Any suggestions on creating a Pumpkin ale

Here is my attempt at a Pumpkin Ale, I start with:

Mash: 1 Lbs Caramel 30L Boil: 3.3 lbs Extra Light LME
0.5lbs Munich 10L 3 Lbs Amber DME
0.5 lbs Carapils 1 lbs Brown Sugar
3 lbs roasted pumpkin 1 tsp. Pumpkin spice (End of Boil)

1.5L Yeast starter using Safale 05

Anyone got any suggestion for increasing mouthfeel? I would like this beer to be on the thicker side. Not sure what hops I am gonna use yet. Something mild in the 6%AA for bittering and a cascade like addition for aroma.

Any suggestions?

I might be wrong but I tthink mashing at certain temps Brings out more complex sugars that stay through the fermentation process. This could give you more "mouthfeel"

jcam91 said:

I might be wrong but I tthink mashing at certain temps Brings out more complex sugars that stay through the fermentation process. This could give you more "mouthfeel"

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Good try. But the OP isn't mashing anything. This is an extract recipe, he's simply steeping the grains.

jakegreen58 said:

Here is my attempt at a Pumpkin Ale, I start with:

Mash: 1 Lbs Caramel 30L Boil: 3.3 lbs Extra Light LME
0.5lbs Munich 10L 3 Lbs Amber DME
0.5 lbs Carapils 1 lbs Brown Sugar
3 lbs roasted pumpkin 1 tsp. Pumpkin spice (End of Boil)

1.5L Yeast starter using Safale 05

Anyone got any suggestion for increasing mouthfeel? I would like this beer to be on the thicker side. Not sure what hops I am gonna use yet. Something mild in the 6%AA for bittering and a cascade like addition for aroma.

Any suggestions?

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Looks good. No need to worry about increasing mouthfeel or anything. When they make extract they mash high enough to give you plenty of body and feel. For hops, go with spicy nobles, Hallertau are my first choice for a beer like this.

Thanks nordeast! Your right, Munich only mashes itself so it doesn't apply. Sorry!

jcam91 said:

Thanks nordeast! Your right, Munich only mashes itself so it doesn't apply. Sorry!

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Munich is a base malt, and will convert, but this recipe is an extract beer. A few degrees difference in steeping temps won't affect the fermentability in any significant way given all the extract in the batch.

You can add some steel cut oats for smooth taste

DirtyD69 said:

You can add some steel cut oats for smooth taste

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Really? This site is even more entertaining this late at night. The OP is making a PUMPKIN ALE. An amber beer with PUMPKIN and PUMPKIN SPICE as the forward flavor. I wouldn't recommend porridge oats in an oatmeal stout much less an AMBER BEER. Everything I've read says to avoid "steel cut oats" even in a oatmeal stout.

OP, your extract will provide plenty of body and mouthfeel, as will the pumpkin. Add oats (of any kind) if you want, but take it from a guy who's brewed a batch or two, there's NO need in an extract batch of pumpkin ale.

Just my 2 cents, the flavor will come from the spices. The pumpkin will add little to no flavor what so ever. That being said I brew a pumpkin beer where I use pumpkin puree in the mash. The only reason I do it is because people like the novelty of drinking a pumpkin beer made with pumpkin. If this is your first try at a pumpkin beer concentrate on the spices. Brew this batch make notes and then tweak the spices.

Just an fyi, in my pumpkin beer the spices I use are cinnamon, ginger, and pumpkin spice. Sometimes I will add a vanilla bean to the secondary if I think about it. I use to add all-spice but found that was a little over the top for me.

Sounds like good advice guys. So you guys don't think that steeping the grains at a higher temp will induce more mouthfeel. I was thinking of steeping at 160 with the pumpkin. Is steeping less effective than mashing for that? There seems to be a fair amount of debate around whether to mash the pumpkin or boil the pumpkin. I really enjoyed DogFish Head's Punkin Ale. I head Sam Calagione discussing it and he said they boil brown sugar, mash the pumpkin and add the spice at the end of the boil. So that is where I am getting my model from.

May I suggest using more than 1 teaspoon of spice? I would recommend more like 1 tablespoon. For the pumpkin I made last year I really up'd the spices, I used 2.5tbsp and I loved it, was quite like Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin in regard to the level of spices. Some don't like it that over the top though so 1tbsp should be fine. The one I just brewed two weeks again (still in the fermenter) I used 2 tablespoons, I figured I'd dial it down a bit for those that don't like it over the top but still very prominent, and that is still a lot more than most use. I put my spices in the last two minutes of the boil.


