Pumpkin Ale using.....real pumpkins?

NTOLERANCE · 08-09-2009, 07:24 PM

Anyone brew a pumpkin ale using real pumpkins instead of canned?

I work at a farm/nursery and we have lots of pumpkins coming up, not to mention those growing in my back yard.

I am very well aware of the different types of pumpkins, I am thinking about using the Rouge Vif D Etampes, Amish Pie, or Sugar Pie Pumpkin. All suitable for baking. ( I am partial to the french Rouge pumpkin myself.)

So.....any thoughts? The gist of my question isnt to not buy the canned pumkpkin, but to make something unique.

**ChshreCat** · 08-09-2009, 07:30 PM

Lots of folks use real pumpkins. Cut them into a few big pieces, roast them in the oven and add them to your mash and you can convert starches from them as well as get the flavor. Some folks also just add it to the boil after roasting. The pumpkins themselves don't really add that much flavor to the beer that you relate with a pumpkin ale. It's more the spices that do it.

NTOLERANCE · 08-10-2009, 01:41 AM

I agree about the pumpkin usually providing little flavor so to speak.
One of the reasons I hoped to use the Rouge pumpkins was because of their flavor. Many pumkpins suitable for halloween decorating usually have little flavor to them when it comes to cooking. They are usually hybrids, and lack any real flavor weather used for baking or beer brewing.

So, clean the pumpkin out, cut the body into sections, roast it, then add it to the wort of my recipe?

**ChshreCat** · 08-10-2009, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NTOLERANCE

I agree about the pumpkin usually providing little flavor so to speak.
One of the reasons I hoped to use the Rouge pumpkins was because of their flavor. Many pumkpins suitable for halloween decorating usually have little flavor to them when it comes to cooking. They are usually hybrids, and lack any real flavor weather used for baking or beer brewing.

So, clean the pumpkin out, cut the body into sections, roast it, then add it to the wort of my recipe?

You can, but many folks just chop it up and throw it in the mash. Either way. I always leaned to the mash, but Revvy puts it in the boil so it must work.

cactusgarrett · 08-10-2009, 05:16 PM

Throw the pumpkin in the oven for a bit to toast it. MUCH better flavor, IMO.

thedigitale · 08-10-2009, 05:24 PM

I've never used real pumpkin for one reason...

I want to brew my pumpkin ale about a month before you can get pumpkin locally so it's ready when the pumpkins start hitting the shelf! If you have access to them now I say go for it!

Boerderij_Kabouter · 08-10-2009, 05:32 PM

Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - Brewing with Pumpkin: Tips from the Pros -

NTOLERANCE · 08-11-2009, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boerderij_Kabouter

Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - Brewing with Pumpkin: Tips from the Pros -

Good tips in that article, thanks for the link.

I am going to put it in the mash. I am thinking about making a larger tun, due to the size of the pumpkins. Perhaps that will help with flow.

I am planning on growing pumpkins semi-professionally next fall. So, I will be buying some left over pumpkins from this year to aquire more seeds for next year. I will start a number of them in the greenhouse specifically for beer brewing. This year, I got some to germinate in April, and have a half dozen basket ball sized pumpkins in the garden right now. Three of them are almost orange. SO I could have pumpkin ale before halloween.

Lots of good recipes out there, gotta narrow down my choices.

**Revvy** · 08-11-2009, 10:33 PM

A professional pumpkin grower, huh? Pretty cool...

But you will have to change you handle on here to something cooler, and that reflects that....

Your real name wouldn't be Pete, would it?

Cool! Good luck with that...now you really have to perfect your pumpkin ale.

**DeathBrewer** · 08-11-2009, 10:35 PM

Spices should be made into a "spice tea" to extract the flavor, then added to the boil at flameout...adding to the boil can create undesireable flavors. Not to say it won't work, but the tea works amazingly well.