Best pumpkin ale kit?

I was cruising around the internet HBS looking for a pumpkin ale kit to get going on for fall. While NB didn't have one (that I found), MW and AHS each had one, but it looks like the recipes are very different. MW's has brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg; while AHS's has cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and sweet orange peel. Morebeer also has one but they don't list ingredients.

Which brews up the tastiest pumpkin ale?

I just brewed the AHS pumpkin ale kit. I added 1 cup brown sugar, and 2 cans of pumpkin (baked @ 350 for an hour) in with the steeping grains. I added 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice in addition to the spice pack provided. It smells absolutly wonderful in the airlock. Smells like thanksgiving in a bottle. It tasted like bitter pumkin pie going into the fermentor. I have very high hopes for this one. Flavors should mend together nicely over the next few months.

I just bought the kit on Home Brewers Outpost:

Pumpkin Spice Beer Kit

It came recommended and tastes great, I'm told. Hoping that the reviews are right!

Though I might try hoppheadIPA's idea and add 2 cans of baked pumpkin and some brown sugar to the 20-25 minute steeping session. That sounds good.

I am going to go with the kit from Midwest. I have heard alot of good things about this one, and I like ingredients in that kit.

I'm looking to brew up some pumpkin ale too. I looked at the MW recipe, and notice that they suggest only leaving the pumpkin in the boil for the last 5 minutes. OTOH, in their FAQ section about pumpkin beer, they suggest putting the pumpkin in for the whole hour. I wonder if anyone can describe the difference between the taste of putting the pumpkin in for the 5 minutes vs. 60 minutes.

Thanks,
Brad

Midwest! I did their recipe last year and it was by far one of my top 3 favorite extract brews. I dont think I put the pumpkin in for just 5 minutes, I put a large can in at 60 and a can at 5 or something like that. If it really matters to anyone I can check my notes later when I'm home.

Baja_Brewer said:

Midwest! I did their recipe last year and it was by far one of my top 3 favorite extract brews. I dont think I put the pumpkin in for just 5 minutes, I put a large can in at 60 and a can at 5 or something like that. If it really matters to anyone I can check my notes later when I'm home.

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I plan on doing this kit, so I am happy to hear that yours turned out great.
If its not too much trouble, please let me know how you did your pumpkin.
Did you toast it in the oven 1st and when did you add it??
Thanks for any hints/tips!

Yes, please do!

*tracking thread*

hoppheadIPA said:

I just brewed the AHS pumpkin ale kit.

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foxual said:

MW and AHS each had one, but it looks like the recipes are very different. MW's has brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg; while AHS's has cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and sweet orange peel. Morebeer also has one but they don't list ingredients.

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MW = Midwest Supplies
AHS = Austin Homebrew

I almost ordered this from AHS with my last order, but we decided to do an Oktoberfest instead.

Most pumpkin reciped (Like Thunderstruck Pumpkin listed in the recipes here) require several cans of pumpkin.

I even saw one crazy bugger turn a large pumpkin into a secondary fermenter...

It looks like I used more pumpkin than they said to use in my batch, two large cans or so, but I only added them for the last 10 minutes of the boil. I was very pleased with outcome of the Midwest kit, and I'd highly recommend it!

Baja_Brewer said:

It looks like I used more pumpkin than they said to use in my batch, two large cans or so, but I only added them for the last 10 minutes of the boil. I was very pleased with outcome of the Midwest kit, and I'd highly recommend it!

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Did you toast the pumpkin in the oven before you put it in the boil?

Shoot, I saw that question and just brushed right past it, sorry. I didn't toast it, I used plain, canned pumpkin (not the pre-mixed with spices pie kind) and I just dumped it straight into the boil.

OH, and the brown sugar made a difference, it was distinguishable, even amongst the spices. This year when I made the All Grain version of Yuri's Thunderstruck pumpkin ale I added in some brown sugar.

baja -
what yeast did you use with your kit? There are 4 different options?
Site Search :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

The kit I got was from Home Brewers Outpost:

Pumpkin Spice Beer Kit

Would any of you recommend putting a cup of brown suger into the boil, as well as two cans of baked pumpkin (one for the entire time, one for the last 10 minutes) with this kit as well? I don't want to botch it up or do anything to the fermentation (like too much sugars) that will raise the temp too much and cause it to taste a bit off. My method of keeping the temps down is a bathtub full of water and ice...probably about 5 freezer trays of ice per day.

(p.s., the wort temp stays at 72F when it's done with fermenting, with or without water surrounding the pail.)

Steep the brown sugar with 2 cans of BAKED pumpkin. Baking the pumpkin carmalized it a bit, allowing you to extract more of the sugar.

hoppheadIPA said:

Steep the brown sugar with 2 cans of BAKED pumpkin. Baking the pumpkin carmalized it a bit, allowing you to extract more of the sugar.

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Ok, thanks. I'll put it in with the steeping grains. How important is it to get every last piece of pumpkin out before the boil? Or do muslin bags work well for that too?

jmgreen7 said:

baja -
what yeast did you use with your kit? There are 4 different options?
Site Search :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

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I think I subbed the Muntons with Safale US-05 that I purchased seperatly, I've just never really trusted Muntons, and using US-05 is basically the same as using the Wyeast American Ale # 1056 (for all simple intents and purposes, I don't want to start a debate about this) because it is the same exact strain, just in dry form.

