Tell me about pumkin ale

I have never heard of pumpkin ale until I joined HBT. It sounds like it's basically an ale using canned pumpkin as an adjunct. My question is, what does it taste like? Is there an actual BJCP style for pumpkin ale? Are there different variants?

Does it actually taste like pumpkin, or do you add spices so it tastes like pumpkin pie? What hops do you use? When I think pumpkin, I only think of one thing--pumpkin pie and thanksgiving.

Of course I can search for pumpkin ale recipes and get dozens of them. But I want to know a good basic one to start. I can do all-grain BIAB. I think there's still time to brew one before thanksgiving, but maybe I'm thinking about it wrong an there's actually nothing pumpkin-pie like about it.

Pumpkin pie is was what you most are looking for. There is little pumpkin flavor added, some commercial brewers do not even use pumpkin. It adds to the body and the color. I am waiting for some fresh pumpkins to hit the stores for mine. I will roast it and then mash it with the rest of the grain bill. I then spice it with five minutes left and a little in the secondary as well. I am going for an amber ale with some sugar and spice addition. There are some great recipes on the site here.

My family's pumpkin pie recipe is basically cinnamon and cloves. I think it would be important for the cloves to come through or else it would not taste like pumpkin pie to us. I suppose that you can doctor it a bit in the secondary with spices?

I've got this rockin' right now: Punk'toberfest!

I've tried making my own spice mixture before and it comes out terribly imbalanced. So this year I'm trying good ol' McCormick's premixed pie spice.

I used the bare minimum of actual pumpkin this year, 1) because it's hard to find, and 2) it'll stick your sparge and 3) it doesn't really bring anything to the table.

Find the right spice mix and you'll be good.

I've made sort of non-descript amber recipes in the past, but this year I'm adding it to my solid Oktoberfest base (amalgam of Edwort and Biermuncher's recipes) fermented cool as I can with Kolsch yeast (no time to lager, I need it kegged by 10/8).

Try this beer.. Smooth, slightly sweet, and delicious

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale is a delicious choice. It has a more pronounced spice flavor, which I love. I had my first Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat the other day. Pretty tasty

I'm actually drinking some pumpkin ale now that I made. I loosely followed a recipe I found on here. Its just getting to the drinkable point. At times I think I overspiced it and at times I think its ok. The cinnamon and clove spices dominate. It has very rich body for the gravity and alcohol content, and its orange!

I use fresh ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves along with canned pumpkin. I use perhaps a combined tablespoon of spice per 10 gallons @ 5mins. These are potent spices, you really only want a hint of them in your brew.

You have to be careful with pumpkin ales, as I either LOVE them or completely hate them, and can't even drink them. I'm not sure what the difference is, but there seems to be some variation in basic recipe that produces two very distinctly different flavors...

I personally love Shipyards Pumpkinhead Ale, a brew from Vermont that you may not have out where you are in Texas, but to me that is a PERFECT pumpkin ale.

I would definitely recommend trying to find at least 2 commercial examples before you decide you want to brew one. I wish I had gotten that advice... I brewed a pumpkin ale a few months ago, and it turns out I don't really like it. It turned out well, it's just that the pumpkin has a difficult to describe vegetal flavor that I don't feel belongs in beer. It tastes "bland" though not in a normal way, because the beer has lots of flavors going on. Its almost like the pumpkin sucks away the perception of the other flavors and leaves you tasting only a nutty vegetable-ey off flavor. Not my favorite thing... in fact I'm going to go open one now to revisit and contemplate what it is I don't like about it...

bottlebomber said:

I would definitely recommend trying to find at least 2 commercial examples before you decide you want to brew one. I wish I had gotten that advice... I brewed a pumpkin ale a few months ago, and it turns out I don't really like it. It turned out well, it's just that the pumpkin has a difficult to describe vegetal flavor that I don't feel belongs in beer. It tastes "bland" though not in a normal way, because the beer has lots of flavors going on. Its almost like the pumpkin sucks away the perception of the other flavors and leaves you tasting only a nutty vegetable-ey off flavor. Not my favorite thing... in fact I'm going to go open one now to revisit and contemplate what it is I don't like about it...

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did you throw the pumpkin in the boil or the mash? i put it in the boil last year and got some vegetable taste. i was hoping that since i mashed it this year i won't have that problem.

Pumpkin ales... Ahh. From my experience, they were very underappreciated until a few years ago. Commercial examples started popping up and selling out at my local hideouts, and now most of my fellow craft beer drinkers love them. You get medium-bodied, lightly sweet, somewhat spiced beer with amazing color. Fantastic fall ale. Don't let the Blue Moon Harvest Ale turn you off to the style. It almost killed pumpkin beers for me, as it was the first one I tried. Yuck.

I brewed this twice last year and once so far this year (just kegged). Everyone loves it. It's very similar to Dogfishhead's Punkin' ale. Perfectly balanced spices and a good amount of malty sweetness.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/punkin-ale-145060/

Ya... some people spice them with pumpkin spices but no pumpkin... and they use malt to add a bit of sweetness that might remind your taste buds of pumpkin.

Home brewers like to add the real thing and you can get a brownish-orange color that would would not have otherwise.

Like the other posters said... try a few and see if you find one you like... I will be brewing one very soon...

Maybe a Belgian-Pumpkin-Ale.... The only thing Belgian will be the yeast.

