Pumpkin ale question... Add pumpkin to the boil, mash or both?

I'm brewing a pumpkin ale (all grain) for the first time and have checked out about 100 recipes trying to get ideas.

It looks like most people add the pumpkin to the mash and many complain about slow or stuck sparges even when using rice hulls.

For those of you that have brewed a pumpkin ale before did you add the pumpkin to the mash, boil or both? I've had stuck sparges before and it really can screw up a great brew day.

Anyone have any recommendations or experiences with brewing pumpkin ales?

Thanks.

I put 6 lbs of canned pumpkin into my mash tun. 1.5 lbs rice hulls. SS braid as a manifold. No problems here. Have it. Nice good stir. Did stains cooler a little

I brewed one two years ago and put 3# in the boil and 3# in primary right after I pitched the yeast. Placing it in the primary will give you a very very mild sour taste in your beer that compliments the hops. I believe this method works well with a darker heavier spiced pumpkin ale as was the case with mine. My LHBS guy's advice is to allow 2-3 days in primary without the pumpkin to allow the yeast to develop it's flavor first, THEN add the pumpkin (or honey etc.) to the primary. I would use the LHBS guy's advice for lighter styles. IMHO!

I just did a brew with 2 big cans of pumpkin in the mash. I used 1 pound of rice hulls and didn't have a problem. It was not the fastest sparge I have ever had but it never stopped. Give it a good stir and have an extra beer. The beer turned out great!

Just like Husker I did two cans as well in the mash. I didn't use rice hulls and never got a stuck sparge. It is still in the primary and smell awesome.

Add the pumpkin last to the mash. That's how i did mine with no rice hulls and it worked great!

I put 6 lbs of pumpkin meat in the boil last year. It was a mess to clean up with the wort chiller but I have to say that beer was damn close to the Southern Tier Pumpking, which was exactly what I was shooting for.

Just did a pumpkin ale this past week & put about 4 lbs of canned pumpkin mix in a big muslin bag and steeped for the last 5 minutes of the boil. I was worried about two things if mashing the pumpkin mix. (a) Stuck sparge since I did not have rice hulls at my disposal. (b) The flavor & aroma compounds would be lost in a 60 minute boil. We'll see how it turns out I guess. To me it makes sense, since you lose flavor and aroma in any early additions, I would think pumpkin would be the same way.

hoptualBrew said:

Just did a pumpkin ale this past week & put about 4 lbs of canned pumpkin mix in a big muslin bag and steeped for the last 5 minutes of the boil. I was worried about two things if mashing the pumpkin mix. (a) Stuck sparge since I did not have rice hulls at my disposal. (b) The flavor & aroma compounds would be lost in a 60 minute boil. We'll see how it turns out I guess. To me it makes sense, since you lose flavor and aroma in any early additions, I would think pumpkin would be the same way.

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Thats how I'm leaning to do mine this weekend. How did it turn out in clarity and flavor?

I baked it for an hour and put it in the boil. Half in at 30 min and the other half at about 15-10 minutes or so. Just bottled it last night and it smells and tastes great. Wasn't an ag though.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm as confused as ever lol. I guess I'll split it up and put 1/2 in the mash and 1/2 in the boil.

I use whole pumpkin, canned pumpkin, canned butternut squash and canned sweet potato. Mix it up and bake at 350°F for 1.5-2 hours. I add about 70% of it to the mash and the rest goes in a paint strainer bag in the boil. Use rice hulls and a thin mash. Check out this yummy pic!

Poobah58 said:

I use whole pumpkin, canned pumpkin, canned butternut squash and canned sweet potato. Mix it up and bake at 350°F for 1.5-2 hours. I add about 70% of it to the mash and the rest goes in a paint strainer bag in the boil. Use rice hulls and a thin mash. Check out this yummy pic!

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Now you're just making me hungry! I that sounds awesome.

Has anyone attempted to add baked pumpkin to the secondary?

nufad said:

Has anyone attempted to add baked pumpkin to the secondary?

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That's gonna make a mess maybe even risk infection. Better off using spices in secondary IMO.

Splitting it is a good idea.I do small batch BIAB, so I wouldn know about stuck mashes with that much of mashing. I seem to think splitting it makes it easier in general .It can be messy,but it is what it is. I just think its less messy splitting it. Seems people are 50/50 about it anyway.Some people dont have problem with mashes some do. Maybe putting some irish moss or whirfloc at the end of the boil also will further help settle it out better,maybe even whirlpool if you rack your wort. I just dump and use a strainer.. Ive had one settle pretty nicely to pour to the fermenter, but still ended up with a good amout of trub sitting at the bottom of the fementer.

I backed 60oz for 1.5 hours at 350 and ended up putting 1/2 in the mash and 1/2 in the boil. I used irish moss and was getting tired by the end of the brew session and forgot to strain it all... so everything went in the primary.

I normally never use a secondary but I think I might this time. I'll let everyone know how it comes out.

how did half and half work out? lots of pumpkin flavor? i'm brewing tomorrow and considering putting about 40 oz in mash and 20 oz in boil. i have 15 extra oz of pumpkin too in case i don't feel like 60 oz is enough.

beargrylls said:

how did half and half work out? lots of pumpkin flavor? i'm brewing tomorrow and considering putting about 40 oz in mash and 20 oz in boil. i have 15 extra oz of pumpkin too in case i don't feel like 60 oz is enough.

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I just bottled this yesterday. Warm and flat it tasted pretty good. I really think it's going to be excellent. When I'm on my laptop tomorrow I'll post my recipe.

It's still tomorrow.........