Pumpkin Ale question/help

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ChrisGeb

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Hey so I'm still a beginner so I'm not too saavy with ingredients and things yet. I ordered a Pumpkin Ale extract kit from Homebrewing.org (mostly bc it was cheaper than NW and Austin even though everyone raves about their pumpkin kits). I was reading a bunch of threads on everyones Pumpkin Ale recipe and the ingredients I got are a bit different than everyone elses. I believe its also only supposed to come out to 4.8% abv

So my question is there any ingrediensts (grains, malts, hops, real or canned pumpkin, etc.) I can use to either make it taste a bit better or something I can add to boost the abv without changing the taste too much. I've also never seen anyone elses recipe use the same hops as this one. Should I get different hops? Any help is appreciated, thanks

6 lbs Light LME
1/2 lb Caramunich
1/2 lb Chocolate specialty grains
1 oz Ahtanum hops
20 grams Pumpkin Pie Spice
Dry Ale yeast
 
dont sweat it so much. i know your new and want every recipe to be perfect. until you brew this batch you wont know if it will taste good or not. just trust the people who made the kit. it wouldn't sell if it wasn't good right? if you want to boost the ABV without changing the taste add some corn sugar. a pound will up the ABV by about 10%
 
I mean I'm not sweating it too much....I just didn't know what it would be like if I added more pumpkin (should I use real or canned), what it would be like if I used Hallertauer hops instead like a lot of peoples recipes have, should I use liquid yeast instead of what it came with, etc. I'm sure this one will come out perfectly fine I just didn't know if there was anything I could do that was easy to enhance it
 
well if you add more pumpkin add real pumpkin. use a medium sized pie pumpkin and cut it into quarters. place them cut side down on a cookie sheet and stick them in an oven at 330F till they become soft, sweet and the juices start to caramelize. at the point you can either scrape out the pulp or smash it all up with a potato masher. put the whole mess in your brew pot with the grains. preferable in a separate bag to make clean up easier.

liquid verses dry yeast really is really up to you. there is no real difference between the two. with the dry you most likely wont need a starter and can just sprinkle the yeast in the cooled wort.
 
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