Pumpkin brew suggestions

Ive been reading around several different recipes and have found a variety of techniques used in making a pumpkin brew, and I was wondering if anyone has any feedback for which ones they've found that work best.

1) Ive seen some people bake the pumpkin, peel the skin and cube it then boil it, then put the cubed pumpkin in for the fermentation.

2) Ive seen where some people do it the same, except that they don't cary the pumpkin over to the fermentation phase

3) Ive seen some people put the raw pumpkin in at the begining of the boiling phase and just boil it for a longer period before adding the malt, etc.

4)Ive seen someone that just added the pumpkin into the fermentation bucket, and didnt boil it at all.

Anyone have any feedback on any of these methods? or any other method that proved to work out well. Ive heard of crushing the pumpkin itself up, but this seems like it would lead to more sediment, both in the fermentation bucket and the bottles themselves.

Thanks!

I've wondered about these questions myself. There are links in numerous threads on this topic that support each practice. Personally, I'm baking it cubed, then adding it the partial mash. I read that the pumpkin needs the enzymes in the Pale Malt preboil to extract the sugars. Not sure about the chemistry here, but that was the route I was going to follow. Do you have a recipe in mind yet?

Another conflicting theory is that the pumpkin adds texture only and that because spices are the source of flavor, you can even skip the pumpkin. That sounds so chincy...

Good luck and definitely let us know what you do.

I did the same method as gaelone. I agree- I don't know how much the pumpkin will contribute to the resulting flavor, but I can't imagine brewing pumpkin beer w/out the pumpkin

Thanks to Orelse's advice- I also added some pectic enzyme to help w/ clarification & "Pectinase enzymes reduce the size of the pectin molecule and also prevent the fragments from gelling."

I will let you know how it turns out... in 2 or 3 months

I am partial to adding it to the mash. It seems that no matter of the method, there are pros and cons. I have used canned pumkin which is already baked and with pumpkin being the only ingredient listed. Adding to the mash you get the conversion advantage but at the cost of an easily stuck mash. I have never added to the boil but appears to be a more friendly method.

2 Small pumpkins

Cubed and removed rinds, broiled for ~15 minutes.
removed from broiler, added to 1 1/2 gallons of cold water, brought to boil
remove from heat
add grains, seep for 20-30 minutes
remove grains, discard
bring to boil again, then remove from heat
add malt, stir, add malt extracts and hops
stir until disolved
add heat until it boils and foams
remove until foam subsides,
repeat last 2 steps until it doesnt foam when under heat

During final boiling, add:
2 tbsp of cinamon
dash of nutmeg
pinch of anise seed

Note: being that this is my first batch, Im using True Brew's Irish stout kit. I'll let ya know how it goes!

I've made Pumpkin Brews before and I don't get what the big deal is all about ... in the end you only taste the spices.

But...I'm gonna try it again!

Ive had a few pumpkin ale's where the taste was quite noticeable... and the way I look at it, is even if it isn't... I'm sure it'll still taste damn good at Thanksgiving dinner . As for mine... when i tasted it (from the vial I used to take the specific gravity) it WAS noticeable (not overwhelming though) and did smell of Pumpkin Pie when I was making my wort last night.

Can't wait for it to be done!

I just got my issue of BYO in the mail and there are a couple of recipes in there. I'll have to look at it more closely when I get home, but I do recall one of the recipes used the cubing method stated earlier, another used 100% canned pumpkin - not pie filling, which already has sugar added - just 100% pumpkin. To me, this would be easiest. This might help.

I made a pumpkin beer with 4lbs of canned pumpkin, the 100% pumpkin style without anything added plus various other grains. I spread it out on aluminum foil covered cookie sheets and baked it at 350° for an hour. This really made my house smell good , and the carmelization you get really should add to the flavor.

It is still in secondary now. I should probably bottle it soon, but the sample I tried was really good and I tasted the pumpkin.

It wasn't without troubles though: stuck mash...not very efficient and generally a pain. Next time I will double the rice hulls I use.

Quick question...would collecting a gallon of first runoff and boiling it down with a small amount of pumpkin in it, in an effort to carmelize it help lock in more or some pumpkin flavor?

