Autumn Seasonal Beer Maple Pumpkin Ale

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edost

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
136
Reaction score
2
Location
Pennsylvania
Recipe Type
Extract
Yeast
Wyeast 1056
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.073
Final Gravity
1.017
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
9.7
Color
12.9
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
4-7 @ 70 F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
7 @ 70 F
Additional Fermentation
14 @ 70 F
6 lbs Extra Light DME
1 lb Munich Malt
1 lb Vienna Malt
8 oz Cara-Pils
8 oz Crystal 60L

8 oz Maple Syrup (90 mins)
2 large cans of carmelized pumpkin (90 mins)
1 oz Crystal Hops (90 mins)
1 tbsp Cinnamon (90 mins)
.5 tbsp nutmeg (90 mins)

1 oz Fuggles Hops (20 mins)
1 tbsp Cinnamon (20 mins)
.5 tbsp nutmeg (20 mins)

1 tbsp Irish Moss (15 mins)

1 tbsp Cinnamon (2 mins)
1 tbsp nutmeg (2 mins)
1 tbsp Corriander Seeds (2 mins)

Wyeast 1056

- Caramelize pumpkin in cookie sheets @ 350 degrees F for 1 hour (pumpkin will turn a dark brown on the top layer)
- Meanwhile, mash grain in 3.75 qts of 172.5 degree water (will stabilize at 158) for 45 minutes
- Sparge with 2.25 gallons of water at 168
- Add pumpkin, DME, 90 min spices, maple syrup & bittering hops & boil for 70 minutes
- Add 20 min spices & flavor hops & boil for 5 minutes
- Add 1 tbsp irish moss & boil for 13 minutes
- Add 2 min spices & aroma hops & boil for 2 more minutes
- Cool wort & rack to primary
- Let ferment for approx 4 days & then rack off the trub to secondary
- Let it sit in secondary for 1 week and rack off the trub to tertiary
- Let it sit in tertiary for 2 weeks & after fermentation is complete, prime & keg

This beer turned out really well. The only thing I might change would be to add another can or two of pumpkin. Caramelizing the pumpkin reduces the volume quite a bit.
 
So you added the pumpkin to the boil at 70 min? I wonder could you just rack ontop of the pumpkin, or does boiling it infuse more pumpkin flavor?
 
So you added the pumpkin to the boil at 70 min? I wonder could you just rack ontop of the pumpkin, or does boiling it infuse more pumpkin flavor?

No, the pumpkin goes in right away. It's boiled for a total of 90 minutes, but after 70 minutes you do the next step which is add the 20 minute spices. 5 minutes after that, add the irish moss, etc, etc.

You could try racking it on top, only one way to see what happens if you do :drunk:

I am planning on making this again today, we'll see how many more cans of pumpkin I add. I'll update this post again after I brew.
 
FYI -

I brewed this today. I used 3 large cans of Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin:

LIBBY'S Nutriton - NESTLE VeryBestBaking.com

Each can was 1 lb 13 oz (29 oz).

My local HB shop was out of Crystal, so I substituted Mt. Hood per their recommendation.

I'll let you know my tasting thoughts once the keg is tapped.

Thanks,

Eric
 
I am planning on making this again today, we'll see how many more cans of pumpkin I add. I'll update this post again after I brew.

Have you tasted yet? Did the maple come through? I'm creating a recipe for a maple pumpkin ale (maybe with some chocolate), but have read that maple syrup can ferment out, leaving no maple taste.
 
I'm wanting to do a similar recipe, yet none of my local grocery stores carry pumpkin in a can right now (they all say its out of season and supply is too low to carry it).

Any substitutes for the pumpkin? Have any of you tried pumpkin pie spice instead?
 
I'm wanting to do a similar recipe, yet none of my local grocery stores carry pumpkin in a can right now (they all say its out of season and supply is too low to carry it).

Any substitutes for the pumpkin? Have any of you tried pumpkin pie spice instead?

Its the spice that makes pumpkin pie or pumpkin beer taste like what we expect. I haven't tried it, but I imagine you'd be able to make the beer without using the squash. You might even be able to substitute butternut for pumpkin, if you're willing to prep the butternut from scratch. Either way, buy a fresh, quality pumpkin pie spice and give it a go. Let me know how it turns out!
 
