Pumpkin ale recipe, thoughts?

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farrout

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Well I am goin to brew my second pumpkin ale, my first one last years was an extract version, this year it will be all grain. Basically I am just adding to Northern Brewers american amber recipe, I thought that seemed like a good base. So here she is:

MASH
8.00 lbs Pale 2 row (RAHR)
1.00 lbs Munich
1.00 lbs Crystal 60L
0.50 lbs Crystal 10L
Mash 60min @155

3 lbs cubed pumpkin spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg baked for 60min @350

BOIL
1 oz fuggle hops pellet(60 min)
Add pumpkin cubes every ten minutes of the boil.
.75 oz fuggle hops pellet(15 min)
1 tsp cinnamon(15 min)
1 tsp nutmeg(15 min)
.75 tsp clover(15min)
1 tsp Irish moss(15 min)

YEAST
Safale US-05
 
I have a Pumpkin Ale now in secondary. There's a ton of reading on this forum about Pumpkin beer, add pumpkin to mash, add pumpkin to boil, don't add pumpkin at all, just add spices, etc. etc. etc.

I only have about four gallons of beer in secondary due to the tremendous amount of trub from the primary. I lost almost a gallon and a half of beer. There was about five or six inches of goo on the bottom of the carboy. So, next time I'm going to try and end up with more wort to adjust for this.

I used RichBrewers recipe found here
 
Boiling spices will only get harsh flavors.

I would suggest a "spice tea"...put the spices in hot water (~160°F) and steep for about 30 minutes during the last part of your boil. Then add the tea at flameout. We did this with a pumpkin ale last year and it was phenomenal.

Also not sure you need to add the pumpkin "every 15 min"...I don't see the benefit.
 
IMO pumpkin in the mash works best as you don't lose a ton of beer to pumpkin sludge/trub. In the grand scheme you can brew a very good "pumpkin" ale w/o any pumpkin, it is the spices that people smell and taste. Pumpkin is a relatively mild fruit and doesn't add a great deal of flavor.
 
Have you thought about using CaraMunich instead of both Munich and Crystals? It is basically a moderately kilned Munich malt (about 65 SRM).

I love the flavor it gives and the red color is BEAUTIFUL!
 
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