Burnt pumpkin!

Do you remember when you were a kid, and you put a candle in your jack'o'lantern? Do you also remember that wonderful aroma of the candle flame burning the pumpkin?

Well... I'm thinking I'd like to burn a pumpkin on my grill and add it to a porter mash. I'm not talking about turning it in to pure charcoal. Just blackening the outer surface while leaving the inside still moist and juicy.

Any thoughts?

I think you should be the first. Might come out nice. Grains are toasted, don't see any reason why other ingredients couldn't be. don't think i'd char it, but a golden toast like a marshmallow could be good.

pelipen said:

I think you should be the first. Might come out nice. Grains are toasted, don't see any reason why other ingredients couldn't be. don't think i'd char it, but a golden toast like a marshmallow could be good.

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I tend to agree with you. I'm thinking a fine line between burnt and golden brown...

Man o man. You must make this!

Faub007 said:

Man o man. You must make this!

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I'm going to do it this weekend my friend. I don't usually brew from kits, but I decided to give a Spiced Porter kit from AHS a try. I think it's a perfect candidate for this experiment. Pumpkins just hit our grocery stores last week, so I'll pick one up and grill it this week. I'm thinking after I grill it I should run it through my food processor to get all the good yumminess out of it!

Sounds like a decent idea. My $0.02: if I were in your shoes I would bake the pumpkin until fork tender and then sear each half on high. This way you can control the amount of char and make sure that it is cooked through all the way.

While not "flame charred" the Samhain Pumpkin ale does suggest toasting the canned pumpkin. I used this technique last weekend on a spiced pumpkin Belgian dark strong. I accidentally lost nearly 50% of my pumpkin to over baking it. lol, it was caramelized for sure!

I have a toasted pumpkin seed stout as well that I did last year. It will be fun to revisit last years stuff this year as I will not have a "fresh brewed one" this year.

Zamial said:

I accidentally lost nearly 50% of my pumpkin to over baking it. lol, it was caramelized for sure!

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I'm not so sure that this is a bad thing, though! I've accidentally scorched a chocolate stout when I boiled it before. I was really upset and worried about it, but the char seemed to add a nice charactor to the beer. It was actually one of my top 10 homebrews. I mean... all the bad crap settles out in the fermenter usually. I'm thinking carbon and other "char bi-products" will drop like a rock and leave a little flavor. The trick is getting the balance of "char" just right.... Or so I think!

I have been wondering about a smoked pumpkin ale of some sort...slice up the pumpkin and then smoke it in the smoker... I might just have to try this now... If I do it will be a SMALL batch... If you char your pumpkin let us know how it turns out...

Zamial said:

I have been wondering about a smoked pumpkin ale of some sort...slice up the pumpkin and then smoke it in the smoker... I might just have to try this now... If I do it will be a SMALL batch... If you char your pumpkin let us know how it turns out...

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I usually recommend small batches to people that want to experiment as well, but I'm feeling a bit rebellious for this batch. I will indeed let you know what happens, as I think I'm hell-bent on trying it! I'll keep the char within reason, so It won't dominate. A little spice and maybe a small amount of vanilla, and this could turn out great!

I was thinking about doing the same. I will be smoking the pumpkin on my Traeger wood pellet grill for a few hours then refrigerate the pumpkin over night. Smokiness seems to always gets a little stronger after being refrigerated over night.

I've started the process. I skinned and chopped up a pumpkin and sprinkled the pieces with brown sugar. Then I charred it good on the grill. After it charred up good, I sprinkled cinnamon on it and wrapped it in foil. I then left it on the top shelf in the grill for about and hour. It came out really good. It's tender and golden brown. It smells just like Halloween night with a hint of caramel and cinnamon...



I'll puree it tomorrow and refrigerate it until I brew next saturday. Then it's going in the mash with a Munich Spiced Porter.