Autumn Seasonal Beer Samhain Pumpkin Ale

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Was a great brew day and even better tasting day!

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I made a batch of this back in October and it wasn't drinkable right away. Something was off about it. I left it in the basement until last week and I cracked one open. It was super clear, and smelled of pumpkin, but it was a little sour. There isn't a pellicle forming in any of the bottles or anything though. Anyways, it's absolutely delicious. I never thought a sour pumpkin beer would be any good. The problem is that I don't know where bacteria was introduced. Possibly in the bottling bucket because kegged beers off of the system have been fine. I'll be brewing this beer again to see what happens next time.

Maybe it's time to purposely turn this recipe sour.
 
I made a batch of this back in October and it wasn't drinkable right away. Something was off about it. I left it in the basement until last week and I cracked one open. It was super clear, and smelled of pumpkin, but it was a little sour. There isn't a pellicle forming in any of the bottles or anything though. Anyways, it's absolutely delicious. I never thought a sour pumpkin beer would be any good. The problem is that I don't know where bacteria was introduced. Possibly in the bottling bucket because kegged beers off of the system have been fine. I'll be brewing this beer again to see what happens next time.

Maybe it's time to purposely turn this recipe sour.

I sometimes get a sour note from using pumpkin. Especially when the beer finishes drier than I'd like.
 
I liked your general idea, but I wanted to put my own spin on things. I made a 10 gallon batch. I used 16lbs of leftover Holloween pumpkins that I roasted. My 10 gallon cooler will not hold all the grain and the pumpkin, so I mashed the pumpkin up and boiled it separately. I got 4 gallons of pumpkin wort that I added to the boil. I used a strainer to get it all out. I added amber Belgian candi sugar (2lbs) to the boil.

I cold conditioned the beer after fermentation, and it cleared up nicely. The spices are there but what you taste is malt and pumpkin, not an overwhelming spice profile. My suggestion is to load up the pumpkin like crazy.


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I'm want to try this recipe but my set up is BIAB. I have a little concern with the pumpkin plugging my bag and not letting all the sugars out. does anybody have some suggestions or thoughts?
 
I feel like it shouldn't be a problem for BIAB. If it works with normal lautering it seems like it should work with a bag. If you don't already, you may want to sparge your BIAB just to make sure you get the sugars out. And use a finer crush. I forgot to ask my LHBS to double crush on my last BIAB brew and my efficiency dropped almost 15%. It turned my expected 4.2% session IPA in to a VERY VERY session IPA


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What molasses did you use? I have a green label one and a yellow labeled one.
Green=robust yellow=original... We use the robust to make gingerbread cookies and it is Fantastic!! So i'm thinking that one..

thanks for posting this it looks delicious!
 
I would just mash the pumpkin separately and use a big strainer to get the wort out. A side benefit of this is that you can put the pumpkin in a casserole dish and bake it later for your supper. More or less, when you are doing a pumpkin beer you have to do a double mash. As for molasses, I use the yellow kind that you can get at the regular grocery store. I'm sure that the dark molasses has a good flavor as well however the idea is to highlight the pumpkin more than anything else. I'm writing this in the month of August now and it is really making me look forward to the cool weather when pumpkins are available.


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I have noticed brewers using jack o lantern pumpkins in their brews. Pie pumpkins seems like the proper pumpkin to use since it is what is used in pumpkin pie. Any thoughts on this?
 
I have noticed brewers using jack o lantern pumpkins in their brews. Pie pumpkins seems like the proper pumpkin to use since it is what is used in pumpkin pie. Any thoughts on this?

Depends on if you want your beer to taste like a jack o lantern or a pumpkin pie. :cross: Pie pumpkins are the way to go.
 
I have used both with good results. It seems a waste not to use those big carving pumpkins if you have them. I think the key is to roast them in the oven at 350 for an hour or so to caramelize the sugars. One of the best ones I have ever made was with carving pumpkins. I used 17 lbs of it to get lots of pumpkin flavor into the wort, and it was one of the best beers I have ever had.
 
