My first brew, pumpkin ale

Well, I just opened my first bottle of my first homebrew and I've gotta say, it's not bad. It's an extract kit of pumpkin ale. Even though I added extra pumpkin to the mix, it's lacking the flavor. It's also a pretty murky looking mix. But I was super pleased at the head, it was great! Sweet taste to start, finishing with a hop/bitterness on the back.

I had low expectations and I wouldn't enter this in any beer competitions but for my virgin brew, I'm happy. What a great hobby! Onto the next

A little early in the year for a pumpkin ale, but who cares right? What is your recipe? I do a pumpkin ale every year and I use 2 30oz cans of pumpkin. This year I'm adding a third can to go over the top with pumpkin flavor.

Question, did you bake your pumpkin prior to adding it in? I've read this helps with extracting sugar and flavor from it. Also, I add strait to the boil 1/2 at 60 minutes and 1/2 at 10 mins.