Sorry to chime in here a couple of years late, but I find it curious that a community of people that is so dedicated to purism in preparation and brewing from scratch would settle for canned pumpkin and blended 'pumpkin pie spice'. Make your own pumpkin pie spice and roast your own pumpkin, hubbard blue, or acorn squash and truly take control of your beer!!!

Any way, I'm about to embark on this recipe, but using a giant 22lb Hubbard Blue Squash. It has been in the oven (peeled, deseeded chunks resting in a covered pan with an inch of water at 450 F) for 45 minutes so far. Will probably push it to 1hr or 1.5 and then blend it and return to the oven for 30 minutes for carmelization.

Here is my pumpkin spice blend:

3 cloves
10 cardamom pods
.5 nutmeg, grated
2 cinnamon sticks
tsp of mace
 
FYI -

I brewed this today. I used 3 large cans of Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin:

LIBBY'S Nutriton - NESTLE VeryBestBaking.com

Each can was 1 lb 13 oz (29 oz).

My local HB shop was out of Crystal, so I substituted Mt. Hood per their recommendation.

I'll let you know my tasting thoughts once the keg is tapped.

Thanks,

Eric

How do you carmalize this? You said that you put it on a cookie sheet? Is that right? I just feel like this could get real messy putting canned pumpkin on a cookie sheet in the oven.
 
I brewed a similar recipe on Saturday. I also spread the canned pumkin on a cookie sheet. It doesn't get too messy. The consistency doesn't really change as it bakes. Just don't overload the cookie sheet. I used 2 large cans. Worked out well for me. Hope this helps.
 
Can anyone give their opinion on how this turned out?

EDIT: And I do realize this is an OLD thread... ;)
 
I am going to try and make my first extract with steeping grains Pumpkin Ale next weekend. It says to add canned pumpkin in the recipe. I have read online that fresh pumpkin is better. I believe it is too early in the year for pumpkins. I would like to have this brewed and ready for Halloween camping trip.

I searched by local grocery store for canned pumpkin but there was not any cans in stock. Too early for canned pumpkin too? I also read to use "sugar, baking, etc" pumpkins and not the big carving kind. So I cannot find either right now. I guess the main questions comes down to is:

Do I need to really add pumpkin to this recipe? And could I substitute another type? (Butternut Squash or Sweet Potatoes?)

Thanks
 
In response to the last post.....I was having trouble finding canned pumpkin myself here in Denver. I was finally able to find it at a Mexican supermarket when no one else had it.
 
2 large cans of carmelized pumpkin (90 mins)

- Caramelize pumpkin in cookie sheets @ 350 degrees F for 1 hour (pumpkin will turn a dark brown on the top layer)

So, to be clear, are you opening the cans of pumpkin and dumping them out on cookie sheets, or are you putting the cans directly into the oven, on top of cookie sheets (similar to the way you make Dulce de leche)?
 
I think Butternut Squash or sweet potatoes would still be pretty good but might not give the same flavors as the pumpkin.

I was able to find pumpkin at a one of the huge Top's International Supermarkets up here. I used three cans. I scooped them out into baking pans, like the ones you would make brownies in, and carmalized them at 350 for an hour.

I used two in the mash and one more in the boil. I didnt add any spices until the end when I primed my keg with brown sugar, 1tsp cin, 1tsp nutmeg, and one of allspice.

This was a porter recipe and I didn't account for all the losses that I ended up with and lost a lot more than I'm used to. So make sure you take that into account.
 
I still cannot find canned pumpkin but I found some nice baking pumpkins are my local grocery store last night. I have read to cut the pumpkin up into 1" squares and bake them at 350F for 30-45 minutes. I am doing a steeping grain extract kit; will I get any of the sugars/flavor out of the pumpkin if I don't mash it?

Stumpy: What losses are you referring too? Trub at the bottom that soaks up your wort? So, to fix this over fill the fermenter by half gallon or more?
 
