Pumpkin ale brewed; feedback plz

Pumpkin ale kit (From Midwest), brewed 10/27/07
used 8-10 pounds fress cubed pumpkin
added 1.75 oz pumpkin pie spice
Malt extract: 6lbs gold LME
specialty grains: 8 oz caraphils, 8 oz caramel 10l
Hops 1oz mt hood, 1oz cascade
1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmet

baked pumpkin at 400deg for 60 minutes
steeped grains for 25 minutes
added brown sugar, then extract, then pumpkin
heat to boiling
add mt hood (in steeping bag)
boiled 45 minutes
added all other spirces and cascade hops (again in steeping bag)
cooled to 75deg (lowest i could get it on tap water, forgot to get ice)
pitched yeast and 12 oz of yeast cake
OG 1.053

I was going to do this as a 5 gallon boil, 10 gallon batch brew but realized i couldn't fit all the pumpkin and water in my pot. So i'm wondering if anyone has any feedback on what i should do differently (aside from buy ice for a cold wort bath)
I have the same yeast and about the same ammount of yeast cake to pitch tomorrow as well. The wort smelled REALLY damn good!

did you take the pumpkin off the rind?

no. none of the posts i had found on the internet said i was suppose to. it all just said you were suppose to cube it and that was it.

and the instructions that came from midwest only mentioned cubing it and baking it so i didn't think to take it off the rind

I baked mine for 2 hours this morning and the rind slid right off. There is a kettle of pumpkin wort coming up to a boil right now that has 5# of home made puree in it. i answered my own question and left the rind out. my whole house smells YUMMY!

I am going to add 1# of dark honey, .5oz of fresh grated ginger, and a whole vanilla bean.

What does Pumpkin Ale taste like? I've never tried it but I'm getting curious with everybody talking about it!

I can't remember what it tastes like. i remember it having a lot of good spice flavor to it. i had it a year ago at a bar (on tap) and decided then i would brew it this year around.

macs said:

What does Pumpkin Ale taste like? I've never tried it but I'm getting curious with everybody talking about it!

Click to expand...

There is right much variety about. Once I get an empty primary I am going to try just a Plain Jane pumkin ale, just enough 6 row malt to get it converted...

All of the worts have smelled delicious. The spices are the trick. I did not care for the A-B "Jacks" pumpkin ale at all.