Adding to an extract kit

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oldhat

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Crossposted because I wasn't sure if this belonged here or in the beginners section. Really sorry if that broke a rule..

Okay, so. without getting in to a big story about it, I have an idea for a Pumpkin Coffee Ale for next month, but money is REALLY bad right now so I can't afford a lot of the things I'd like and besides, I really just want something simple and fun to make. I figured that it may be a good idea to pay for an extract kit (in this case Cooper's Brown Ale) and then add some things to it.

The plan is to add the following:

- Chinook hops: I know the kit is hopped already, but I just want to add .5oz at the last 5 minutes of boil to give it a kick.

- Grains: I still have some caramel 45 malt kicking around and I figure it might add a bit more depth to the brew if I steep about 1lb of it before adding the malt kit. Now, I know that for grains using 6-Row will help bring out the sugars in the pumpkin, but I'm not sure I'll be able to afford it...my LBS is expensive.

- Pumpkin stuff: Either buy canned or a whole poumpkin to roast in the oven and then pop in the boil. And all the spices involved (allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla extract...). Will be researching the measurements for those.

- Coffee! Devil's Brew coffee, roasted and blended right here in Toronto. To drop in to the fermenter cold while in it's second week of fermentation or while bottling. Again, research will be needed for measurements.

So that's it...minus the kit itself (which will be $18 or so) all the other ingredients will come to less than $10, which is all within my current price range.

My question is: does this look okay, or will this be a recipe for disaster?

As always with this forum, any and all help is greatly appreciated and you have my thanks in advance!
 
If you want to keep it simple, why not buy a pumpkin kit and add coffee to it? Northern Brewer has a GREAT pumpkin ale kit.

I think the coffee is going to overpower your pumpkin spices though, unless you use some sort of spice extract, which might be tough to find.
 
I agree with Suthrncomfrt. But if you decide to go your route, I think you will be fine. BTW: See the thread in the recipe database about Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale... The consensus seems to be that the pumpkin doesn't add any flavor or body so many people (including several breweries) don't even use the pumpkin. Also, in that thread you will find many references about how to use the spices.
 
The consensus seems to be that the pumpkin doesn't add any flavor or body so many people (including several breweries) don't even use the pumpkin.

Not doubting this and I know pumpkin is a very light subtle taste in and of itself. However, I have a hunch if someone were to brew up the same two pumpkin ales *without* the spices and one having like say 60oz of pumpkin and the other none I think they would still be able to detect noticeable difference. Purely speculation on my part as I've never tried this, but I can't help but think they would then tell the difference. Of course I could be wrong though.


Rev.
 
Not doubting this and I know pumpkin is a very light subtle taste in and of itself. However, I have a hunch if someone were to brew up the same two pumpkin ales *without* the spices and one having like say 60oz of pumpkin and the other none I think they would still be able to detect noticeable difference. Purely speculation on my part as I've never tried this, but I can't help but think they would then tell the difference. Of course I could be wrong though.


Rev.

I would have thought the same thing, but in that thread I mentioned several brewers tried exactly that and didn't notice any difference. I haven't tried it myself though.
 
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