pumpkin ales... any experience/suggestions?

Ok, so i absolutely love this time of year because i love fall and winter beers. One of my favorites for years has been DFH Punkin ale.

Having been brewing for 9 months now, i want to try to make a pumpkin ale, preferably close to the DFH, but not too particular. I've been looking at Thunderstruck Pumpkin ale, and also AHS Pumpkin Ale kit, or just making an amber ale i've done before and adding some spices and pumpkins.

Any experience with thundestruck or the AHS kit? Suggestions on how you made a great pumpkin ale?

Thnx

There's an entire thread of TIps/Tricks/Suggestions for pumpkins here;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/pu...ng-recipes-tips-tricks-good-practices-131786/

One tip, don't fall asleep in the last 5 minutes of it and then let the boil go on for 3 more hours...then think that maybe you can just add a ton more malt / sugars to get the PA up to 9%/v to cover the harshness of the overcooked pumpkin and the intense bitterness of the hops...it just doesn't help...

I've made several Pumpkin brews and should I ever make one again (probably won't, but...)

1. Don't use any pumpkin. (Can't taste anything but spices anyway.)

2. Allspice has all the flavors of ginger, clove, nutmeg. You can either use allspice by itself or use the seperate spices, but do not use allspice too because you will be overspiced.

My best comments to offer you.

Go easy on the spices, they can become very overwhelming.

easy on the spice for sure,and cook the pumpkin and put it in the mash. Last year I didnt cook it and had 4 inches of trub in the carboy,this year I cooked it and the trub is about the same as any other brew.

I just yesterday brewed the AHS pumpkin spice kit and it smelled AMAZING! I can't wait to try it. I also put two cans of baked libby's pure pumpkin (not spiced) in a nylon mesh bag (to minimize trub) and a cup of brown sugar, both in the steep session with the grains. After the spices went in and the wort was cooling down, it smelled fantastic.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to tell you how it tastes by the time you need to get one

+1 on going easy on the spices - just had a Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. I guess it's supposed to be more of a dessert beer, but I had it with lunch, and the spices were a little much.

Threetaps,
Any updates on your brew day procedure? I'm hoping to brew the AHS brew kit and adding the pumpkin/brown sugar sounds like a good idea.

chrisrush said:

Threetaps,
Any updates on your brew day procedure? I'm hoping to brew the AHS brew kit and adding the pumpkin/brown sugar sounds like a good idea.

Click to expand...

The brew day itself went great, and adding the baked pumpkin (not spiced pumpkin, use pure) and brown sugar made it smell great. I'll be bottling it in 6 days (saturday), and I'll let you know how the taste turns out.

I just racked the Thunderstruck into secondary and the hydrometer sample tasted AMAZING. I did the separate spices mix in the boil and left them in the primary and I look forward to tasting a carbed and aged bottle of this.

For those that think that the pumpkin flavor is overwhelmed by the spice I would just say that the pumpkin flavor for me is an aftertaste and builds over the drinking session.

IMO, the bigger pumpkin beers (> 7%) are far better than the weak ones. I would go lower on the spices, significantly increase the body, leave the malt or bready taste, and skip the pumpkin.

midwests kit turned out great for me with a bit of tweaking...

i'll be doing another soon with fresh pumpkin and more spices

I just brewed the AHS Pumpkin Ale kit. I added some canned organic (they had a sale on it) pumpkin, roasted in the oven @ 350 for a good 45 minutes. I doubt it will contribute any flavor or add to the body, but damn did the color look beautiful. As orange as a Halloween pumpkin itself. I also added a little bit of extra spices...reading up some reviews for the AHS kit, someone previously said it turned out beautifully when they doubled up the spice pack, so I figured why not add a little extra.

I forgot to add brown sugar though...sigh.