Pumpkin Ale

Just need your thoughts regarding pumpkin ale. Planning on brewing Sunday. I am going to use canned pumpkin as fresh are not quite ready in my area. My question is, do I add the canned pumpkin to the boil, or add it to the primary fermenter?

Also when do I add the spices?

This is my first specialty brew, and I hope it turns out.

Thanks for the opinions!!!

I add them all to the boil except for the coriander which is added the last 5 mins of a 1 hr boil.

Depending on your amount of spices used your brew will probably not be ready for Turkey Day or Christmas this year.

I bottled mine 19 Aug and it is still a bit harsh from the ginger and clove. These spices take a while to mellow.

You really need to plan and brew specialty brews out months ahead of their seasonal schedule. For example, Oktoberfest beers should be brewed in March, winter brews (depending on the amount of malt and/or spices used) could be brewed up to 9 months before to allow it time to mellow.

Of course, there's nothing that says you can't drink a pumpkin brew in February.

homebrewer_99 said:

You really need to plan and brew specialty brews out months ahead of their seasonal schedule. For example, Oktoberfest beers should be brewed in March, winter brews (depending on the amount of malt and/or spices used) could be brewed up to 9 months before to allow it time to mellow.

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While I agree with this, don't let it dissuade you. I haven't brewed much, in fact, I just did my third batch, a pumkin partial mash kit today. I brewed my Oktoberfest, which I now realize isn't a real marzen Oktoberfest lager, but it was good. I brewed it, primary for a week, secondary for a week, bottled, and 5 days later I had a few, Not fully carbonated but damn good. I'll give them another week and put some in the fridge for consumption.

Ideally I'd like to give time to age for the best flavor possible, however, I started brewing in August, and just have been rushing to keep up for the seasons. While the brew may not be optimal, it's far better than any store-bought I'd had. So, if I keep it up, in a few months I'll hopefully be ahead of myself and allow a good amount of time for them to age.

So, in my opinion, for now just enjoy it and drink it when it tastes good. Build up your inventory and hopefully press forward in your brewing schedule eventually to allow ample time to age. Just have fun with it, don't look for optimum results right now.