I'm brewing this recipe today and I'm very excited! One question: what do you think of adding lactose to this brew?
 
Just finished up the brew! Added 1/2 lb of lactose at 5 minutes left in the boil. I mashed at 150 (accidentally) and I also used fresh jack o lantern pumpkins because I had them growing in the backyard. I'll let you know how it turns out
 
Amount Item Type % or IBU

8.00 lb Golden Promise (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 50.38 %
3.625 lb Pumpkin* (2 x 29 oz. cans of Libby pure pumpkin) (3.0 SRM) Grain 22.86 %
1.00 lb British Caramalt (34.0 SRM) Grain 6.30 %
1.00 lb Toasted Malt** (27.0 SRM) Grain 6.30 %
1.00 lb Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 6.30 %

1.00 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 6.30 %

0.25 lb Molasses (80.0 SRM) Sugar 1.57 %

0.50 oz Magnum [13.40 %] (60 min) Hops 21.9 IBU

1 t. cinnamon (5 min)
1/2 t. allspice (5 min)
1/2 t. ground ginger (5 min)
1/4 t. nutmeg (5 min)
1/4 t. clove (5 min)

*Pumpkin baked uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees to caramelize some of the sugars and gelatinize starches
**Maris otter malt toasted for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven

Mash at 152 degrees for 60 minutes. Pumpkin should be included in mash. Be sure to use rice hulls as the pumpkin will make for a slightly sticky sparge.

Boil for 60 minutes. I used magnum to bitter but you can use any clean bittering variety being sure to adjust amount to get 22 IBU. Add molasses with 10 minutes left in the boil. Add all spices with 5 minutes left in the boil.

I used Denny's favorite 50 yeast but us-05 or it's liquid equivalents could probably be substituted with no ill-effect since Denny's yeast is a seasonal strain and could be hard to find. You may want to mash at 154 if you use us-05 since it should be slightly more attenuative and Denny's seems to give a bit more mouthfeel that mashing higher if you use us-05 should emulate. Having said that, if you can source some Denny's, use it!

The result is a highly drinkable pumpkin ale that should go as well with Thanksgiving dinner as it does with a Sunday of watching football on the couch. The spices are just right, there's enough to give a great aroma and flavor but not so much that the beer becomes cloying or tiresome after a pint or two. The pumpkin in this recipe is essential. There has been a lot of discussion lately on whether the pumpkin is required in a pumpkin ale and my firm answer is YES. Besides lending a smooth, unctuous mouthfeel, the pumpkin gives the beer a certain "Je ne sais quoi". If you've mashed a wheat beer, a pumpkin beer will be cake. Just add the rice hulls and you'll have no problem.

As for the name, Samhain was a Celtic festival marking the end of the summer and the end of the harvest. It has influenced other holidays including one we are all familiar with that is celebrated around the same time, Halloween. Villagers would build great bonfires on the evening of Samhain and let all of the hearthfires in their houses die out. They would then take new flames from the bonfire and relight their own fires which would continue to heat their houses and cook their food until the next Samhain. I realize pumpkin would not have been a crop known to the people inhabiting the British Isles when this festival took place, but I think we can brew it and enjoy it in similar celebration of the harvest and the year gone, and in preparation for the cold winter and the new year. Cheers!:mug:

Hi. This will be my first full mash brew. I have a few questions about the quantities.

How many litres do you mash with?
How many litres to sparge with?
how many litres will the final brew be?
And finally, im in the uk and cant get hold of rice hulls. What else can I use?
 
I scaled this down to a 2-gallon batch and followed the recipe exactly to make sure I liked it enough before committing to 5 gallons. It turned out great--the spice level's spot on--so I made more! So delicious and fresher than the pumpkin beers on store shelves in August!
 
