This will become a seasonal favorite!

Yield: 5 Gallons

Original Gravity: 1.049

Final Gravity: 1.012

Color / SRM : 22.23

Alcohol by Volume: 4.70%

IBU (anticipated, alpha acids can fluctuate): 24.8

Specialty Grains: CaraMunich, Chocolate

Hops: Northern Brewer

Recipe Includes: Liquid Malt, Specialty Grains & Hops, Pumpkin Spice

Solid Pumpkin Ale

Other than adding additional spices to the ones provided in kit, solid pumpkin ale.

Reviewed by: Brian Donohue from US on 11/7/2018

Great brew

This is always a great fall brew. I typically brew two batches in late summer so they are ready for fall. I always bake one whole small pumpkin with half pound of brown sugar I add at the end of the boil. This is a perfect pumpkin beer.

Reviewed by: Greg King from USA on 10/8/2018

Some pumpkin required

Got two of these while on special. Took Steve's advice and added a 29oz can of pumpkin--went from ok to excellent. Also went with a full oz @60min of northern brewer over the half oz of cascade in the recipe. Balanced much better with the added pumpkin to my taste. Second go with those changes turned out excellent--much better than expected. Knocking off a star because the pumpkin should really be part of the recipe.

Reviewed by: Ryan Foster from on 10/19/2017

The Great Charlie Brown is Great!

Turned out to be an excellent beer. I added 28oz canned pumpkin to the mini-mash for mouth-feel and subtle flavor. There's a discrepancy, the recipe shows Cascade hops and I received Northern Brewer. All is well but AIH should be aware of the contradiction.

Reviewed by: Jeremiah from on 9/25/2017

Recommend adding Pumpkin

Good beer, but the spices aren't enough in my opinion. To get a full bodied flavor, I added 29oz of "100% Pumpkin" canned puree into the boil at 15 minutes left. PUT IT IN A BAG or it's a mess to clean up. You'll get a great pumkpin taste and smell with this mix.

Reviewed by: Steven Millard from on 3/7/2017

Tasty Pumpkin Spiced Brown Ale

I brewed this using the WLP028 yeast. I fermented for 17 days then bottled. This is a medium-body dark brown ale (it's dark brown due to the "Chocolate" specialty grains) with a tan head. The aroma is malt up front followed by a slight chocolate and pumpkin-spice undertone. The taste is similar to the aroma, malt up front then you get some chocolate (think bitter-sweet baking chocolate) and a slight pumpkin spice on the back of the tongue. I'm not a fan of most pumpkin beers but overall this is pretty good so I'll give it 4 stars.

Reviewed by: Bruce from on 10/19/2016

Yummy beer

Really enjoyed this beer. Nice balance of spices give it a great flavor.

Reviewed by: Shane Heideman from on 1/9/2016

Great beer

Brewed this on the 16th of October fermented for about 12 days. When I went to bottle it I was extremely pleased with the taste. Smells great feels like a brown ale but finishes with the pumpkin and spice flavors. Passed it around a party last weekend and people were loving it and were pleasantly surprised when they found out it was a home brew. I recommend this. Keep in mind it's a pumpkin Brown ale.

Reviewed by: Anthony Ward from on 11/19/2015

Kinda meh, no real pumpkin flavor

Brewed this beer about three weeks ago. Hit my FG right on target, and racked it to my new keg. Carbed the beer up and had a taste. First impression: Meh. It has some mouthfeel and a bit of sweetness, but no pumpkin flavor. Perhaps my spices were old, or maybe they should have been added to secondary. Either way, I can't recommend this beer and probably won't order it again.

Reviewed by: Jeff Gilbert from on 11/12/2015

Great fall brew

Used harvested Safale 04 and added 2 cans of pumpkin and 2 pounds of 6-row for a mini mash with this one. Mashed all that for an hour before the boil. Went 2 weeks primary and 1 week secondary. FG was 1.011. Great fall brew with a nice spice smell and taste, but not overpowering. A real good fall brew that I'll repeat next year. Great value too!

Reviewed by: Ed Davis from on 10/28/2015

Nice spice!

Purchased this kit on sale. Added one can of Trader Joe's organic pumpkin to the boil as suggested in other reviews. That made straining the wort from the boil pot a chore - clogged the strainer quickly. Reached FG after 11 days primary and 10 days secondary. Just tapped the keg a few days ago. The spice level is not overpowering but is noticeable, which suits me fine. Not sure the pumpkin addition is noticeable or worthwhile. Others have added more spices. May have to try that next time I brew this kit, which I will.