Yeah I poured the wort in with the puree and all into the fermenter. Plus I dont strain out the hops. I just let everything settle out in the primary. So with all of that I lost more than I usually do plus I messed up on another step and only had about 5 gallons going into the fermenter instead of 5.5 so in the end I only had about 4 gallons when all was said and done.
 
I wanted to jump in on edost recipe here since a couple asked how it turned out. I just brewed this three ago in advance of Thanksgiving and it's aging as we speak. Took a sample the other day and was VERY impressed with the flavor. To be sure this is a sipping beer/night cap sort of brew - heavy, sweet, caramel-y, complex. Carbing will open this up a bit (sampled cool but flat).

Trub settled much quicker than other posters noted but final volume was just under 4 gal due to amount of pumpkin. I fermented @ 70 for 7 days, racked to secondary @70 for 7 days and it was crystal clear with beautiful dark ruby brown color. I've got it aging in a keg @ 70 now. ABV is about 7% which is good, the warmth helps balance the sweet spices.

OG 1.072
FG 1.018 (racked from primary, may have fallen a bit in secondary)

I had read other pumpkin ale posts concerning over-spicing the beer so I decided to make some subs on the spices. I subbed Munich LME/Light DME instead Amber DME (which LHBS didn't have) and added in 1/4 rolled oats for the hell of it. I upped the maple syrup to see if I could pull some of its flavor, knowing it would mostly ferment out. Finally, I subbed New Zealand Hallertau for the Crystal. Here was my final recipe:

6.6 lbs Munich LME
.75 lbs Light DME

1 lb Munich Malt
1 lb Vienna Malt
8 oz Cara-Pils
8 oz Crystal 60L

12 oz Maple Syrup - increased from 8oz (90 mins)
2 large cans of carmelized pumpkin (90 mins)
1 oz NZ Hallertau Hops @ 9% (90 mins)
1/2 tbsp Cinnamon - reduced from 1 Tbsp (90 mins)
.5 tbsp nutmeg (90 mins)

1 oz Fuggles Hops (15 mins)
1/2 tbsp Cinnamon - reduced from 1 Tbsp (15 mins)
.5 tbsp nutmeg (15 mins)

1 tbsp Irish Moss (15 mins)

3/4 tbsp Cinnamon - reduced from 1 Tbsp (0 mins)
1/2 tbsp nutmeg - reduced from 1 Tbsp (0 mins)
1 1/4 tbsp Corriander Seeds - increased from 1 Tbsp and finely ground in morter (0 mins)

Couldn't taste much at first but with aging this is providing a nice clean bitterness to the final flavor.

Great recipe!!
 
I'm gonna brew two 5 gallon batches of a pumpkin ale today. I was thinking about using a similar recipie as the Maple Pumpkin Ale, which looks very good. I was gonna swap in some cayenne pepper in one batch and try using a belgian yeast in the other.

So, I had two questions:
Do you think I should just cut up the cayenne pepper and drop it into the secondary? Or is there a better way to get that flavor into the beer?

Also, are there any spices in here that you feel might be problematic in a belgian?
 
Sorry to bump an old thread but i just brewed this recipe last night and was wondering about the "additional fermentation." The recipe says a week in primary, a week in secondary, and two weeks additional fermentation. Not sure what this even means. Can i just go two weeks primary and two weeks secondary?
 
I would assume the final two weeks are for conditioning/carbonation in keg or bottle.

I don't think so. Here's the actual quote:

"-Let ferment for approx 4 days & then rack off the trub to secondary
- Let it sit in secondary for 1 week and rack off the trub to tertiary
- Let it sit in tertiary for 2 weeks & after fermentation is complete, prime & keg"
 
I found with the pumpkin there's a lot of sediment. I didn't brew this exact recipe, but made a pumpkin porter for my wedding and there was a ton of trub. That said I only used a primary and a long secondary. Rack from the primary when the fermentation slows significantly. I hate taking measurements but your hydrometer readings are really how you tell when to rack. Next time I brew this I will use a larger primary vessel, like one of those 7.9 wine buckets and up my recipe's desired volume from 5.5 to 6 gals cause I lost a more to trub than usual. But it was damn delicious. I'm assuming that the extra vessel described is for clarification. Cold crash if you can.
 
