just brewed the midwest supplies pumpkin ale

I went to their website the other week and saw the kit of the month was their pumpkin ale.... So like every other purchase I make I check out the reviews of the kit first.... There was a few comments made about how the beer doesnt have enough cinnamon flavor or lacks pumpkin flavor.... Well I purchased the kit anyways and just added more cinnamon to the boil. I was told by another member (forget who it was) had brewed this kit twice... the first time he added 8 cinnamon sticks to the steeping grain bag and added the small 2 oz powder cinnamon packet provided by the kit. He said it still needed more cinnamon, the second time he brewed he added 12 sticks and said it could use more cinnamon but was good. So I took that advice and added 15 sticks (half sticks) to the boil.

The directions said add the powder spice with the last 2 minutes of the boil time. But I added the cinnamon sticks with the steeping grains for the full 30 it mentioned, for the steeping grains at 155 degrees... It smelt delicious I just hope it tastes as good as it smells... Everything else I followed by the book though.... I guess my only worry would be the cinnamon sticks I added for the full 30 minutes and not just in the last 2 minutes like it said to do with the powder. Oh well Time will tell I guess.

A friend of mine did the northern brewer smashing pumpkin extract kit and we had the same reaction, not enough pumpkin or spice flavor. It was a great, smooth drinking beer, just not what we were expecting.

I then did the all grain kit, but mashed with 60oz of pumpkin that I carmelized on a cookie sheet, and then I added a spice tea when transferring to secondary. I don't recall the exact amount of each spice, but have it written down somewhere if you want it. I just took a couple glasses out of the primary and added a little of each spice at a time to see what flavors it was lacking. I also added 1/4lb of malto dextrin to the keg since I didn't have it at the time of brewing. When I do it again I'll probably add 1/2-1 lb of either lactose or dextrin.

The spice flavor was overwhelming at first, but after a couple weeks in the keg it smoothed out very well and now tastes excellent. I was aiming for a pumpkin pie flavor and got pretty close. Lots of compliments on turkey day and probably my personal best brew yet.

cool,
I am a little worried with this one because every other kit I have made has always bubbled like crazy the next morning when I go to check on the action.... Well I just got down to check on it and no bubbles in my airlock... I went back to check on the directions and it said you should see action within 1 to 3 days.... Its just weird that every other kit I have made bubbles the next day, and its from the same company as the rest.

i went down again about an hour ago and theres bubbles.... YAY, I guess it was just because there was more "stuff" in the primary... unsure if I want to make another trip to the store for a second can of pumkin to add to the secondary or not

Vermont-

Man i just brewed MW's pumkin brew this morning, I varied from the recipe pretty drastically though, i'm letting it cellar until next september/october - i really go overboard with pumkins cause i like strong flavors and ive made several batches so ive had the chance to perfectt he recipe..

here's the recipe, the short non-detailed version. I photo documented the whole process so if u want i can email you a slideshow of how it all went down..

The main key i've found in Pumkin brews:

1 use alot of pumkin, alot...
2. put the spice in the pumkin before you bake it so that the spice carmalizes with the pumkin, makes a huge difference in end flavor..

Made starter 72 hrs ahead of time with 2 cups water, 1 cup Wheat DME

Great Lakes Clover honey,Pure Vanilla extract, 120oz Libbey’s pumkin (ruthless amount of pumkin), 5 gal Spring water + 3 extra water bottles to make up for evaporation

1. Bake 120oz pumkin mixed with 1Tbsp PP spice at 350 for 60-90 mins to carmalize
2. steep grains at 155 for 30 mins – let rest for 10 mins
3. Add 25% of Malt, 1 cup brown sugar, and 75% (3/4oz) Mt Hood- 60 mins
4. 1 tsp irish moss – 15 mins
5. Add pumkin, remaining malt, 1oz Cascade, 10 cloves. Boil for 5
6. 1 Tbsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of pumkin pie spice, and 1lb Honey- after flameout
7. chiller
8. Take gravity reading, pitch at 70- OG 1.048
9. ferment 2 weeks – between 64-67
10. Add 1.5 oz Vanilla (3 Tbsp) to secondary, age 2 weeks
11. Bottle

wow you did tweak the recipie... Haha I cant wait as long as you... 3 weeks for me and its hitting the keg! haha thanks for sharing maybe I will do this next time!