Reviewed by: Don Childrey from on 10/27/2015

Great pumpkin beer with additions

I added 3lbs of baking pumpkins. Bought 2 pumpkins and cut them up and baked at 350F for 30 mins. Added to mash with grain. Adjusted water amount for mash. Also added extra pumpkin spice to boil. Then added a bunch to secondary. Turned out great. A little darker then I would've liked but tastes great. Will make again next year.

Reviewed by: Ryan Flanigan from on 10/28/2014

I love this beer

I just bottled this kit this weekend, one week in the primary, one week in the secondary, final abv of 4.7%. Tasted the beer while bottling, no aging, no carbonation and oh wow that's some good stuff I'm getting another kit next week.

Reviewed by: Scott Anderson from on 10/20/2014

Hope it turns out good..., still bubbling!!!

Bought this as my first "kit" beer, as I usually work from recipes. It was a good price, so I thought I'd try it. Brewed on 9/11/2014. Made yeast starter with the White Labs 028 Edingburg yeast. Had explosive fermentation starting about 9 hrs after pitching (foam in blow-off hose in a 6.5 gal fermenter!). Racked to secondary fermenter 9 days later, and it was still bubbling. It is now October 4th and still slowly bubbling in secondary fermenter. It is VERY dark brew, and I did taste it when racking, it was good and spicy. Plan to keg in about a week. Can't give a 5 star, since it is not completed yet....

Reviewed by: JohnInKY from on 10/4/2014

Add Some Pumpkin for an Amazing Beer

The first time I brewed this ale, I didn't add pumpkin. The last 3 years, I've added 3 15 oz cans of Trader Joes pumpkin on two occasions, and Libby or some other store brand on the third brew. The TJs pumpkin rounds out the beer and makes it an amazing brew. Another option would be to bake some pie pumpkins and add them. Regardless, avoid the Libby pumpkin because it adds very little pumpkin flavour. Also, someone suggested adding the pumpkin during the last 15 mins. of the boil, but I've also added it at the same time as my other fermentables with amazing results. Finally, I like a pumpkin ale with less "pie" flavour and more subtle spice flavour that allows the pumpkin to shine. This said, I'd only add 1/2 half the spice mix that's included with this kit; add it all if you like "pumpkin pie spiced" pumpkin ale. All-in-all, this is an amazing kit. I'm ordering two today and this will be my 4th season brewing this ale. Great job AIH!

Reviewed by: Matt C from on 9/23/2014

Q: can you use a small amount of vanilla extract or will that mess up the end product?

Asked by: brian batson - 7/25/2018

A: Sure can! We could recommend putting it into your secondary or adding it right before bottling / kegging.

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Answer provided by: Lauren Acton (7/25/2018)

Q: I ordered this kit a month ago, and just brewed yesterday. For the bundled items, I added a 5 oz of priming sugar. Looking at the items I have, I noticed I have two 5 oz bags of priming sugar. Just to be sure, I should only add one 5 oz packet of priming sugar on bottling day...not both, right?

Asked by: JSmith - 10/23/2017

A: You may have received 2 packs by mistake. A good rule of thumb to use is 1oz of sugar per gallon of beer for priming so 1 pack would be plenty

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Answer provided by: Aaron (10/23/2017)

Q: I,m making the great pumpkin special kit and you sent 1 oz of hops but the recipe calls for .5 ounces .Will it hurt to use the 1 oz of hops? Thanks

Asked by: Dennis Shelley - 9/25/2016

A: We package them in 1 oz packages, so you can use the 1/2 like the recipe calls or use all of the ounce. It will not hurt, maybe make it a teeny bit hoppier.

Was this answer helpful? 2 of 2 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Desiree (10/11/2016)

Q: Hi... I like to brew in 6 gallon batches... Can I add the additional water to bring it up to 6 gallons? Also, I prefer lower alcohol batches... How much will the added water bring down the ABV? And lastly, can I use carbonation drops instead of the priming sugar? Thanks... Alan

Asked by: Alan - 9/10/2016

A: I would adjust the entire recipe to account for 6 gallons. Adding water will dilute the recipe, and bring down the abv depending on what your original and final gravity come out to be. You can use drops instead of priming sugar! Refer to the directions on the package.

Was this answer helpful? 1 of 1 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Desiree (10/11/2016)

Q: why do you recommend US-05 yeast but not put it in your yeast options?

Asked by: justin - 8/16/2016

A: Sorry about that. The answer to that question was before we did more research and found out that US-04 had a better finished product than the US-05.

Was this answer helpful? 3 of 3 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Kenny (8/29/2016)

Q: What is the difference between this kit and the classic pumpkin brown ale kit?

Asked by: Nanuck of the north - 7/14/2016

A: The classic kit comes with 1.2 lbs more of liquid malt bumping up the ABV over 5%, also the classic recipe comes with Cascade hops instead on the Northern Brewer hops that come with the Special kit. Thanks!