I found with the pumpkin there's a lot of sediment. I didn't brew this exact recipe, but made a pumpkin porter for my wedding and there was a ton of trub. That said I only used a primary and a long secondary. Rack from the primary when the fermentation slows significantly. I hate taking measurements but your hydrometer readings are really how you tell when to rack. Next time I brew this I will use a larger primary vessel, like one of those 7.9 wine buckets and up my recipe's desired volume from 5.5 to 6 gals cause I lost a more to trub than usual. But it was damn delicious. I'm assuming that the extra vessel described is for clarification. Cold crash if you can.

Sounds like a plan. I should have an open fermenter soon, so a long secondary should be no problem. You cold crash right before bottling right? Will a normal fridge (assuming i can find the space) get you the proper temps in order to cold crash?
 
Sorry to bring up this old thread, but I just brewed this last Saturday since my wife loves pumpkin. It was my 2nd batch, and all I can say was I had many many issues! My largest pot is 8 quarts, so a late addition extract was almost impossible to dissolve and I ended up using several small pots to brew. Then, I wanted to strain everything into my ale pale, but the pumpkin clogged the strainer and I was forced to dump it all in the bucket, per the instructions. I have a couple questions...

1) I only have an ale pale and bottling bucket. Would it be best to transfer to bucket, clean (and sanitize) the pale, and siphon back after week 1, week 3 and week 4 before bottling? I am assuming this is just to clean out all the pumpkin suspended in solution. I was considering just using the bottling bucket for secondary and the primary for tertiary.

2) Being in north jersey, summers are hot/humid and I have my primary in a swamp cooler. IIRC off flavors due to high fermentation temps are really only during the first portion (possibly the reproduction phase?) of fermentation. Can I finish secondary and tertiary without the swamp cooler, sitting at room temp 74F with no ill effects?
 
Sorry to bring up this old thread, but I just brewed this last Saturday since my wife loves pumpkin. It was my 2nd batch, and all I can say was I had many many issues! My largest pot is 8 quarts, so a late addition extract was almost impossible to dissolve and I ended up using several small pots to brew. Then, I wanted to strain everything into my ale pale, but the pumpkin clogged the strainer and I was forced to dump it all in the bucket, per the instructions. I have a couple questions...

1) I only have an ale pale and bottling bucket. Would it be best to transfer to bucket, clean (and sanitize) the pale, and siphon back after week 1, week 3 and week 4 before bottling? I am assuming this is just to clean out all the pumpkin suspended in solution. I was considering just using the bottling bucket for secondary and the primary for tertiary.

2) Being in north jersey, summers are hot/humid and I have my primary in a swamp cooler. IIRC off flavors due to high fermentation temps are really only during the first portion (possibly the reproduction phase?) of fermentation. Can I finish secondary and tertiary without the swamp cooler, sitting at room temp 74F with no ill effects?

Problems arise... not a big deal though. 1) Bottling buckets are fine to use as a primary or secondary. I actually use only plastic buckets and plastic carboys with spouts. it makes transferring SO easy! Also I just did a similar recipe several weeks back too. everything in the brew pot into the primary. When you transfer to secondary, to get as little of the trub as possible there will be a TON. 2) Im not so sure about temps... I'm fairly certain the first week or two is the most important... but it all depends on the yeast. Mine is in secondary and just sitting in my basement without any temp control... we'll see how it turns out.
 
I brewed this about 4 weeks ago. Followed the original recipe but added a little extra maple syrup. I ended up being out of town, so kept it in primary at 68 for all 4 weeks then bottled. Taste is actually great for warm uncarbonated beer, BUT I have one concern. I used a full 2/3 cup cane sugar for priming (what I usually use for 5 gallons) but didn't realize I only had about 4 gallon yield (danger of primary only I guess). Anything special I should do to avoid bottle bombs?? Will it carbonate faster with extra sugar or just carbonate a lot? Thanks! I'm still excited regardless to try a cold one!
 
Sorry for the bump on an older thread.

I was planning on brewing this here in a week or two to get a head start on the fall and I had some questions regarding the technique used to brew this.

1. The can pumpkin, after it is caramelized, do you stuff it into a grain bag and just throw it in the wort, or just put it in the wort freely?

