This is a pumpkin beer based on Elysian’s Dark o the Moon. This beer is basically a stout with a bit of pumpkin and cinnamon. I dialed back the cinnamon from the original recipe because I didn’t have Vietnamese cinnamon and used “regular” cinnamon which is really ground cassia and also known as Chinese cinnamon, although Vietnamese cinnamon is related to cassia, so go figure if they are the same or not – the literature out there is a bit muddled on the subject. Some claim Vietnamese is the best cinnamon with less bitterness, more aromatics, and with a slightly sweet taste. The other cinnamon on the market is Ceylon cinnamon, which is also marketed as Mexican cinnamon. This is the “true” cinnamon which has a more delicate flavor than Chinese. More than likely the stuff you get at the store is ground cassia and is much stronger in flavor, less aromatic, and more bitter. Anyhow, I digress.

I always err on the side of caution with adding spices. The original recipe called for 7g cinnamon at 5 minutes and 3.5 g at flame out. I opted for 4g at flame out. This resulted in really no cinnamon flavor upon tasting the beer after being in the fermentor for 6 days so maybe the original recipe was on to something. With this in mind, I cold steeped another 4g of cinnamon in 1 pint of water and then boiled the priming sugar in it to add back to the beer. Beer tastes great so far but hopefully this will add a little cinnamon kick to make it more complex.

Other tweaks to the recipe are that the roasted barley I got was high on the Lovibond scale at 650 when the recipe called for 550. Not sure what appreciable affect on flavor this will have. Also, added all the pumpkin in mash and boil at 8 ounces each while recipe called for adding a little less in mash and boil and then adding 4 ounces pumpkin after high krausen. Also, 4g of cinnamon dry spicing got ditched with the addition of the cinnamon tea.

Should be ready for Thanksgiving.

5 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.071
Estimated FG: 1.020
Estimated Color: 56 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 6.5%

Grain
11 lbs Pale Two Row (2.0 SRM) 67.7%
1 lb 4 oz Munich (9.0 SRM) 7.7%
1 lb Chocolate (350 SRM) 6.2%
1 lb Roasted Barley (650 SRM) 6.2%
8 oz Crystal 20 (20 SRM) 3.1%
8 oz Crystal 80 (80 SRM) 3.1%
8 oz Pumpkin(mash) (3 SRM) 3.1%
8 oz Pumpkin(boil) (3 SRM) 3.1%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
18.00 g Warrior [15.0%] – Boil 60 min 30.5 IBUs
28.00 g US Saaz [4.0%] – Boil 0.0 min 0 IBUs
4.0 g cinnamon – Boil 0.0 min

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

4.0 g cinnamon tea in 1pint water for priming sugar – add to keg or bottling bucket

Mash and Sparge
Half RO water
Half Ventura water(high bicarbonates and sulfates)
5.00 g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
Mash in 25 qt water 166F and let stabilize to 156F for 45 min
Batch Sparge 3.5 gallons 170F

Yeast
WLP 007 Dry English 2L starter