Was this answer helpful? 2 of 2 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Kenny (8/1/2016)

Q: I ordered this kit a month ago and just got around to brewing it, was wondering if I should worry about the malt extract going bad? There was a lot of pulpy, stringy stuff floating around in the pot, more than ive ever seen. THought maybe there was actual pumpkin in the grain bag or something else that would do this? I use grain bags so not sure what it is. THanks.

Asked by: mike - 10/24/2015

A: the malt extract is being boiled it will be fine you are more then likely seeing the grains that were used for steeping floating around in your pot.

Was this answer helpful? 1 of 1 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: cortney (10/24/2015)

Q: How should the recipe be altered if we were to add real pumpkin to part of the boil?

Asked by: JamesMono - 9/10/2015

A: The recipe wouldn't change, you would just be adding an additional adjunct.

Was this answer helpful? 2 of 2 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Carson (9/14/2015)

Q: I wanted to barrel age a pumpkin beer. Is this a good one to try this with? It would be my first attempt to barrel age a beer.

Asked by: Todd - 2/11/2015

A: This is a very popular pumpkin ale, we have had great success with this kit. That being said, spices will fall out of suspension over time. So just make sure you realize the longer you let it age in a barrel, the less powerful the pumpkin spice will be.

Was this answer helpful? 2 of 2 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Carson (2/11/2015)

Q: Is there a way to add real or canned pumpkin to this recipe? If so, what would you recommend?

Asked by: Mike - 9/15/2014

A: You could add pumpkin to this recipe during the last 15 minutes of the boil if you wanted but it would change the recipe from the original.

Was this answer helpful? 1 of 2 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Paul Burton (9/16/2014)

Q: Is the clove flavor very pronounced? I am not a fan of clove spice taste, but enjoy a good pumpkin ale.

Asked by: Matt - 9/8/2014

A: We use pumpkin spice flavoring. I would say the the clove flavor is not overpowering but that is just my opinion, it smells a lot like pumpkin.

Was this answer helpful? 4 of 4 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Paul Burton (9/9/2014)

Q: For the priming sugar how much is needed for this kit?

Asked by: matt - 9/6/2014

A: We recommend using 5 oz of priming sugar with this beer.

Was this answer helpful? 1 of 1 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Robert (9/8/2014)

Q: Is the priming sugar included in the kit for bottling or is it for the brew pot as a fermentable?

Asked by: JD - 9/4/2014

A: The priming sugar that is included is meant for use during bottling.

Was this answer helpful? 3 of 3 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Robert (9/5/2014)

Q: Hi, I was wondering if this is an online only special and how long will the ingredients stay good before spoiling?

Asked by: Mike - 8/18/2014

A: This is a special that is good in store or online. The ingredients including the hops, spices, and grain will be good for up to a year but the one part that can spoil within a month is the liquid malt extract.

Was this answer helpful? 12 of 12 Customer(s) found this Answer helpful.

Answer provided by: Paul Burton (8/19/2014)

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'The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown' Ale Special

Q: can you use a small amount of vanilla extract or will that mess up the end product?

Q: I ordered this kit a month ago, and just brewed yesterday. For the bundled items, I added a 5 oz of priming sugar. Looking at the items I have, I noticed I have two 5 oz bags of priming sugar. Just to be sure, I should only add one 5 oz packet of priming sugar on bottling day...not both, right?

Q: I,m making the great pumpkin special kit and you sent 1 oz of hops but the recipe calls for .5 ounces .Will it hurt to use the 1 oz of hops? Thanks

Q: Hi... I like to brew in 6 gallon batches... Can I add the additional water to bring it up to 6 gallons? Also, I prefer lower alcohol batches... How much will the added water bring down the ABV? And lastly, can I use carbonation drops instead of the priming sugar? Thanks... Alan

Q: why do you recommend US-05 yeast but not put it in your yeast options?

Q: What is the difference between this kit and the classic pumpkin brown ale kit?

Q: How should the recipe be altered if we were to add real pumpkin to part of the boil?

Q: I wanted to barrel age a pumpkin beer. Is this a good one to try this with? It would be my first attempt to barrel age a beer.

Q: Is there a way to add real or canned pumpkin to this recipe? If so, what would you recommend?

Q: Is the clove flavor very pronounced? I am not a fan of clove spice taste, but enjoy a good pumpkin ale.

Q: For the priming sugar how much is needed for this kit?

Q: Is the priming sugar included in the kit for bottling or is it for the brew pot as a fermentable?

Q: Hi, I was wondering if this is an online only special and how long will the ingredients stay good before spoiling?

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