9/13
2 Small pumpkins

Cubed and removed rinds, broiled for ~15 minutes.
removed from broiler, added to 1 1/2 gallons of cold water, brought to boil
remove from heat
add grains, seep for 20-30 minutes
remove grains, discard
bring to boil again, then remove from heat
add malt, stir, add malt extracts and hops
stir until disolved
add heat until it boils and foams
remove until foam subsides,
repeat last 2 steps until it doesnt foam when under heat

During final boiling, add:
2 tbsp of cinamon
dash of nutmeg
pinch of anise seed

added 3 gallons water to fermenter
pitched wort into fermenter, let cool
stir to aerate
added yeast ~ 11:30 PM

9/14
Temp seemed a little high... around 72 degrees
7 AM - 1 - 2 bubbles / second - IT’S ALIVE!!!!
5:30 PM - went to move it to its final brewing place and noticed that the bubbling had subsided considerably. I removed the air lock, covered hole w/ (clean) finger, and shook it up to aerate... hope this doesnt cause any problems
After that, I reapplied the airlock, and added a little more water to it. Will check on it later

initial gravit 1.042
9/15
Checked for fermentation, still bubbling, slowly, but bubbling.
Made the decision today to transport it to a secondary, I’ll take a look at where it stands fermentation wise and probably transport it to the secondary tomorrow, and bottle in a week to a week and a half.
Temperature today dropped slightly to ~68 degrees

9/16
temperature ~68 still
transferred to 2ndary.
Gravity: 1.020 on the money
taste: VERY hoppy, kinda disappointed, wasn’t expecting a hoppy taste out of an irish stout... but c’est la vie. Im thinking the pumpkin will basically be completely unnoticeable due to the hop level.
On the bright side... there was still a decent amount of fermentation going on, as I could see plenty of bubbles!

I just racked my pumpkin ale over to a secondary yesterday. Man it smelled great. Just like pumpkin pie.

Cant wait to drink.

FrewBrew said:

Note: being that this is my first batch, Im using True Brew's Irish stout kit. I'll let ya know how it goes!

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Hi FrewBrew,

I have 2 sisters that live in Rochester! Beautiful city.

I just bought my equipment and an Irish stout kit. I'm soooooo tempted to try your pumpkin recipe, but think since I've only brewed 2 times several years back, I should probably keep it simple.

good idea. get a few simple batches done first to gain back the sense of accomplishment and success... THEN start testing your limits and experimenting.

-walker

In fact, that is now my goal. Get 2 batches under my belt and then make some pumpkin beer in time for Thanksgiving!

rhinostylee said:

In fact, that is now my goal. Get 2 batches under my belt and then make some pumpkin beer in time for Thanksgiving!

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Not to be a party-pooper, but to have a spiced pumpkin ale ready in time for thanksgiving, you probably need to have already brewed it.

The spices and other flavors need time to mellow and meld, which could take 6 or more weeks.

-walker

Well, then I guess I'm going to get 2 brews under my belt, brew the pumpkin beer, and pretend it's Thanksgiving!

I propose that pumpkins be available any time of the year so we can have pumpkin beer (brewed with fresh pumpkin) at any time.

Lousy, stupid pumpkins.

It's just like using fruit.

Buy it now, cut and clean, then freeze until spring time and brew then.

I kind of got in on this thread a bit late, but I am currently brewing a pumpkin beer. It is only my second beer, but my rommies and I wanted one in time for halloween. This is what we did:
We baked one peeled and cubed pumpkin (about six pounds) until it was soft, put it in cold water with crystal malt and black patent grains, and slowly steeped it until it reached 158 degrees. We held it there for about thirty minutes. Then we strained it and sparged it and threw in six pounds of dark dry malt extract, the hops, and a bit of gypsum (this entire beer was very experimental). We put the spices and finishing hops in at T minus ten minutes, strained and sparged again, cooled and pitched the yeast. If anyone sees any major problems with this tell me I guess, but the beer is fermenting even now, and will hopefully be conditioned by halloween. It's appropriate I guess that I'm totally scared of what we might have done to our pumkin beer, but I'm trying to remain optimistic.

rhinostylee said:

I just bought my equipment and an Irish stout kit. I'm soooooo tempted to try your pumpkin recipe, but think since I've only brewed 2 times several years back, I should probably keep it simple.

Click to expand...

This was my first batch... not sure how much that means, take it as you will

Walker said:

The spices and other flavors need time to mellow and meld, which could take 6 or more weeks.

-walker

Click to expand...

So does this mean my pumpkin brew may yet take on more of a pumpkinee flavor?? It's been in bottles for 2 weeks now, and doesnt taste ALL That pumpkin-like, but it IS good (and passes the carbomb test!)

i have no idea, to tell you the truth. I would expect the spices to mellow out a bit, and that might reveal more pumpkin underneath.....

but I am talking out of my rear here, because I've never used pumpking or spices in a beer.