Rev.

I think Sam literally means they mash it, as in mashed potatoes. I didn't hear or read that myself but just guessing as much because the point of mashing, in terms of brewing beer, is to convert the sugar in your grain into something that can be fermented and turned into beer.

Pumpkin here, and in any pumpkin beer, would be just adding flavor. It should be treated no differently than adding cocoa powder, or vanilla beans, or fruit. There is no conversion process, i.e.: no mash takes place.

I would go along with whatever Nordeast says and simply add it to the end of your boil.

Yeah, for an extract beer, there's not going to be any mashing, so.....

But..... I do think that when an all grain (or commercial) brewer is referring to "mashing pumpkin", they mean it in brewing terms. A lot of people mash their pumpkin with the grain, I think more to infuse flavor (like mash hopping) than to convert anything. I've mashed pumpkin in the grist, but it was a sloppy mess, stuck sparge. I also noticed that I got no pumpkin flavor (yes, it can contribute flavor, IME) when I mashed it. This year I decided to boil all of the pumpkin, no sticky sparge, but I did lose ~1gal to trub!! Beer's in secondary with another round of spices, but it had plenty of pumpkin and spice flavor and aroma. I'll be bottling this week.

NordeastBrewer77 said:

Really? This site is even more entertaining this late at night. The OP is making a PUMPKIN ALE. An amber beer with PUMPKIN and PUMPKIN SPICE as the forward flavor. I wouldn't recommend porridge oats in an oatmeal stout much less an AMBER BEER. Everything I've read says to avoid "steel cut oats" even in a oatmeal stout.

OP, your extract will provide plenty of body and mouthfeel, as will the pumpkin. Add oats (of any kind) if you want, but take it from a guy who's brewed a batch or two, there's NO need in an extract batch of pumpkin ale.

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Turn caps lock off. Steel cut oats are unprocessed so they will actually bring more flavor in. And I did more then two batches with oats and it came out exelent. Your arrogance really not helping.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13884/74440/?ba=Arborescence
Here ya go. Oh no look ... It's AMBER ale with steel cut oats and maple syrup. Oh those people at the brewery probably crazy.
To OP don't be afraid to experiment and if you are then maybe in next batch try something different. And listen less to people who are trying to shove their opinions down your throat ... Figuratively speaking

In the end I created a 1.104 beer, with 1.25oz Mt. Hood, 1oz Wiliamette for boiling and 1oz Cascade Hops for aroma thrown in at 15 minutes left. I am wondering at this point if my 900 mL yeast starter will be enough.

The 900 ml starter isn't big enough. But don't worry, 900 ml is better than nothing. To help the yeast try and pitch the starter when it is at high krausen. You should be okay. Try and find something on stepped starters. That will help you for your next starter.

So here was the end result:

Specialty Grains:
1 lb Caramel 30L
0.5 lbs Munich Light
0.5 lbs Carapils
60oz pumpkin puree

Boil:
6.6 lbs LME
3 lbs Amber DME
1lb Light Brown Sugar
1.75oz Pumkin Spice at 5 minutes
plus the usual water addatives (gypsum, 5.2 stabilizer yeast nutrient and Irish Moss)

Hops:
Bittering: Mt. Hood (1.25oz) and Willamette (1oz)
Aroma: Cascade 1oz @ 15 minutes

I used 1L Safale 05 yeast starter.

1.104 starting gravity. Will reply with some tasting notes.

arnoldk2 said:

The 900 ml starter isn't big enough. But don't worry, 900 ml is better than nothing. To help the yeast try and pitch the starter when it is at high krausen. You should be okay. Try and find something on stepped starters. That will help you for your next starter.

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Could it help if I threw in a packet of dry yeast, I have another one of the same yeast.

jakegreen58 said:

Could it help if I threw in a packet of dry yeast, I have another one of the same yeast.

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I completely missed it was dry yeast. Typically what is recommended is that if you use dry yeast that you don't make a starter. Because dry yeast is pretty inexpensive you just add the amount of packets required to get the required yeast cell count.

Brew normal wheat ale, serve it in a pumpkin.



Sadly, this is not me. I wish I thought of it first. I took it from THECHIVE website.

As for mouthfeel, I'd add a pound of lactose.