2. I usually try and pass my wort through a strainer before it goes into the carboy. It clogs up a lot depending on how much hops I am using. I am fine with that to try and get out as much as possible so I don't have to do it later. But with this recipe, should I not strain it and pour the whole wort into the carboy and ferment then just push to a secondary and then a third fermentation chamber?

Those really are my main questions that I have for this recipe.
 
We want to try brewing this this weekend (Oct 5th)

I just need a little more info on the pumpkin. Do we buy cans of pumpkin and spread it out on cookie sheets? If so...how thick do we spread it? And how do we keep it from sticking? Anyone able to help?
 
Spread it out to about a 1/2 inch thick. It shouldn't be in the oven long enough for it to stick to the pan really. You're just looking to drive off some of the moisture and brown the top of the puree for a little extra caramelization.
 
Well I tried out the recipe...modified at least. We will be tasting it in two weeks at bottling. I do my home brewing at the local "rent-a-steam kettle" place. Their experts helped me modify the recipe for their "system" of brewing, and we had to up the quantities for their brewing size of 13 gallons (vs 5 gallons). Here is what we brewed:

Grains: Barley 200 gm
Crystal 200 gm
Munich 100 gm
Malts (syrup): Lager 4L
Amber 2L
Additional: 8 large Cans of Pumpkin (carmelized*)
44 oz real maple Syrup
Hops: Blue plate: Hallertau 60gm
3 Tbsp Cinnamon
1.5 Tbsp Nutmeg
Yellow plate: Fuggles 60gm
3 Tbsp Cimmamon
1.5 Tbsp Nutmeg
2.5 tsp Irish Moss
Red plate: Cascade 80gm
3 Tbsp Cinnamon
3 Tbsp Nutmeg
3 Tbsp Corriander Seed
Yeast: American Ale

-Crack Grain and place in metal strainer in cold water, set steam at ½ and steep up to 160 deg F, remove grain
-Add pumpkin, 32 oz Maple Syrup, Malts, Blue Plate, stir well
-Bring to Vigorous Boil = Start time
Set steam to 1/3
-Start time +70 min:
Add: 12 oz. Maple Syrup, Yellow Plate (slowly)
-Start Time +75 min
Turn off Steam
-Start time + 88 min
Add: Red Plate
-Start time + 90 min
Drain Wort, through chiller into plastic keg, add yeast
-Ferment 14 days (7warm/7cool)
-Carbonate to taste at bottling

*Carmelizing Pumpkin: Spread out each large can of pumpkin (~29 oz) evenly on a cookie sheet and bake in oven for 1 hour at 350 deg F. Pumpkin will brown somewhat on top surface. One cookie sheet per large can. Scrape baked pumpkin into a couple large plastic Ziploc bags and bring along for brewing. Refrigerate as needed.

Anyone care to make any advance predictions about how it might turn out?
 
Came across this recipe and would like to try an AG version of it. Here's what I have so far. Mind you, this is mostly what BeerSmith converted it to for my equipment. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Mash:
8.0 lbs - Ger Pilsner 2-Row
1.5 lbs - Crystal 60
1 cans - Libby's Canned Pumpkin
1 cans - Libby's Canned Pumpkin Pie Mix (To get some spice in there)

Hop Additions:
0.5 oz - Hallertauer @ 60
0.5 oz - Fuggles @ 15

Boil:
2.0 lbs - Maple Syrup
1 tbsp - Cinnamon @ 15
1 tbsp - Nutmeg @ 15
1 tbsp - Coriander Seed @ 15
1 tbsp - Irish Moss @ 15

Yeast:
WYeast 1056 - American Ale

Stats:
Est OG = 1.066
Est FG = 1.007
IBU = 12.2
Est ABV = 7.8%
Color = 17.3 SRM
 
Let's bump an ancient thread! My thirst for good pumpkin ale is great, gonna make this next week when my canned pumpkin arrives.

Modified the original recipe a bit. Using 4 (maybe 3) cans of pumpkin, and leaving out the maple syrup. I'll post the results when I Crack open the first bottle in october. :)

This is my first brew that isn't out of a pre-assembled kit, so I'm pretty excited.
 
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