DPB

vtron said:

I brewed this twice last year and once so far this year (just kegged). Everyone loves it. It's very similar to Dogfishhead's Punkin' ale. Perfectly balanced spices and a good amount of malty sweetness.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/punkin-ale-145060/

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I just wanted to confirm this mash temp (156) as I have only gone as high as 154 for my Milds and Fat Tire Clone..

DPB

DPBISME said:

I just wanted to confirm this mash temp (156) as I have only gone as high as 154 for my Milds and Fat Tire Clone..

DPB

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Last year I did partial mash and this year's all grain is just in the keg, so I can't comment too much.

You want the high mash temp to keep some residual sweetness to compliment the pumpkin spices. I actually didn't get all the way up to 156, closer to 154 or 155. My final gravity was 1.014, a little lower than the recipe calls for, which makes sense with the missed mash temp.

I'll be able to report back when I tap the keg this weekend, but the hydro sample tasted pretty damn good.

I'm a big fan of a good pumpkin ale. But, IMO, a good commercial pumpkin ale is hard to find. My two favorites over the years have been the Pumpkin Ale from the Thirsty Dog Brewery in Akron:



And my other favorite has been Ichabod Crane from New Holland Brewery in Michigan:



The Dogfish Head is pretty darn tasty as well. And I've heard a TON of great things about Southern Tier's Imperial Pumpking but have yet to try it.

Needless to say, I just brewed my first pumpkin ale that was bottled last weekend and I have to say, it might just be the best pumpkin ale I've had! I'd put it up against any commercial pumpkin ale on the shelves!

MMJfan said:

I'm a big fan of a good pumpkin ale. But, IMO, a good commercial pumpkin ale is hard to find. My two favorites over the years have been the Pumpkin Ale from the Thirsty Dog Brewery in Akron:

And my other favorite has been Ichabod Crane from New Holland Brewery in Michigan:

The Dogfish Head is pretty darn tasty as well. And I've heard a TON of great things about Southern Tier's Imperial Pumpking but have yet to try it.

Needless to say, I just brewed my first pumpkin ale that was bottled last weekend and I have to say, it might just be the best pumpkin ale I've had! I'd put it up against any commercial pumpkin ale on the shelves!

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The smaller Brewpubs and Micros "seem" to make better Pumpkins... (there may be exceptions but I think this is a good rule)...

I brewed this awesome pumpkin ale last fall. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/samhain-pumpkin-ale-140674/ it was a huge hit. Not too spicy but had a good actual pumpkin flavor. Wasn't just liquid pumpkin pie.

Can someone point out a good recipe using real pumpkin instead of canned?

rs3902 said:

Can someone point out a good recipe using real pumpkin instead of canned?

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I in no way mean this to sound condescending, but canned pumpkin IS real pumpkin. If you want to buy your own pumpkin, use a carrot peeler, and roast it yourself, more power to you. Follow the same basic steps (same weight, roasting technique, mash) and you should yield similar results.

Thunderstruck pumpkin seems to be a winner: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/thunderstruck-pumpkin-ale-ag-extract-versions-26699/

rs3902 said:

Can someone point out a good recipe using real pumpkin instead of canned?

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The problem with using real pumpkin is that usually there are none to be found in the middle of summer when people start brewing pumpkin ales. If you wait until they are available, your beer may not be ready until after the season. But I can definitely understand wanting to do things yourself and use fresh, local ingredients. If you can find them, use a culinary pumpkin (not the ones they sell for jack-o-lanterns). Split it in half, scoop out the seeds and all the stringy stuff, then put it cut side down on a cookie sheet and roast it at 375 until it gets soft and starts to caramelize. Then you can pull it out, let it cool a little, and scoop the soft flesh right out of the skin. It can be used to replace canned pumpkin 1:1 in any recipe calling for canned pumpkin.

KingBrianI said:

It can be used to replace canned pumpkin 1:1 in any recipe calling for canned pumpkin.

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Thanks, that's just the info I was looking for!
And I get that, canned/preserved pumpkin must be used to have pumpkin beers ready this time of year, but I tend to be on the side of "it's too damn early for fall seasonals!!!".

rs3902 said:

Thanks, that's just the info I was looking for!
And I get that, canned/preserved pumpkin must be used to have pumpkin beers ready this time of year, but I tend to be on the side of "it's too damn early for fall seasonals!!!".

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College football is starting this weekend! That means it's time to start thinking fall and drinking fall seasonals!

as the discussion above shows, people are all over the place on this kind of beer. i like one that has a high FG and a very mild (but clear) spice presence. the best i can tell you is follow a recipe that is well-liked and go easy on the spice. you can always add a tincture at bottling if you find it unfulfilling.

vtron said:

Last year I did partial mash and this year's all grain is just in the keg, so I can't comment too much.

You want the high mash temp to keep some residual sweetness to compliment the pumpkin spices. I actually didn't get all the way up to 156, closer to 154 or 155. My final gravity was 1.014, a little lower than the recipe calls for, which makes sense with the missed mash temp.

I'll be able to report back when I tap the keg this weekend, but the hydro sample tasted pretty damn good.

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Tapped the keg last night while watching college football (it's back! ). While a tiny bit green, it still tastes fantastic. The pumpkin and pumpkin spice are very well balanced. Not overpowering, but definitely present. There is a good amount of sweetness, but I'm curious what it would be like if I hit my mash temp. Next time, I'll be sure to do so.