When should I brew these beers?

Northern Brewer General
1

I would like to Brew some sort of pumpkin spice/holiday spice beer and have it ready end of October or mid November. I have never made one so I am not sure how long this beer should age/mature after bottled. Im also open to partial mash recipe suggestions.

Same goes for a coffee/espresso stout. Never made one, would like it ready end of January. Also open for any recipe suggestions for this as well.

Thanks!

2

I would say it depends on the starting gravity. If you are going to brew something with a higher gravity (over 1.060), I would brew the spiced pumpkin ale now (assuming you can keep the ferment temps in the proper range), and the expresso stout shortly thereafter. If the beers are lower gravity, you have some time and could wait a couple of months. But this assumes that you can keep the ferment down in the proper range, which can be difficult to do in the summer without some sort of ferment temperature control. If you can’t keep the fermenting wort cool, I would wait until you can, and brew a lower gravity beer since you will have less time between brewing and drinking.

3

I would like the stout to be a bit on the bigger side, the other isnt as big of a deal. I currently have Jamils Evil Twin in a secondary and its sitting @ 69 with no help from anything. That is just regular room temp. I could probably maintain 65*/66* for a primary temp for either beer. Still haven’t narrowed down a recipe yet, so I am unsure of what the ferm temps will need to be.

4

For the pumpkin, I’d brew it at the beginning of September. 3 weeks primary. 2 weeks bottled. You’ll be ready to drink by the middle of October which will lead into Halloween and Thanksgiving. For the Stout, if you want that to be a bigger beer, I’d make it right after you brew the pumpkin. That will give you and extra month or two for it to condition/age.

5

Just keep in mind that the coffee will fade.

6

I was limited on the Pumpkin spice waiting for pumpkins to ripen. Brewed last year on Labor day it was good for Thanksgiving it was really good at Christmas. If you want it for Halloween I would use canned pumpkin and brew it around 08/01.

7

Thanks for the quick responses! ANy suggestions on recipies? I brew extract w/specialty grains. Could possible do a partial mash also, but Im only able to boil 3.5 g max. Im still doing the old stovetop brew!