Brewhouse kit hacking

Hi gang. First off let me apologize if this is in the wrong category of the forum. I wasn't really sure where to place it. I have been making brewhouse "wort in a bag" kits for a couple of years with good success. I'd like to start modifying them a bit. I don't have the equipment to be a "real home brewer" yet, however I'm working on it. (Too many hobbies!)

In the meantime I was wondering if anybody has had any success on making a pumpkin beer of some sort from a brewhouse kit? Or if anybody has any recommendations on how I could modify one? I know they used to have an oktoberfest kit, however I haven't seen one in a long time.

Any input is much appreciated.

Bottoms up!

We sell many brewhouse kits at our Brew on Premise and have some customers that have played around a bit with fruit and other additions. As for the pumpkin beer...use a red ale or cream ale kit. Roast your pumpkin at 400-425 with some brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves until nicely caramelized. Add straight to your fermentor on day one, probably in a mesh bag for easy removal. Make sure it is freshly roasted and had just enough time to cool before adding wort and yeast. Remove when racking into secondary. That is the method that customers have had success with. If you have access to Ringwood Ale Yeast #1187 or one of the American Ale strains #1056 or #1272 from Wyeast they will provide you with the best flavour possible. Hope that helps.

Edit: because you aren't boiling the wort. Smaller chunks is better as to maximize surface area and flavour intensification.

Thanks a bunch CaribouBrewmasters. That is a huge help, I will definitely try it out and report back my results.

Much appreciated

How much pumpkin should be used for a 23L kit? Could canned pumpkin be used?

I am thinking of doing a pumpkin ale with one of th kits this week as I don't have time for an all grain batch sadly.

What about roasting a can of pumpkin then adding it to 4 litres of water with some crystal 60 and pumpkin pie spices.
After steeping, strain and add to the wort?
Any thoughts? Also any recommendations which kit and yeast?
Thanks.

I just bottled mine a few days ago. I used 2 cans of pumpkin (which I roasted) and a red ale kit with Wyeast 1056. Roasted the pumpkin and added it to primary. I boiled the spices in the top off water. When I bottled I didn't think the spice flavor was strong enough so I added a bit more to my cup of water and priming sugar. I'll try a bottle in a couple weeks and see how it is.

fishprowler said:

I just bottled mine a few days ago. I used 2 cans of pumpkin (which I roasted) and a red ale kit with Wyeast 1056. Roasted the pumpkin and added it to primary. I boiled the spices in the top off water. When I bottled I didn't think the spice flavor was strong enough so I added a bit more to my cup of water and priming sugar. I'll try a bottle in a couple weeks and see how it is.

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Sounds good. Let me know how it tastes. How much spice do you add altogether? I haven't tried the red ale yet but will probably go with it too.

Why not just buy the Pumpkin Brewhouse kit they make? I'm curious as to how they turn out, but they only sell them seasonaly.

#brewhouse