I brewed this around Labor Day and even after 3 weeks in the bottle it tasted great. Color is amazing. Love this recipe.


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What colour should the maris otter turn afyer roasting? Should it be an obvious roasted dark brown/black? As I roasted it for the time stated and its not really changed colour much.
 
What colour should the maris otter turn afyer roasting? Should it be an obvious roasted dark brown/black? As I roasted it for the time stated and its not really changed colour much.

The husk won't change color much if at all. When you crack into the kernel, the interior will have gone a nice tannish color. You don't want it any darker than that.
 
As far as pumpkin absorbing water, you don't have to worry about it too badly. If you use canned pumpkin, this is a non issue. If you are doing the purist thing, skin and bake your left over Halloween pumpkins, cut them into small chunks, and bake them at 375 for 90 minutes. Do your strike water and add the pumpkin and juice from the bake pan. Dump this on top of the grain bed and then mash in then mash out. Your pre boil volume will be right on target.

This is one of the best beers I have ever tasted. I have experimented a few ways and have found it tastes much better and impresses brewmasters with the pumpkin flavor if you use 1.5 lbs of pumpkin per gallon. It is hard to overwhelm the beer with pumpkin flavor because it doesn't have that much flavor by itself anyway. Remember to go light on the spices. You will be happy with the results.


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So I did this brew at the weekend. Smelt awesome! My issue is, after the boil, my volume was less than 20lts, normally around 23 from previous brews. So I topped up the volume to 23. Issue is, i dropped my og from 1.050-60ish to 1.038. Im using an english ale yeast (brupaks). Fermentation is on the 24hr mark and going very strong!! What is the correct volume for this brew (post boil) and target OG?
 
Anyone primed with mollasas? Was thonking of using maybe 100g with 500ml water. Boil it and let it cool. Add to beer then keg it. Any thoughts?
 
Amount Item Type % or IBU

8.00 lb Golden Promise (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 50.38 %
3.625 lb Pumpkin* (2 x 29 oz. cans of Libby pure pumpkin) (3.0 SRM) Grain 22.86 %
1.00 lb British Caramalt (34.0 SRM) Grain 6.30 %
1.00 lb Toasted Malt** (27.0 SRM) Grain 6.30 %
1.00 lb Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 6.30 %

1.00 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 6.30 %

0.25 lb Molasses (80.0 SRM) Sugar 1.57 %

0.50 oz Magnum [13.40 %] (60 min) Hops 21.9 IBU

1 t. cinnamon (5 min)
1/2 t. allspice (5 min)
1/2 t. ground ginger (5 min)
1/4 t. nutmeg (5 min)
1/4 t. clove (5 min)

*Pumpkin baked uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees to caramelize some of the sugars and gelatinize starches
**Maris otter malt toasted for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven

Mash at 152 degrees for 60 minutes. Pumpkin should be included in mash. Be sure to use rice hulls as the pumpkin will make for a slightly sticky sparge.

Boil for 60 minutes. I used magnum to bitter but you can use any clean bittering variety being sure to adjust amount to get 22 IBU. Add molasses with 10 minutes left in the boil. Add all spices with 5 minutes left in the boil.

I used Denny's favorite 50 yeast but us-05 or it's liquid equivalents could probably be substituted with no ill-effect since Denny's yeast is a seasonal strain and could be hard to find. You may want to mash at 154 if you use us-05 since it should be slightly more attenuative and Denny's seems to give a bit more mouthfeel that mashing higher if you use us-05 should emulate. Having said that, if you can source some Denny's, use it!

The result is a highly drinkable pumpkin ale that should go as well with Thanksgiving dinner as it does with a Sunday of watching football on the couch. The spices are just right, there's enough to give a great aroma and flavor but not so much that the beer becomes cloying or tiresome after a pint or two. The pumpkin in this recipe is essential. There has been a lot of discussion lately on whether the pumpkin is required in a pumpkin ale and my firm answer is YES. Besides lending a smooth, unctuous mouthfeel, the pumpkin gives the beer a certain "Je ne sais quoi". If you've mashed a wheat beer, a pumpkin beer will be cake. Just add the rice hulls and you'll have no problem.

