Substitute for pumpkin

Want to brew a pumpkin ale tomorrow....have all the crushed grains, hops and the yeast starter is going but no pumpkin to no found. Is there a decent sub for pumpkin? I'm up to my ears in butternut squash....would that do anything? TIA

libbys canned pumpkin..
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/samhain-pumpkin-ale-140674/
this is what im gonna try this year.. follow this pumpkin schedule should work fine for you!

I could see butternut squash working out. Are you using pumpkin pie spices? If you are you'll be perfectly fine.

Libby's canned is what I was looking for....3 stores and none to be found.

Yes use squash.Its a fine sub,some like it better. I dont know about you but ive always preferred the taste of acorn squash over butternut, but maybe it was the brands i tried.Or season or whatever.How many pounds are you using?

I saw a post a while back about skipping the pumpkin and just using the spices. The theory was that pumpkin doesn't add much flavor anyway.

Can't find the post, so not sure how it turned out.

Thats why you use more, ive only made 2 and im telling you use more !For thirding a 5 gallon batch i used 2 -15 0z cans and it was alot better than the first i did with one 15 oz can in a 1.7 gallon batch. But really its the spice also, just be carfull not to overspice. Dont get preserved pumpkin, i used straight organic pumpkin, any additives will make a poor beer.
I also learned much more up to my second pumpkin batch ( i did quite some time later)so i had that experience going for me to make a better one and it was like a pumpkin brown.I also recommend carmalizing it with a little molassis a little bit.
Have you ever eaten a pumpkin plain to really taste it? Try it sometime. Its really " pumpkin pie" that people think of when thinking of pumpkin and not the plain vegetable.If thats what you want i suggest an amber type malty beer, i like to add some victory or biscuit malt for a crust type effect or even brown malt(which can impart a sourdough flavor) and a little chocolate. Mine ended up being a brown ale though,not shure what your going for.

Its tough to find any pumpkin product right now. I only found the libby's pumpkin pie mix. Which is basically pumpkin combined with pumpkin pie spice. Thats what I will be using tomorrow!

I was gonna use about 60oz. of canned pumpkin. Now that I've not found any, and after a few beers and a re-read of 'Brewing Classic Styles' pumpkin recipe, I might just omit the pumpkin/squash altogether and decrease my spices a tad. Jamil says that he bets you could brew a pumpkin beer, omit the pumpkin and no one would know. If I feel inspired to do the extra work in the morning, maybe I'll pick a squash and go for it, but I never feel particularly inspired in the mornings.

Just listened to a brewing podcast yesterday where they did a blind tasting of two batches one AG with real pumpkin and spices and one extract without pumpkin but added spice. Pretty much was dead even and nobody could tell which had the real pumpkin in the mash. I'm sitting on three large cans of Libbys wondering if it's worth risking a stuck sparge for an unnoticeable added flavor.

Do what you want to but in the end you will know you only havea spiced beer.I like knowing that im getting fermentables and brewing from a actuall pumpkin to make beer,like the pilgrims have,i like them and can detect pumpkin flavor/texture.I d ont think its the same, if you mash/boil your getting the character from pumpkin.or squash and i wouldnt hestitate to use squash myself.Same with anythin palm sugar maple syrup honey whatever it is is still what contributes to the character of your beer, its not the same as barley malt whether they say it imparts no flavor.
Pumpkin can be more work though especially if you use a real one or canned giving you troubles with straining or sparging.I just dont think skimping counts.
To me that is what lame pumk beers like blue moon or jacks-just spice flavor. Granted you can still make a good beer pumpkin or not.spice or not.

If you have butternut squash, use it! It makes a great (IMO better) sub for pumpkin in pie so why not in brewing? You might wanna bake the squash a little in the oven, say 45 minutes at 350 *F to get a little more flavor out of them. Keep in mind though I have yet to do a pumpkin ale. I'm getting ready to do an apple brown ale for this fall/early winter. Good luck!

This topic has been coming up a lot. :rockin:

A while back I read an article that said the best pumpkin pie you'll ever make will be made of butternut squash. It's similar to pumpkin in flavor and color, and many say it tastes better to boot. Someone recently also pointed out that Libby;s canned pumpkin is actually a cross between butternut squash and pumpkin: http://www.slashfood.com/2005/10/24/canned-pumpkin-is-it-really-pumpkin/

I've also read that brewers have used yams and/or sweet potatoes to good effect, though I imagine the squash would be closer in flavor.

When I brewed last week I used cans of organic pumpkin, though I would have preferred real pumpkin. I'm one of those psychos that actually buys sugar pumpkins to make my own puree for pumpkin pie.

I personally think it tastes great, and sometimes wonder if people who think fresh pumpkin isn't as good have been mistakenly using jack o' lantern style pumpkins, which have had all the flavor bred out of them in favor of large size. These are also called "field pumpkins" and their only use is really to carve Jack O' Lanterns and roast the seeds. The flesh is stringy and tasteless. You need to buy pie pumpkins or sugar pumpkins if you plan to use it for cooking or brewing.

Sorry, bit of a tangent...

Might have to give the squash a try. I like to try and stay traditional as well. Even nicer is that I asked the LHBS for 5.8 oz of wheat, I got 5lb 8oz or wheat malt. And I really wanted flaked wheat. So, now I have 5lb 8 oz of crushed wheat malt to use in the very near future....looks like a hefe is in order.

Disaster averted, wife found canned pumpkin at the last second...literally. She showed up with just as I was mashing in. Didn't have time to roast it, so we'll see how it goes straight out of the can.

Kaz said:

Disaster averted, wife found canned pumpkin at the last second...literally. She showed up with just as I was mashing in. Didn't have time to roast it, so we'll see how it goes straight out of the can.

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Good news! Where'd she find it?

A locally owned grocery store chain around here...Stauffer's of Kissel Hill. Said they had like 2 dozen cans on the shelf. So much for the big name stores...Giant, Weis...etc. In the fermenter now, smelled pretty good.

I've been able to find pumpkin here in York. They had a good amount at the Giant on Market Street (462). Good luck.

Just saw that you found it. Is that off of 741?

ENS said:

I've been able to find pumpkin here in York. They had a good amount at the Giant on Market Street (462). Good luck.

Just saw that you found it. Is that off of 741?

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Ya, right on 741 between 30 and 462, pretty good store too.

I will use fresh Butternut Squash or Libbys canned pumpkin (if I can find it) but I need a good Partial grain/extract recipe. Going to the Penn State vs Illinois game Oct 29th and need a worthy brew.

fullmoonwolf said:

I will use fresh Butternut Squash or Libbys canned pumpkin (if I can find it) but I need a good Partial grain/extract recipe. Going to the Penn State vs Illinois game Oct 29th and need a worthy brew.

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Give the recipe database a look. There are a number of recipes there: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/