Fresh pumpkin vs canned pumpkin

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thrstyunderwater

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So I want to use fresh pumpkin. Problem is all the stores are out of them here on Kauai. If I can't find a fresh pumpkin how much canned should I use? The recipe I have calls for 6 lbs of fresh for a 5 gallon batch? Also how much of a difference is there between the two in the end?
 
FYI, canned pumpkin is actually Butternut Squash so if you can find some of that you're golden! Fresh is always better than canned.
 
Wyazz is right. Fresher ingrediants mean better beer. How are you planning to extract the pumpkin-ness into your beer? The first time I tried to make a Pumpkin Ale was also the first time I tried a partial mash, because the enzymes in the pale malt were used to extract the pumpkin sugars. See the results here
PumpkinAle.jpg
 
1 hour boil,
5 gallon batch:

5 lbs pale 6 row
5 pounds wheat
1/2 pound crystal malt
1 oz bittering (Tettnager) in at first boil

Libbys Easy Pumkin Pie Mix (3 cans, 5 lbs. 14 oz) in secondary


This is my basic wheat... This amount of Libby's Easy Pumkin Pie Mix was perfect!
slightest hints, but all the spices from mamma's kitchen seemed to be in that beer. I will be doing another one real quick so as to have another batch for Thanksgiving (we drank the first one up too fast).

Hope this gives you an idea of what quantity you are shooting for.
 
I used canned pumpkin also, came out great. If you really want fresh, I will bring you as much as you need, if I can stay with you for a couple of weeks. I was in Kauai for
10 days about 4 years ago. Beautiful place!!!
 
100 lbs of pumpkin and a pair of shorts. Sounds good to me. If I remember, continential has a direct flight to Hilo leaving jfk in the morning. Then an island hopper...
It does sound good right now!
 
FYI, canned pumpkin is actually Butternut Squash so if you can find some of that you're golden! Fresh is always better than canned.

Can you show some support for this claim? I looked around and couldn't find anything. In fact Libby's says they are 100% pure pumpkin. Seems a difficult claim to make if they are using butternut squash. I also buy a lot of butternut squash in season and it doesn't really taste much like pumpkin when baked or steamed.
 
Just a shout out from a fellow Houstonian - I am curious to where you get your ingredients and other items - local or online?

1 hour boil,
5 gallon batch:

5 lbs pale 6 row
5 pounds wheat
1/2 pound crystal malt
1 oz bittering (Tettnager) in at first boil

Libbys Easy Pumkin Pie Mix (3 cans, 5 lbs. 14 oz) in secondary


This is my basic wheat... This amount of Libby's Easy Pumkin Pie Mix was perfect!
slightest hints, but all the spices from mamma's kitchen seemed to be in that beer. I will be doing another one real quick so as to have another batch for Thanksgiving (we drank the first one up too fast).

Hope this gives you an idea of what quantity you are shooting for.
 
B&S on Nasa Rd. 1

http://shop.brewersguild.net/
Have the cheapest prices, you have to catch Megan to make sure that they will have it for you when you need it.

Defalcos

http://www.defalcos.com/
Have a lot more inventory, they give you a discount on supplies if you buy equipment from them. Everything there can be had online or various places (Home Depot, Hardware stores, ect) cheaper.

Brooksfield?
 
Can you show some support for this claim? I looked around and couldn't find anything. In fact Libby's says they are 100% pure pumpkin. Seems a difficult claim to make if they are using butternut squash. I also buy a lot of butternut squash in season and it doesn't really taste much like pumpkin when baked or steamed.

It's a "special variety" of "pumpkin" called the Dickinson. It is closer to butternut squash than the pumpkins that you and I know. It actually cross pollinates with Butternut Squash but will not cross pollinate with true pumpkins.