-walker

I'd recommend halving the spices if you want the beer ready for T'day.

I made a batch last year that wasn't ready (mellowed and such) until after the New Year.

I’d like to try a pumpkin brew for my next round, but I just put an irish dry stout in my secondary fermenter. I don’t really feel like making another irish dry stout.

What other kinds of beer would make a good pumpkin brew?

Craftbeer radio podcast episode 15 talks about different pumpkin beers on the market. It was an interesting listen.

oregonNate said:

I made a pumpkin beer with 4lbs of canned pumpkin, the 100% pumpkin style without anything added plus various other grains. I spread it out on aluminum foil covered cookie sheets and baked it at 350° for an hour. This really made my house smell good , and the carmelization you get really should add to the flavor.

It is still in secondary now. I should probably bottle it soon, but the sample I tried was really good and I tasted the pumpkin.

It wasn't without troubles though: stuck mash...not very efficient and generally a pain. Next time I will double the rice hulls I use.

Click to expand...

Did you steep the canned pumpkin in hot water with the grains, or did you boil it with your wort?

OK...curiosity got the better of me. While I was re-reading this thread (checking in on new comments, etc.) and I got to thinking, well, I still have 2 Pumpkin Ales from last year....hmmm?

So, if you remember, I said that I made this sometime last year for Turkey Day. And as (lousy) fate would have it, I no longer have the recipe I used since my HDs (2-250s) crashed and I hadn't backed up for about a month. Maybe I can find the source...

Anywho, I said the beer was not ready for T'day last year because it was harsh with the flavors of cloves and allspice. Very bitter. Not anything you (or me anyway) would want to share with anyone you liked.

I re-tried it at Christmastime. It was, I agreed with myself, that it was more palatable, but still not ready. I tried several, but I still would not share it with anyone because the clovy flavor was still evident. I mean who wants to drink something that tastes like watered down Ambisol?

You guys got me tempted...so a FULL YEAR later...(right now I mean) I decided to crack one of my last 2 remaining brews open.

Here's my critique of my brew:

Very nice clear amber color. Pours well, but could have a better head retention.

Medium body and well balanced (not sweet or bitter). I drank about half a glass then I poured in the yeast (swoosh bottle first).

The spicy bitterness of last year is all gone.

(Incidently, we talk about this a lot - "clear beer" that is. I always drink most of my beer when it's clear, except Weizen, before I pour in the yeast. Some people don't like the yest, some do.)

With the yeast added it clouded up to looks more like tea.

There is a very light hint of allspice and nothing else.

Aftertaste? Very, very slight. After one beer your tongue is at a place where you either "know" or "think" you know it contained any spices.

(Yes, I am buzzed one just one bottle. )

Overall: If I had 2 more cases of this I would not hesitate to share it with everyone! I think it would disappear before the head so I would label it as a great success. If I find the recipe I will make this one again.

I know a lot of brewers take notes up to a point, then they don't follow up with tasting notes. I don't know if they are ashamed or just settling for mediocre beer that will get them drunk, but if you truly critique your brews your beers as a judge would, they will improve and so will your experience.

So here goes: CONS: I found only 2 things wrong (your mileage may differ). One: It could use better retention. To counter that I would use another 1/2 to 1 lb more wheat malt in the boil and prime with DME. I'm sure that's what I did since it is my usual practice. That's all. Two: This could go two ways. First of two: Brew as normal, only do it during the winter so it would be ready for Turkey Day, or two of two: brew it in the summer and half all the spices.

That's my critique.

I believe that if I am pleased with my brew you would be also.

Cheers! Prosit!

OK, so I'm on the pumpkin-wagon. I've decided to modify a Weizenbeer kit I bought and make it a Pumpkinweizen. Hanging out at the HBS, I had a sample of their home-made pumpkin beer which was a modified amber ale.

I decided to go with a beer that's a little sweeter and fruitier by nature so I chose a Weizenbeer. At the HBS Owner's suggestion, I upgraded to a London Ale yeast instead of the stock. I'm also going to add another 1/2 pound of Caramel 10L grain to the boil and perhaps swap out some of the hops with some I have left from my last brew session.

The HBSO recommended against using pumpkin (he thought that just using spices would suffice) but I'm going to use it anyway, along with some pumpkin spice. I bought a generic 1.81 pound can of 100% pumpkin and a small jar of spice.

I have two batches that'll be in bottles soon so I'll be able to let it sit for a little while longer than if I was out of HB.

I'll report back in 6-10 weeks.

