Shipyard Pumpkinhead clone?? AG

After some searching, it seems that this is a pretty evasive recipe that is a little harder to find than some others. I have come across a few, but i'm not satisfied enough yet to give it a go. It's that time of year and I want to do a pumpkin ale. I just finished my first all grain batch.. A double IPA in the image of Pliny the Elder, which came out great!
Personally I like a more intense pumpkin presence as found in shipyard's smashed pumpkin...but the wife likes the pumpkinhead for its more subtle nature. Anyone have any suggestions for a 5 or 6 gal batch?..(Grain Bill, Hops, what method to use to dial in the pumpkin flavor? I know that this particular beer does not even use actual pumpkin at all, just spices...[/I]

I'm pretty sure that Shipyard uses the same wheat base beer for all of it's "flavored" beers. If you try their blueberry, apricot, applehead, they all have the same color and flavor. In fact, a quick look at their website confirmed this with a OG of 48. Their house yeast is English and is the Ringwood variety, but I've read that it is difficult to brew with. I've never brewed with it before.

I've had this recipe for a long time. I think I acquired it over some emails with the owner when I was looking for the Carabasset clone recipe. It provides a really basic boring base that accepts flavor additions well. I add blueberry extract to make a blueberry beer. My new technique for pumpkin beers is to make a pumpkin spice tea by steeping pumpkin pie spice in hot water for 10 mins and running through a coffee filter. Add to you secondary to taste.

6lbs Two Row
3lbs White Wheat
4oz Munich

Bitter with a aroma hop like Liberty to 12-15 ibus. Ferment at 65 with WLP005 or something on the clean side.

Shipyard uses Ringwood yeast in all their beers...

Ok thanks, this seems to be a nice standard approach. I will take a shot at it and use a yeast like the one you suggested.

Please update us with your results. I had shipyard for the first time today at their brewery and it's now my favorite pumpkin beer. I've had a bunch over the last week as I hav been on a trip to Boston and Maine from California. Let us know!

I did a tour a few weeks back and I can confirm all of the punkin flavoring is from extracts. Personally I wouldn't bother with that beer and do the shipyard smashed pumpkin

Ok, they didn't have it on tap or in the gift shop to buy. Is it still wheat based as I liked that aspect of their version o a pumpkin beer.

I think all their beers are similar in terms if the base malt grain, which I have been told is wheat.
Yea I have two large bottles of the smashed from when I went to the brewery last month. I'm waiting to open them, they are great