Trust me, if you make a from scratch pumpkin pie using real pumpkin you'll be disappointed, if you make it from butternut (I've even used buttercup) squash you can't tell the difference. The larger and more mature the squash the more orange the flesh inside usually is.

http://www.slashfood.com/2005/10/24/canned-pumpkin-is-it-really-pumpkin/
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/ingredients-pantry/canned-pumpkin-what-is-it-really-made-of-069123
 
Has anyone ever tried making a pumpkin beer with canned pumpkin PIE MIX? My thoughts are that there would be too much sugar and I envision a very active fermentation, but not quite sure.
 
1 hour boil,
5 gallon batch:

5 lbs pale 6 row
5 pounds wheat
1/2 pound crystal malt
1 oz bittering (Tettnager) in at first boil

Libbys Easy Pumkin Pie Mix (3 cans, 5 lbs. 14 oz) in secondary


This is my basic wheat... This amount of Libby's Easy Pumkin Pie Mix was perfect!
slightest hints, but all the spices from mamma's kitchen seemed to be in that beer. I will be doing another one real quick so as to have another batch for Thanksgiving (we drank the first one up too fast).

Hope this gives you an idea of what quantity you are shooting for.


This guy did. I think as long as you leave it in the fermenter for a while then you should be golden as far as bottling is concerned.
 
1 hour boil,
5 gallon batch:

5 lbs pale 6 row
5 pounds wheat
1/2 pound crystal malt
1 oz bittering (Tettnager) in at first boil

Libbys Easy Pumkin Pie Mix (3 cans, 5 lbs. 14 oz) in secondary


This is my basic wheat... This amount of Libby's Easy Pumkin Pie Mix was perfect!
slightest hints, but all the spices from mamma's kitchen seemed to be in that beer. I will be doing another one real quick so as to have another batch for Thanksgiving (we drank the first one up too fast).

Hope this gives you an idea of what quantity you are shooting for.


I only use primary...When would I add the canned pumpkin mix? How long do you let it sit? I'm making a Smashing Pumpkin Ale soon...
 
From all the recipes that I have read in the past several days, it is to be added to the boil. I am brewing one up this weekend and I was going to add half at the beginning and the rest about 15-20 minutes from the end on a 60 min boil. Hopefully it will flavor like hops. :cross:
 
From all the recipes that I have read in the past several days, it is to be added to the boil. I am brewing one up this weekend and I was going to add half at the beginning and the rest about 15-20 minutes from the end on a 60 min boil. Hopefully it will flavor like hops. :cross:

I've also read a lot of recipes that say it should be in the mash. If you use steeping grains you could throw it in the bag with them. Then pull the whole thing out like normal and add the extract. That is what I was thinking of doing.

I have read on here that Dogfish Head puts the pumpkin in during the mash.
 
I used canned organic pumpkin, I baked it for an hour at 350, and let it broil for 10 more minutes to finish the caramelization (sp?). I then mashed it and continued on with my beer recipe.

The color is an a freaky bright orange and the wort tasted incredible! I'm stoked about this beer! Its going to be a hard 6 weeks waiting for it to finish.
 
Trust me, if you make a from scratch pumpkin pie using real pumpkin you'll be disappointed, if you make it from butternut (I've even used buttercup) squash you can't tell the difference. The larger and more mature the squash the more orange the flesh inside usually is.

http://www.slashfood.com/2005/10/24/canned-pumpkin-is-it-really-pumpkin/
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/ingredients-pantry/canned-pumpkin-what-is-it-really-made-of-069123

That's not entirely true. I make pumpkin pies from real pumpkins every year, and they are awesome. Better than using canned pumpkin by a mile. The key is to use "sugar pumpkins" or "pie pumpkins" and not jack o' lantern pumpkins, which are really bred just for size and seeds, not the flesh of the pumpkin. Also, when using real pumpkin for pie, it helps to let them drain in cheese cloth over night to drain out extra liquid (this is good to do for brewing beer too). Between that and the fact that you get a bit of caramelized flesh when you bake the pumpkin to make the puree, it really kills canned pumpkin by far.

Butternut squash does make a kick-ass pie too, though. :mug:
 
I've also read a lot of recipes that say it should be in the mash. If you use steeping grains you could throw it in the bag with them. Then pull the whole thing out like normal and add the extract. That is what I was thinking of doing.