As for the name, Samhain was a Celtic festival marking the end of the summer and the end of the harvest. It has influenced other holidays including one we are all familiar with that is celebrated around the same time, Halloween. Villagers would build great bonfires on the evening of Samhain and let all of the hearthfires in their houses die out. They would then take new flames from the bonfire and relight their own fires which would continue to heat their houses and cook their food until the next Samhain. I realize pumpkin would not have been a crop known to the people inhabiting the British Isles when this festival took place, but I think we can brew it and enjoy it in similar celebration of the harvest and the year gone, and in preparation for the cold winter and the new year. Cheers!:mug:


I did not read anything about your fermentation schedule/temps. Can you fill us on what schedule worked best for you?
 
I'm wondering if I should try converting this recipe to extract. Would Maris Otter LME be the best sub for the Golden Promise? I would go ahead and steep the other grains.

The second question is, "If I'm not doing a full mash, do I still need the rice hulls? Do they add any flavor, or are they only there to prevent a stuck sparge?
 
I searched high and low for rice hulls. Being in the uk, we dont really use them. I never had a stuck sparge. I used maris as a sub and turned out fine.
 
Spent all morning reading all 50+ pages of this thread, good stuff!

I'm brewing this with my wife this Sunday and I wanted some input on a few questions I'm having that I did not see much about regarding a couple changes.

1) being that I found this recipe a little too late I do not have time to roast my own MO, according to the barleypop website roasting malt for 30 min at 350f would replicate an Amber malt. Would Amber malt be the optimal substitute if I can't roast my own grain?

2) nobody mentioned using 1056 yeast as a substitute as I could not get DF50 in time to make a starter. Would a1 litter starter of wyeast American ale compliment this beer?

3) Never brewed with molasses, any recommendations on specific brands or type? Cant screw up the wifes favorite beer :0

I will follow up with my results from brew day and tasting notes, however any help with the questions above before Sunday would really help out.
 
I'm going to be brewing this up in a couple of weeks. Has anyone ever tried adding lactose to this recipe? I was thinking about adding 8oz towards the end of the boil.
 
I took this idea and changed it a bit If you put enough pumpkin, lactose is not needed. I always bake up the leftover pumpkins after Halloween and freeze them for this beer. If you add 15 lbs for a 10 gallon batch, the result is amazing. I always minimize the spices and maximize the pumpkin. The result is amazing. You can really taste the pumpkin,yet the spices don't smack you in the face.
 
How much pumpkin would you recommend? I don't have fresh pumpkin but I have two cans of Libby's (not the pie mix stuff).
 
That is what I have done. Also, if you are doing all grain, I would put the pumpkin in the mash. I have tried putting the pumpkin in the secondary but was disappointed with the results. Pumpkin beer has so many protein solids that it took a really really long time for it to clear up even after being cold crashed.
 
Brewed this last Sunday. Fermentation began about 20 hours post pitch. Bubbling has slowed way down at this point. Wort/beer is nice pumpkin color but very cloudy. I am going to leave in primary until next Saturday then rack to secondary. Do you recommend I use gelatin when I rack to clear? This was my 2nd BIAB. OG was a bit low at beginning of fermentation at 1.045. Added another 4 oz molasses into carbon to try and boost but didn't want to screw up more. Spare was probably too low temp. We will see but smell was awesome and taste of wort was awesome. Someone, put me in a time machine so I can have a cold one now!
 
I don't think the gelatin is going to hurt anything. If anything it will accelerate the clearing process but in my experience with pumpkin beers they need to be called crashed for a very long time before they really clear up. By a long time I mean something like 3 to 4 weeks. I know that is frustrating because you want to drink it now, but pumpkin beers do take time to get them right.
 
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