It's 12:37am and I'm brewing pumpkin beer. My house has a delicious smell from the Caramel 10L and pumpkin mash I have cooking right now. I think that the orange will work beautifully with the light wheat LME I'm adding. I bought some gelatin for pre-bottling clarification. I'm going to add 2 tbsp of pumpkin spice in the primary to give it that trademark taste.

This should be ready by Christmas, if not earlier. Something tells me that I'll end up breaking into them by Thanksgiving.

It's The Great Pumpkinweizen

.5lbs of Caramel 10L (20 minute steep @ 150)
1.81 lbs canned 100% pumpkin (in grain bag with grains for 20 minutes)

(2) 3.3lb cans of Munton's Wheat LME
1oz Hallertau (60 minutes)
.5oz Tettnanger (20 minutes)
1 tbsp Irish Moss (15 minutes)
1 tbsp pumpkin spice (15 minutes)
.5oz Hallertau (5 minutes)

1 tbsp pumpkin spice seasoning in primary
Wyeast Special London (#1968)

[EDIT]

Wow, what a lot of lost wort. I ran the wort through a strainer, little by little, to get the hops and pumpkin out. I think I lost about 10-25% of my wort in the filtered out trub. Still, I'd rather have a lower yield than a lot of bad tasting beer.

What remained has a lovely pumpkin orange color that I think will add a fantastic hue and flavor. It's going to take a little while before it'll be ready to serve, but I think it will be well worth the wait. I have two batches ahead of this one to get through, plus a bottled batch that I'm not sure will ever turn out good.

[EDIT 2]

About 2" of Pumpkin-Yeast trub in the primary. I had to add ~1 gallon of water to make it a respectable batch. Still, it smelled fantastic and tasted the same. I'm hoping the extra water doesn't HURT it. If anything, it's Pumpkin Lite.

I definitely want to make a pumpkin beer for my next batch, tis the season after all. Just wondering though, after reading all the threads on this it seems like most people make a pumpkin stout. I like the sound of the wheat beer better but does anyone have any suggestions? Is there a reason for doing it with a stout?

Actually, most people do it with amber'ish ale's. I just thought that a pumpkin stout sounded good. Looking back, I wish I had done mine with a lighter beer. The stout's flavor is just so powerful that it almost completely wipes out any notice of the pumpkin of spices.

That said, the stout IS good, I just think if I were to do it again, it'd be with an amber kit.

I'm interested in the final results. Does it taste like pumpkin, pumpkin pie or just spiced beer? I haven't brewed pumpkin beer, because I've never had one I liked much. And I'll eat pumpkin as a side dish because I love it.

david_42 said:

I'm interested in the final results. Does it taste like pumpkin, pumpkin pie or just spiced beer? I haven't brewed pumpkin beer, because I've never had one I liked much. And I'll eat pumpkin as a side dish because I love it.

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I think it's primarily the spices I taste, which I associate with pumpkin pie and all things pumpkiny. I've never made one, but some of the commercial ones I've samples had a distinctly orangish hue.

The flavors have ranged from sweet and creamy (Cottonwood Brewery) to more hoppy and spicy (Post Road). Edenton St. is somewhere in between.

david_42 said:

I haven't brewed pumpkin beer, because I've never had one I liked much.

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Isn't that the joy of Homebrewing? Making a beer that's 100% to YOUR liking and not worrying about mass appeal?

Mine is going to have the sweetness of a wheat with extra spices and a slight tinge of pumpkin flavor and color. I'm expecting it to be delicious. In fact, I'm going to prime with brown sugar just to get a little molasses in the mix.

I have a few critique's of my stout:

1) too hoppy, it over power's the pumpkin taste
2) Gives MAJOR heart burn the next day, if anyone has any suggestsions as to what may cause this, and how to fix it, Id greatly appreciate... I like it too much to be unable to drink it (Im currently on a regular diet of Pepcid AC to counter-act said acid stomach, and its quite ineffective

Last year at Universals Beer festival I found myself in awe of this pumpkin micro brew. I yelled pumpkin all night long. I am proud to announce the creation on my first pumpkin ale. Its bubbling perfect. Cant wait to taste it finished. I took many suggestions from sources. I cut up 3 cooking pumpkins, baked for an hour, mashed to pulp and mashed it with the grains. I saved 2 Tablespoons of pulp and added at 15 min. of end of boil. I have heard stories of how messy the wort is so I used grain bags for the pumpkin and I dont have a lot of sediment. It is pretty clean. The color is cool...The wort tasted like the beer I sampled a year ago at the festival. Homebrew is priceless.