I have read on here that Dogfish Head puts the pumpkin in during the mash.

Unless your steeping with 2 row(or other conversion malt), it will be kinda useless. You may pick up the bitter flavor, but as far as the conversion you wont get much. From what I've seen, you really need to mash it. Other than that I have a feeling when its in the boil you really just are picking up the spices rather than much pumpkin.

There are no pumpkin recipes, that just use spices.
 
I've also read a lot of recipes that say it should be in the mash. If you use steeping grains you could throw it in the bag with them. Then pull the whole thing out like normal and add the extract. That is what I was thinking of doing.

I have read on here that Dogfish Head puts the pumpkin in during the mash.

Yeah, there's really a lot of disagreement on the subject. Some swear by mashing it, while others say you barely get any fermentable sugars from the starch, which makes mashing it pointless. Others claim beyond the lack of fermentables, you'll get more flavor from the boil.

Personally, when I wrote my recipe, I designed it to have pumpkin additions during both the mash and boil, hoping to layer flavor/aroma/body/what have you.

I'd like to also add some cooked, fresh pumpkin to the end of my primary (for a week or so), but I don't think there will be any available yet. Something else I considered (if there aren't fresh pumpkins) was to add some canned to my "spice tea" addition at the end of primary, but I probably won't bother.
 
onipar said:
Personally, when I wrote my recipe, I designed it to have pumpkin additions during both the mash and boil, hoping to layer flavor/aroma/body/what have you.

I was thinking about doing the same thing. How much do you plan on adding for each?
 
I was thinking about doing the same thing. How much do you plan on adding for each?

My recipe is here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/moon-hill-pumpkin-ale-260064/

I added ~30 ounces (2 small cans) to the mash, ~15 ounces to the boil at 60 minutes, and ~8 ounces to the boil at 30mins.

I would have put the full can (15 instead of 8 ounces) at 30 mins, but I ran out. Also, I remember reading someone (I think it was Revvy) say that they added their pumpkin to the boil at 10 mins.

Also worth noting, the first 3 cans of pumpkin I added were caramelized. The last 8 ounces was direct from the can. I kind of wanted a bit of that vegetable "pumpkiny" flavor and color near the end (another reason I was considering a "secondary" addition if there are any fresh pumpkins available at that time).

Although, I did strain out a lot of the pumpkin through a grain bag when I poured into my fermentor, which may have been counterproductive if the pumpkin being in the fermenting wort does add flavor (not sure if it does much or not), but I wanted to avoid a secondary.
 
I've heard of people using sweet potatoes and with the spices it tastes wonderful

Cooks Illustrated (which is imho, the best source of tried-and-true recipes and techniques around) has a pumpkin pie recipe which uses only sweet potatoes, and it's fantastic. I've received many "this is the best pumpkin pie I've ever had" comments - all while chuckling to myself that it contains no pumpkin :p

With that said, I brewed my first pumpkin ale a couple weeks ago (a modified Thunderstuck Ale), and I used sweet potato since the local supermarket didn't have any canned (!) or fresh pumpkin. I couldn't decide whether to use it in the boil, mash, or roast it.. so I did all three! Cut it up into cubes and boiled it - then roasted it for 45 minutes, and added it into the mash, along with the original water I boiled it in.

I'm racking it to the secondary tomorrow to clear, but the hydrometer samples have been AMAZING. Can't wait to see how this turns out!
 
onipar said:
My recipe is here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/moon-hill-pumpkin-ale-260064/

I added ~30 ounces (2 small cans) to the mash, ~15 ounces to the boil at 60 minutes, and ~8 ounces to the boil at 30mins.

I would have put the full can (15 instead of 8 ounces) at 30 mins, but I ran out. Also, I remember reading someone (I think it was Revvy) say that they added their pumpkin to the boil at 10 mins.