Wheatmeister said:

here's the recipe, the short non-detailed version. I photo documented the whole process so if u want i can email you a slideshow of how it all went down..

The main key i've found in Pumkin brews:

1 use alot of pumkin, alot...
2. put the spice in the pumkin before you bake it so that the spice carmalizes with the pumkin, makes a huge difference in end flavor..

Made starter 72 hrs ahead of time with 2 cups water, 1 cup Wheat DME

Great Lakes Clover honey,Pure Vanilla extract, 120oz Libbey’s pumkin (ruthless amount of pumkin), 5 gal Spring water + 3 extra water bottles to make up for evaporation

1. Bake 120oz pumkin mixed with 1Tbsp PP spice at 350 for 60-90 mins to carmalize
2. steep grains at 155 for 30 mins – let rest for 10 mins
3. Add 25% of Malt, 1 cup brown sugar, and 75% (3/4oz) Mt Hood- 60 mins
4. 1 tsp irish moss – 15 mins
5. Add pumkin, remaining malt, 1oz Cascade, 10 cloves. Boil for 5
6. 1 Tbsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of pumkin pie spice, and 1lb Honey- after flameout
7. chiller
8. Take gravity reading, pitch at 70- OG 1.048
9. ferment 2 weeks – between 64-67
10. Add 1.5 oz Vanilla (3 Tbsp) to secondary, age 2 weeks
11. Bottle

Click to expand...

Hey wheatmeister great recipe, I sent you a PM on the slideshow for this brew! Thanks, good stuff

when brewing this pumpkin ale, do you want to dump all that shudge in the bottom of your wort into the primary fermentor or try to keep as much of that stuff out?

Wheatmeister said:

here's the recipe, the short non-detailed version. I photo documented the whole process so if u want i can email you a slideshow of how it all went down..

The main key i've found in Pumkin brews:

1 use alot of pumkin, alot...
2. put the spice in the pumkin before you bake it so that the spice carmalizes with the pumkin, makes a huge difference in end flavor..

Made starter 72 hrs ahead of time with 2 cups water, 1 cup Wheat DME

Great Lakes Clover honey,Pure Vanilla extract, 120oz Libbey’s pumkin (ruthless amount of pumkin), 5 gal Spring water + 3 extra water bottles to make up for evaporation

1. Bake 120oz pumkin mixed with 1Tbsp PP spice at 350 for 60-90 mins to carmalize
2. steep grains at 155 for 30 mins – let rest for 10 mins
3. Add 25% of Malt, 1 cup brown sugar, and 75% (3/4oz) Mt Hood- 60 mins
4. 1 tsp irish moss – 15 mins
5. Add pumkin, remaining malt, 1oz Cascade, 10 cloves. Boil for 5
6. 1 Tbsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of pumkin pie spice, and 1lb Honey- after flameout
7. chiller
8. Take gravity reading, pitch at 70- OG 1.048
9. ferment 2 weeks – between 64-67
10. Add 1.5 oz Vanilla (3 Tbsp) to secondary, age 2 weeks
11. Bottle

Click to expand...

I'm looking to make this soon. Can you send me the pictorial please? Looks like a great recipe! Thanks

I dumped it all in man...let it marinate. Move to a secondary after a week and leave the sludge in the primary(which will take a minute to clean out)

It's not allowing me to upload my photo's guys, I apologize. Essentially it's just pics as I go through the process. Just follow my recipe and make any adjustments you like, I've only tried 1 of these so far (still aging in the basement for Halloween 2011) and the one I tried was frickin awesome. Closest Pumking Knock off I've tried. The carmalized pumkin flavor w the vanilla is upfront, super tasty. The honey is nice too.

