First Pumpkin beer!

I've read a lot of posts dealing with when pumpkin was added to the brew. Is there any particular recommendation as to when the pumpkin should be added? I wrote my recipe assuming that the best manuever would be to add the pumpkin to the grain for mashing so as to allow the enzymes in the base grain time to convert some more of the pumpkin starch to fermentable sugars. Some posts I've read have the pumpkin being added to the wort for boil, and still others have pumpkin being added post-boil just for the fermentation. Each one of these seems to carry a particular problem as well as benefit. When is best for a) brewing efficiency and b) overall flavor?

Also, pertaining to the spices used, I've seen some people add spices seperately (especially fresh ginger), and some people simply use pumpkin pie spice. Any particular advantage to the flavor ofadding them seperately?

Thanks!

Hey don

I also read many many pumpkin threads before brewing my own last month. I ended up going with the pumpkin added to mash method. I ended up with much less trub in fermenter than the pictures I saw of people who added to the boil (although still more than any other I've done). And when I first sampled the wort for my OG reading, it tasted better than any beer I've ever done at that stage. So, I can't imagine it tasting much better adding it post boil, but I'm sure you would end up with much more sediment and less beer.

The spices I used were allspice and once again, the wort tasted and smelled fantastic at the first reading. During bottling this week, that initial a$$ kicking taste has mellowed some, so I added a slight spice tea to the priming sugar to mix with the beer.

I didn't want to overpower this beer because I'm pretty confident it will have enough of a unique flavor to it. And for my second pumpkin voyage, I think I'll have a pretty good idea on how to adjust it if I do anything to it at all.

So run with it bro, RDWHAHB like they say, and you'll be happy in the end!

I added my Pumpkin to the mash also and did not have that much turb when I racked the brew into a carboy to clear and age after two weeks in primary. I bet I didnt have much more than usual. I added my spices with 5 minutes left in the boil and added them all at once, nutmeg, cinnimon, bitter orange peel and mace. I tasted it at 10 days when I pulled a hydro sample and it was already good. I tasted it when I racked it into the carboy at two weeks and I could have drank it flat.

Ahhh, help! So I did my pumpkin beer 2 weeks ago, started taking samples today. Looks great, nice and clear, great color and alcohol doesn't look too bad either. What I'm freaking out about is that you can't taste the pumpkin at all! Nor the cinnamon or nutmeg I put in. The only thing you can really taste is the sliver of anise I put in. I thought it would nicely round at the flavor but that's all you can taste now! I first roasted some of the pumpkin and added it to my wort then once I was transferring it to my carboy I added some more. After a week, I tranferred it again to a clean carboy, no pumpkin, more spices. Besides not putting in the anise, what else could I have done to make it better?!

duffman- thanks for the info! What kind of filtering process do you use on your mash tun?I have access to both a slotted false bottom and a stainless steel screen knit tube. I'm wondering which might clog less during the pull.

BeerChickFindell- How much pumpkin did you add to the mix initially (and how much was roasted and for how long), and how much/when/what spices did you add to the boil? This maybe a time to do what manymajor breweries do when evening out flavors (though they usually do it for aging purposes):make another batch or two of the pumpkin ale with emphasis on the pumpkin and other spices and then when they are done fermenting or even after clearing, combine all of them until you get a mixture that is exactly what you're looking for. Time and space consuming, but if it works out, you'll be thankful. You can never have too much of your best beer on hand!

flagman said:

I added my spices with 5 minutes left in the boil and added them all at once, nutmeg, cinnimon, bitter orange peel and mace.

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How much of each spice did you add? I've been curious about mace, but having never used it, have no idea of it's relative potency. I was thinking of replacing nutmeg altogether with it but didn't want to lose the presence of the nutmeg flavor.

Have you ever worked with fresh of ground ginger?

The original receipe called for 1/8 tsp of Mace, 3/8 tsp of nutmeg and 1 tsp of cinnimon. I doubled all the spices before adding it to the boil. When I racked over to a carboy to clear and age a little at two weeks it was very good. The aroma and flavor was very subtle but awsome. You can for sure taste the cinnimon and nutmeg on the back end with a very mild pumkin flavor but the pumkin is definitly there. I am not sure what the Mace adds but I know it is the outer covering of the nutmeg seed shell. I always see it in pumpkin pie receipes for figured it needs to be there. I was very pleased, it still tastes like beer and not pie, but you know what you are drinking.

As far as ginger I have not used it in beer, I have a buddy that made AHS ginger ale once and to be honest I cant remember to much about it.

Honestly Don, I used a minimash to brew my pumpkin. I'm still looking to get a perfect AG setup going for me. So, when I added the pumpkin I added it to my 5 gallon grain bag and strained it out after that. Once again, I did get more than the usual amount of trub, but it wasn't that bad and I still ended up with 50 bottles of beer after bottling (even after breaking one full bottle by Man handling the bottle capper!) so the pumpkin did strain out pretty well.

I've heard some say to go easy on the spices because they will overpower you easily, and others tell me to double up on them or you won't taste them at all. My thoughts were to go easy initially and then adjust in moderation if I felt I needed to during racking stages. Good luck dude!! :rockin: