Pumpkin Porter Question

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RWeather3

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I'm working on a pumpkin porter recipe for the holidays and its only the second recipe I've written so I have a couple questions. First any feedback would be much apreciated and second My brewing buddy wants to use real pumpkin he grew instead of canned so does anyone know how much to use in that case and how to prepare and incorporate it? Batch Size: 5.000 gal
Boil Size: 5.750 gal
Boil Time: 1.000 hr
Efficiency: 70%
OG: 1.064
FG: 1.016
ABV: 6.2%
Bitterness: 12.6 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 35 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Light Dry Extract Dry Extract 5.750 lb No No 95% 8 L
Munich Malt - 10L Grain 12.000 oz Yes No 77% 10 L
Munich Malt - 20L Grain 12.000 oz Yes No 75% 20 L
Biscuit Malt Grain 8.000 oz No No 79% 23 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L Grain 8.000 oz No No 74% 60 L
Chocolate Malt (US) Grain 1.250 lb No No 60% 350 L
Honey Extract 6.000 oz No No 75% 1 L
Molasses Sugar 1.000 lb No No 78% 80 L
Brown Sugar, Light Sugar 4.000 oz No No 100% 8 L
Total grain: 11.125 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Golding 5.0% 1.000 oz Boil 1.000 hr Pellet 12.6

Misc
================================================================================
Name Type Use Amount Time
Irish Moss Fining Boil 2.000 tsp 20.000 min
Cloves Flavor Boil 3.000 tsp 10.000 min
Nutmeg Flavor Boil 3.000 tsp 10.000 min
Cinnamon Spice Flavor Boil 4 tsp 10.000 min
Pumpkin(canned) Flavor Boil 4 LB 1.500 hr
AllSpice Flavor Boil 1.000 tsp 10 min
 
My friend and I just started a pumpkin ale Sunday. The recipe we're using calls for 6-10 pounds of pumpkin for a 5 gallon batch. Basically, you roast the pumpkin the same way you would a squash (in a pan with 1 inch of water for one hour at like 375 degrees), then toss it in at the same time as your grain.

I've also heard that while canned pumpkin can make a decent beer, it's a royal pain in the ass to clean up.

Edit: This is the recipe we're using. This is also the first homebrew my friend and I have ever tried, so don't take my word as that of an expert by any means ^^
 
First thing I can see is that IMO, you're overdoing it with the spices. I did a pumpkin stout a few months ago (2.5gal oatmeal stout recipe...half without spices, half with) and 1tsp each of allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg was WAYY to much. Others around me liked it, but I was hoping for more of a subtle flavor. I added these spices into the primary, and expected a lot of the flavor/aroma to be carried away with the initial fermentation but it still wound up to be too strong for my tastes. I'd cut back to 1tsp each for a 5 gallon batch, maybe less. It's all about personal preference though, as my friend and some friends really liked it.

As for the pumpkin, everything that I've heard/read seems to indicate that it really doesn't impact flavor as much as you'd think as it is very fermentable. I'd probably just cut and roast maybe 1lb of the pumpkin and add it late in the boil since you're extract just to appease your friend to say that you've got his actual pumpkin in the beer :). The majority of your flavors are going to come from the spices, but that can be your secret :ban:
 
Recipe looks sound. I did a very similar amber-like pumpkin ale with about that much spices and used an entire pumpkin, roughly as much as Pseudonymous mentioned, 6-10 pounds. It just wasn't that good. The flavor was overwhelming, which is difficult to believe possible. Maybe the porter style will mellow that. I'm certain the chocolate malt will mask some of it too.

Edit: Posted to late. :) Completely agree with snowveil.
 
Hm. I can't say our wort smells very heavily of pumpkin, but who's telling how much the taste will come out in the end? And now I'm a little worried about spices. . . we're not putting ours in until we rack into secondary fermenters. Oh well, RSBHAHB.
 
Hm. I can't say our wort smells very heavily of pumpkin, but who's telling how much the taste will come out in the end? And now I'm a little worried about spices. . . we're not putting ours in until we rack into secondary fermenters. Oh well, RSBHAHB.

No worries. Nothing a little conditioning won't solve. I believe this was my biggest flaw, as I left it in primary for a month and went straight to keg.
 
Hm. I can't say our wort smells very heavily of pumpkin, but who's telling how much the taste will come out in the end? And now I'm a little worried about spices. . . we're not putting ours in until we rack into secondary fermenters. Oh well, RSBHAHB.

Adding spices the the secondary is probably better than adding to the primary, as long as you do it in moderation. With primary fermentation aromas tend to get carried away with the mass release of co2, whereas you won't have that issue with a secondary. Think of it like dryhopping....you don't want to dry hop before the fermentation is completed otherwise you'll lose the effect you were after.

As for the OPs grain bill...I don't really know what to comment. Personally I'd stick to a pretty solid porter and add some pumpkin "elements" to it....probably something that would create a higher FG and some spices. (maybe maltodextrine?) Either way, *please* repost with your results! I see a few people throwing pumpkin stout or pumpkin porter recipes but few actual reviews of how their recipes turned out :mug:
 
I should probably note that the pumpkin ale is my friend and I's first attempt at homebrewing, so I'm still quite up on my jargon. No clue what dryhopping is, and conditioning is something you do post-bottling, yes?
 
I should probably note that the pumpkin ale is my friend and I's first attempt at homebrewing, so I'm still quite up on my jargon. No clue what dryhopping is, and conditioning is something you do post-bottling, yes?

I should probably note that the pumpkin ale is my friend and I's first attempt at homebrewing, so I'm still quite up on my jargon. No clue what dryhopping is, and conditioning is something you do post-bottling, yes?

Dryhopping is a method of introducing hops to the beer either in the primary, secondary, or keg. Easiest way to think about it is that the later you add it in the process, the more it will come across in the beer. Pseudo mentioned the reason why, CO2 carrying away aroma.

Conditioning is just where the yeast are "cleaning up" the beer, removing off flavors and all around smoothing the flavor and aroma. Beers can change drastically with age. It can take place in the primary, secondary, bottle, keg, cask, etc. A beer will most often turn out better the longer you condition it, with a few exceptions. A good wait-time for a standard ale is 1 month in the primary, bottle for two weeks, and toss them in the fridge (although this is just my preference). Conditioning continues in the fridge. If you have any potent flavors, like a bludgeoning pumpkin taste, conditioning will smooth it out with time.

Better yet, read these:
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/05/21/dry-hopping-enhanced-hops-aroma/
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-3.html
 
Thanks for all the help. I scaled the spices back per the suggestions and I'm looking forward to brewing this weekend
 
Brewed on saturday and it smelled great. I made some last minute adjustments though like using close to 7 Lbs of baking pumpkins and I cut the molasses amount in half and eliminated the brown suger wort had a 1.072 og at 80 degrees.
 
After a week in primary I tasted when I racked to secondary and the flavor was good. The spice was right on not too strong. The pumpkin flavor was a little light I think I should have used a little more than 6.82lbs of fresh roasted pumpkin.The abv must be a little higher than I thought because there is a alcohol flavor present. Bottling next weekend and conditioning for a few weeks.
 
I brewed a pumpkin ale this past weekend and used a mix of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, star anise & allspice. All these were whole spices that I crushed & added to boil the last 10 min. along with a couple knobs of smashed fresh ginger. I will taste when I do a gravity check after 6-7 days. Then can adjust/add more spice if needed. The pumpkin I used BTW was a 11lb. Cindarella(got about 6lb. yield), that I wedged-up & cooked on my Weber Smoky Mountain over charcoal. Will be interesting if any smoke flavor comes through
MB
 
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