Post the recipes you use and how they turn out.

I'll let you know how this batch turns out after a full year of aging in October..

I'm getting into this thread cause I want to brew a pumpkin ale for this fall very badly!

After talking about this yesterday, after work i threw a bottle in the fridge for a few hours, poured it into a frozen glass late night and enjoyed. Unbelievable. Have to pat myself on the back for tweeking the recipe this way. This is the only brew I can honestly say, of the beers i've brewed, this is the only one I can say is great. Almost perfect.

Did you go a full boil or partial? I can only do partial boils in my 5 gallon pot so I can probably fit 3-3.5 gallons into the boil.

WM, I want to try your recipe and tweaks. Can you send me the pictoral? Also, I'll probably be trying to extract version. Any suggestions for modifications to your tweaks for that?

to the OP, you can always adjust the flavors post ferment by making a spice tea. Its pretty common for pumpkin beers.

I did a full boil, it was an extract version. But i only boil about 25% of the malt extract to minimize malt carmalization, add the remainder at 5 mins or at flameout.

I'm having problems posting the pics on this site for some reason. If anyone wants to give their email i'd be happy to email the pics.

in your inboxes

Wheatmeister said:

I did a full boil, it was an extract version. But i only boil about 25% of the malt extract to minimize malt carmalization, add the remainder at 5 mins or at flameout.

I'm having problems posting the pics on this site for some reason. If anyone wants to give their email i'd be happy to email the pics.

Click to expand...

Gotcha! Looking at the MW Supplies site, which yeast did you opt for? Also, my email is just my username at gmail. Thanks!

I used the American ale Wyeast Activator 1056, made a starter a few days ahead of time cause of all the extra fermentables

Wheatmeister, not sure if you mentioned this but what was your boil size? I can only do partial boils right now in my 5 gallon pot so I can probably get away with max 3 gallons.

Also, the recipe calls for 30 oz of canned pumpkin for a more robust flavor, although I've read even this much pumpkin produces a very subtle pumpkin flavor. 120 oz seems like a lot though. Wondering if I should go somewhere inbetween or if 120 oz is the best way to go.

I boiled all 5 gals, just boil 3 if thats all you can get in. I would just really recommend not boiling all of the malt, to prevent over carmalization, which has given so many of my extract brews a flavor I wasnt real excited about. As far as the pumkin goes, you're call. I don't think there's a wrong amount, just depends on how prevalent you want it to be in the taste. In the past, i've noticed NOT being able to even recognize the pumkin in the flavor profile using 30oz, and not too strong of one with 90oz(which seemed like alot), etc...that's why i went all out with the 120oz. If 120 seems too much for you just go with 60 or 90oz.

Let me know how it goes..

Wheatmeister said:

I boiled all 5 gals, just boil 3 if thats all you can get in. I would just really recommend not boiling all of the malt, to prevent over carmalization, which has given so many of my extract brews a flavor I wasnt real excited about. As far as the pumkin goes, you're call. I don't think there's a wrong amount, just depends on how prevalent you want it to be in the taste. In the past, i've noticed NOT being able to even recognize the pumkin in the flavor profile using 30oz, and not too strong of one with 90oz(which seemed like alot), etc...that's why i went all out with the 120oz. If 120 seems too much for you just go with 60 or 90oz.

Let me know how it goes..

Click to expand...

Ok thank you. So you didn't even boil all 6 lbs of the malt extract?

nope, alot of people don't in order to minimize really earthy carmalized malt flavors. It also keeps the beer lighter in color of you care how it looks in the glass. I put in 25% of the malt, then add the remaining 75% with about 5 mins left on the boil, some ppl put the remainder in at flameout. If you google late extract method you should get some good hits. If this is your first pumkin or you havent brewed much before, it may be esier to just put all the malt in at the beginning of the boil man, i dont think it'll ruin the beer or anything, just helps it IMO..