Also worth noting, the first 3 cans of pumpkin I added were caramelized. The last 8 ounces was direct from the can. I kind of wanted a bit of that vegetable "pumpkiny" flavor and color near the end (another reason I was considering a "secondary" addition if there are any fresh pumpkins available at that time).

Although, I did strain out a lot of the pumpkin through a grain bag when I poured into my fermentor, which may have been counterproductive if the pumpkin being in the fermenting wort does add flavor (not sure if it does much or not), but I wanted to avoid a secondary.

How did this method turn out for flavor? Could u taste the pumpkin or just spices?

By adding non roasted flavor at 30 min did it add anything noticeable to you?
 
Last year I used 6 small cans of organic pumpkin for a 5.5g batch of pumpkin porter. I roasted the pumpkin first and used it in the mash.

My opinion on pumpkin flavor is that the beer has to age awhile before the flavor is very noticeable. Similar to the apple flavor in apfelwein. When my pumpkin beer was young the spices were very noticeable but the pumpkin was not, then after a few weeks in the keg the spices toned down a bit and the pumpkin flavor came through.

Another fun addition to a pumpkin beer is to buy some fresh pumpkin seeds, toast them in your oven, crush them and toss them in the mash. Adds a nice nutty flavor.
 
I've heard of people using sweet potatoes and with the spices it tastes wonderful

This is correct. I was one of the first folks on the HBT boards to do a sweet potato recipe (several years back), and had a lot of fun with it.

Later on, I did a pumpkin/sweet-potato Belgian Dubbel. Really, really tasty.

I remember hearing that pumpkin itself has little enough sugar that you shouldn't need to include 2-row in a partial mash. The sweet potato, however, will need some 2-row to convert the starches.

My general recipe for any squash/potato-based beer:

1) If using fresh, run it through a food processor in a slicey-kinda way so it looks like hash browns; if using cans, you're fine.

2) Spread on baking sheets (do not grease them!) and bake at like 350 for an hour, stirring/turning occasionally. You want it to brown/caramelize.

3) Put it into your grain bag with your specialty grains (which makes for much easier clean-up later), and mash as normal.

4) I like to do some spices in the boil, but others are not spice fans. That's up to you, really.
 
How did this method turn out for flavor? Could u taste the pumpkin or just spices?

By adding non roasted flavor at 30 min did it add anything noticeable to you?

Unfortunately this is a brand new recipe that I wrote, and I *just* brewed it this past Sunday. I haven't even taken a hydro sample to taste yet.

I did take a sip of the wort, and it tasted good, but certainly not a good representation of what this will become.

It's hard to say whether multiple pumpkin additions will make a difference. As you've no doubt read by now, a lot of people debate whether pumpkin really adds much to the beer at all, short of some body. There are some who skip pumpkin altogether and just focus on the spices.

I will say that the no-roasted addition seemed to smell more "pumpkiny" in the boil than the other caramelized additions. If that makes it to the final beer, I don't know. I also thought that the pumpkin added to the boil seemed to impart more aroma as it cooked as opposed to the mash additions. I tasted the mash water before adding boil additions and didn't get much pumpkin. Mostly sweet, grainy water.

But again, after fermentation and conditioning, flavors change dramatically. I'll be adding updates and tasting notes to my recipe throughout the process.

Finally, I agree that butternut squash and sweet potatoes are viable options. I'd probably say the butternut squash will give you something more akin to pumpkin though.

Personally, I can tell the difference between sweet potatoes and pumpkins. I've made both sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie, and to me, there's an obvious flavor difference. Of course, in a beer that flavor difference may not be as noticeable, or it might not matter because it imparts more/better flavor than pumpkin. (I don't know for sure having never used it in beer yet).

:mug:
 
FYI, canned pumpkin is actually Butternut Squash so if you can find some of that you're golden! Fresh is always better than canned.


That myth comes from the fact that you wouldn't want to use your jack-o-lantern to make a pie. That is bred for looks and not flavor. The pumpkins used for canned pumpkin are truly pumpkin, they are just ugly as hell. They are merely a different variety.
 
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