Harvest Pumpkin Ale - Pumpkin Spice Question

So I am making a pumpkin Ale from a local brew store kit and it calls for the addition of pumpkin spice. It calls to add 1 tbsp of pumpkin spice after 30min of boil time. The guy in the brew store told me that some people find that 1 tbsp is to much and to only add half and then add more to my fermenter. What would happen if I play around with when I add it like say add it more towards the end or dont add it at all but just add it in the fermenter? Thanks

The question of this post is kinda jumbled. From what I read, I take it that you're not adding any of the spices to the boil. Instead you're adding them to the fermenter AFTER fermentation has taken place.

If this is a kit that you're going to be making multiple times, start with a low amont of the spices and add them at the same point, or at as close to the same point, as you can for each kit. I don't expect that you're making this kit more than one time a year, so taking good notes is paramount. With that said, the spices will be more pronounced after fermentation, since those spices are alcohol soluble, which is what I expect is the time you plan on adding them. Start low and taste it after a day or two days or three days. You can always add more, but you can't take it away.

My apologizes on the jumbled question. Ill give it a better shot at explaining my question. I purchased a pumpkin ale extract kit from the local brew store. According to the directions provided in said kit I should add 1 Tablespoon of pumpkin spice to the brew after 30 minutes of boiling. The home brew guru at the store said that he has found people dont like that much pumpkin spice and to only add a 1/2 tablespoon for the exact reason you said Drawtap88, you can always add more later but can never take it away. My question was more of curiosity as this is only my second batch. I guess my question is what is the end outcome going to be depending on when I add the pumpkin spice. What will happen if i add it 30 minutes into the boil like the directions say? What will happen if i add it at the beginning or end of the boil? After I get the wort into the fermenting buck? After inital fermentation has subsided? Just prior to bottling. You are exactly right Drawtap88 i really dont plan on making this more then once a year so im hoping to draw on others expertise in this area to save some experimentation. Hopefully that clears the water for what my question really is. just a complex curiosity question.

Got'cha. I'll take a crack at the individual questions.

What will happen if i add it 30 minutes into the boil like the directions say? Some of the flavor will be boiled off and some will remain.

What will happen if i add it at the beginning or end of the boil? If you add it at the beginning of the boil most of the spices flavors will be boiled off. If you add it at the end of the boil there may not be a lot of flavor pick up by the hot wort.

After I get the wort into the fermenting buck? The CO2 that is created from actively fermenting yeast will carry some of the flavoring out of the air lock.

After inital fermentation has subsided? This is the place that I would add the spices. Since there is alcohol present in the beer, the alcohol soluble flavors in the spices will be easier to get into the beer. If you add your spices here, be aware that a little bit goes a long way.

Just prior to bottling. Not recomended because your beer will likely have spice particles floating around in your beer. Also, it won't allow enough contact time for the beer to pick up any of the spice flavors.

Hope that helps.

Thank you so much for the help drawtap. As someone just starting out its nearly impossible to find out the finer sides of extract brewing without asking or experiment. I just hate to have a bad experiment and wreck a whole 5 gallon batch of beer.