Pumpkin Ale question about malts

I am brewing a partial mash pumpkin ale:

2 lbs. 2 row
1 lb C 60L
1 lb Victory
3.3 lbs light LME
1 lb light DME
1 lb dark brown sugar
58 oz canned pumpkin
2 oz East Kent Golding 5.8% AA
4.5 tsp spice

At the LBHS, they were out of light LME, so I replaced both the liquid and dry light malt extracts with amber malt extracts. How will this change the taste if I use the amber instead of light extracts? Should I cut down on the amount of C 60L?
Brewing tomorrow, thoughts please!!

You'll get a bit more maltiness from them, some body, some sort of roasty, grainy flavors...you know, malty. It will also be darker due to the amber extract. Now, the C60 is also providing some sweetness though. So don't back it off too much.

thanks, I think I will just use all the C60 then.
Also what do you think about the spice amount? I've never brewed a pumpkin before but I'm thinking it might be too much. It is a mixture of 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp allspice, 0.5 tsp ground clove.
It's a 5 gallon batch

I think 4.5 tsp is enough. I only put 1 tbs (3 tsp) of spice in mine and it wasnt quite enough.

when in the boil did you add the spices?

beargrylls said:

when in the boil did you add the spices?

Click to expand...

I did just about 1.5tbsp at 10m

We precisely measure extract, grain, fermentables, hops, and yeast for our wort/beer because the slightest difference will have an effect on gravity, sweetness, IBUs, alcohol presence, etc.

The same mindset does not relate to spice additions. These affect flavor and flavor alone. And you cannot gauge flavor by following a recipe and not tasting it. I would never trust a recipe that tells me to add 2 tbsp. of salt to my cold pasta salad. I would use common sense and taste, adding a little bit at a time until it's just right.

That being said, I recommend that you make about a cup of concentrated spice tea on the side with boiling water (or wort) and whole, cracked spices. Taste it when done. It should be quite intense/potent; you won't be able to chug it down, but it shouldn't taste like ass either.

Strain out the solids and add this liquid spice tea to your wort at flameout, tasting all the while to be careful not to overdo it. If more is needed by the time you rack to secondary, then add more of the spice tea. It's really as simple as that... I'm not sure why this old idea hasn't caught on yet.

I can tell you from experience that the pumpkin pie spice tastes somewhat strong and not great early in the process. It needs time to meld and tone down. I used close to the recipe prescribed by Reno_eNVy and at first thought it was too strong. I think it's the allspice that tastes weird until it has some time to age.