ThreeTaps said:

Ok, thanks. I'll put it in with the steeping grains. How important is it to get every last piece of pumpkin out before the boil? Or do muslin bags work well for that too?

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I used cheesecloth to steep the pumpkin. Only thing about getting it out is, the more that's left in there, the more trub will accumulate. This means less beer at the end. Either way is fine though.

thanks baja.

Hey no problemo, I'm willing to offer help where I have some experience but I think I end up absorbing alot more than I have to offer. Now if you were to ask about kegging I'd be a bit more useful

All I know is that my keg of Pumpkin Ale did not last long... I think it's the only spiced beer that I would never hesitate to remake!

What does the AHS recipe recommend for the amount of pumpkin, type of pumpkin, and boil time?

it says canned pumpkin is optional and is listed under steeping grains.

hoppheadIPA said:

it says canned pumpkin is optional and is listed under steeping grains.

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thanks

Bringing this thread back to life. I'm thinking of picking up midwest's version. So my question, I'm thinking of dumping the canned pumpkin in at the 60 minute point, not in a bag and go with it, should I put the pumpkin in a grain bag? Thanks

hoppheadIPA said:

I just brewed the AHS pumpkin ale kit. I added 1 cup brown sugar, and 2 cans of pumpkin (baked @ 350 for an hour) in with the steeping grains. I added 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice in addition to the spice pack provided. It smells absolutly wonderful in the airlock. Smells like thanksgiving in a bottle. It tasted like bitter pumkin pie going into the fermentor. I have very high hopes for this one. Flavors should mend together nicely over the next few months.

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Hi hopp head, do you recall how this turned out? I'm lookinorgor a fairly strong pumpkin beer. So the pumpkin and brown sugar were placed in bags and not just thrown in. Thx

Hmm, thinking this might be a good beer to make in a month or so. Or an Oktoberfest...hmmm.

Planning on brewing a pumpkin ale this fall. Does anyone have any recipe that's similar to Dogfishhead's Punkin' Ale. That stuff is Thanksgiving in a bottle.

I'm planning to brew this one on Sunday: Samhain Pumpkin Ale

I'm going to let this age in the keg until Fall.

I did the AHS Extract Pumkin Kit about a month ago. I added two 29 oz. cans of spiced Libby's Pumpkin Pie mix straight to the grain bag. The beer is REALLY good right now, but I'm going to condition it until September, and it should end up that much better!

TopherM said:

I did the AHS Extract Pumkin Kit about a month ago. I added two 29 oz. cans of spiced Libby's Pumpkin Pie mix straight to the grain bag. The beer is REALLY good right now, but I'm going to condition it until September, and it should end up that much better!

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Cool. Thx

TopherM said:

I did the AHS Extract Pumkin Kit about a month ago. I added two 29 oz. cans of spiced Libby's Pumpkin Pie mix straight to the grain bag. The beer is REALLY good right now, but I'm going to condition it until September, and it should end up that much better!

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So just a clarification question, did you steep the pumpkin with grains for the 2o minutes or did you drop the pumpkin in during the boil?

I steeped the pumpkin with the grains in the grain bag. The AHS instructions said not to add SPICED pumpkin mix, but that's exactly what I used along with their spice kit that goes in the hop boil (I forget where, I think the last 15 min), and I really thing I have a nicely balanced pumpkin ale with a spice that is very present, but doesn't overwhelm the character of the beer.

Good luck in your brew!

TopherM said:

I steeped the pumpkin with the grains in the grain bag. The AHS instructions said not to add SPICED pumpkin mix, but that's exactly what I used along with their spice kit that goes in the hop boil (I forget where, I think the last 15 min), and I really thing I have a nicely balanced pumpkin ale with a spice that is very present, but doesn't overwhelm the character of the beer.

Good luck in your brew!

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Perfect, thx

Just picked up http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10886

Went with the White Labs yeast. 1% ABV boost. And will try some of the pumpkin, cinnamon additions you guys are talking about. Really excited to get this.

And, yes, I'm a noob. First batch was a 60 Minute clone from Annapolis Home Brew. That's in the bottle and is quite tasty. Just brewed a standard amber as well from said HBS. That just went from the primary (three weeks) to the bottle for some conditioninig. From what I've read, the secondary isn't necessary for most brews. And my first batch was clean enough for me!

I've read I'n other places that it's the spice flavor that's the secret ingredient not the pumpkin. The pumpkin meat adds no real flavor so get a pumpkin pie beer kit and spice it up to your liking----- you know , brown sugar-cinnamon-the pie recipe spices.

I am thinking about brewing a Pumpkin Ale in a couple of weeks. Has anyone just put a can of pumpkin right in the boil pot or is it best to put it in a nylon bag? If you do the whirlpool at the end of the boil (like you do to get the hops sludge to the middle of the pot) does this prevent the pumpkin sludge from ending up in the fermentor?

Has anyone ever tried a kit that ale that actually emphasizes the squashy flavor of the pumpkin rather than the spices? I can't get myself to like most microbrew versions, because it ends up just burning my tongue. The last one I tried was the Smuttynose version, and it was just plain nasty! I had trouble giving the stuff away! Maybe it was the hops? It's been a while (3 years) since I've given another one a chance.