Where do you get pumpkin at this time of the year?

Libbey's canned pumkin is the best. Kroger, Giant Eagle, Walmart, etc...any grocer should have it.

OK, here's a question you porbably can't answer but I'll ask anyway. How much of a difference do you think the honey makes? My last couple of batches had honey, and I am starting to tire of the taste. If you think it makes a big difference, though, I will be glad to include it.

It's really not that prevalent in the flavor honestly, i assume because of all the other big flavors(pumkin, cinnamon, vanilla,) mask it. I don't think it would make a huge difference either way from a taste standpoint. From an ABV standpoint it'll make a difference though, just that many more fermentables and ends in a stronger beer.

Wheatmeister, can I also get the slide show? I'm brewing this midweek. Going 120 oz pumpkin.

Wheatmeister, hate to bother you but I'd really appreciate it if you could send me the slideshow also. I think I will be brewing this soon as my Halloween brew, it sounds amazing. Thanks.

I did the NB smashing pumpkin kit as well, however I used two whole pumpkin pie pumpkins. Cut them in half, de-seeded/ de-stemmed them and put them in a casserole dish with about 2 inches of water, covered with foil and baked them for an hour. After baking, I removed the skins then I pureed the flesh and placed it in cheesecloth. I steeped the pumpkin puree and recommended 2 lbs of rahr 6-row in a separate bag for another hour. Then I began the normal boil. The beer came out great, with an awesome pumpkin flavor. I don't like a ton of spices because i feel it takes away from the beer itself. I found it to be just right with the spices included, a little more cinnamon couldn't hurt. However, I honestly think the difference is the rahr 6-row, it helps to break down the starches while slightly boosting the OG.

Wheatmeister said:

I dumped it all in man...let it marinate. Move to a secondary after a week and leave the sludge in the primary(which will take a minute to clean out)

Click to expand...

So dumping everything, including the trub, proteins, and hops along with the pumpkin into the primary for a week or 2 won't lead to any off flavors?

xjmox14x said:

So dumping everything, including the trub, proteins, and hops along with the pumpkin into the primary for a week or 2 won't lead to any off flavors?

Click to expand...

Just the pumkin, everything else went into the boil in bags and came out

Wheatmeister said:

Just the pumkin, everything else went into the boil in bags and came out

Click to expand...

Ahhh ok, got it. Thanks.

Wheatmeister said:

Just the pumkin, everything else went into the boil in bags and came out

Click to expand...

Another stupid question for you. When you dumped everything into the primary, along with the pumpkin, did you top it off to 5 gal total? Or did you add a little bit extra to compensate for the pumpkin?

I know they say not to as it can water down the beer a little bit and lower the SG, but I feel like most of the pumpkin is of solid matter and obviously won't be absorbed other than it's flavors. So I was thinking maybe going to 5.5 or so?

well if you use the 5 gal of water total plus the pumkin it should work out just fine like any other batch, i topped off with maybe 1/4 gallon tops because of evaporation during the boil but thats about it. The carboy will be more full than usual because all that pumkin takes alot of space. When you siphon to the secondary you'll leave it all behind and have a good 15 minute clean-up job on your hands, but it'll smell awesome.

Wheatmeister said:

well if you use the 5 gal of water total plus the pumkin it should work out just fine like any other batch, i topped off with maybe 1/4 gallon tops because of evaporation during the boil but thats about it. The carboy will be more full than usual because all that pumkin takes alot of space. When you siphon to the secondary you'll leave it all behind and have a good 15 minute clean-up job on your hands, but it'll smell awesome.

Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks again for the advice!

Anyone have an opinion on how this recipe would turn out without the use of Irish Moss. I don't have any on hand.....

Also, did you use the spice pack that came with the Midwest kit?