Beer Brewing: beers about to get pumpxplosiony up in here

As a kid I hated the fall.  It meant going back to school and the switch from shorts to long pants.  In college it meant going back to school, sure, but it meant seeing friends again.  And I no longer let The Man hold me back from wearing shorts well into the winter.  Also, Autumn in New England is pretty great.  Now that I'm middle aged (in my twenties), I've come to actually enjoy the fall.  It's no longer balls-hot out, and that crisp feeling in the morning and at night is pretty nice.  Also leaves and foods and cider donuts and whatnot. 

However.  I believe that the main reason why we, as a species, enjoy fall: pumpkin beer. 

FACT: pumpxbeer is amazing.
FACT: drinking pumpxbeer will raise your IQ and sperm count (regardless of gender).
FACT: pumpxbeer gives you energy and stamina and acts as a poison to your enemies.  And adds like +2 hit points to your attack or something.  I've been playing a lot of Skyrim, so that last one might be a little absurd.
FACT: if you don't like pumpxbeer, then your opinions are wrong and you are banished from the internet.

It's been about a year since Sarah and I brewed our first batch of beer.  it was a red ale kit, to which we added a few pumpkin pieces (after a horrendous time trying to locate pumpkins, pumpkin pie cans, etc.).  "Pumpxplosion" turned out pretty decent, but with relatively zero hint of pumpkin.  We next went with a "pumpkin spice porter" kit, adding some oatmeal and converting it to a stout.  Again, "Pumpkablooey Oatmeal Stout" was ok, but not much pumpkiny flavor (not much oatmeal either really).  Then we went with a chocolate imperial brown ale, naming it "Imperial Shit" after the sludgey "trub" after fermentation.  This was the last time we went with a kit.

Then in the spring we teamed up with Alex and Nadkarns to make two batches of beer at once.  We also got a new glass carboy to allow secondary fermentation (we now agree that filtering beers this second time is pretty much essential).  And it was our first time experimenting with non-kit recipes.  We went with an American Pale Ale ("Beyond Nirvana Pale Ale") and a Honey Ale ("Bumble Beeer").  I enjoyed them both.  But now it's the beginning of Fall (kind of) and that means it's pumpxseason again.  So we're doing another two batches, and, judging by the smells emanating during the boil, they are going to be delicious.

We are going with a pumpkin recipe (adding pumpkin pie mix and a generous helping of pumpkin spices this time around) and an Oktoberfest recipe (adding some similar pumpkin spices, a tiny bit of pumpkin pie mix, and munich grains).  I can't wait to try them.  Which is unfortunate because I'm going to have to.  There's still about a week and a half of primary fermentation, two weeks of secondary fermentation, and then about two weeks in the bottles.  In the meantime I guess I'll have to enjoy pumpxbeers from other breweries...

Haiku-a-Day Challenge: Week 35

I've legitimately used these haikus to go back and look up what dates specific events have occurred.

Caturday 3/3/2012
Game of Thrones board game:
Extremely complicated.
Extremely awesome.

Sunday 3/4/2012
Brewing two batches
A pale ale and honey ale
I must wait a month?!

Monday 3/5/2012
Thesis is evil
It might be the death of me
Why won't it be done?

Tuesday 3/6/2012
What a shitty week
Jurassic Park must happen
And China Deright

Wednesday 3/7/2012
This day has improved
Korean BBQ. YUM.
Pork and steak save souls

Thursday 3/8/2012
Another long day
Devouring tasty food
Potluck wins again

Friday 3/9/2012
College basketball
Making friends with bartenders
Free drinks abounding