please not another pumpkin ale recipe!

Sorry to add to the proliferation of threads on the topic, but I wanted to throw out the recipe I've been working on and get some input on it:

5 lbs munich (can anyone give me a good run-down on the differences between munich and vienna?)
5 lbs two-row
.75 lbs biscuit (for toastiness)
.5 lb wheat
5 lbs canned pumpkin, sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice and caramelized by baking for 60min-90min

i'm also thinking of throwing in some honey to boost the alcohol, i'm shooting for around 6%. half pound? think it needs some crystal?

Hops, spices & fining:
.75 oz northern brewer (90 minutes) (i'm trying to go for "earthy" in my choice of hops, and something on the higher-side of AA so I don't lose a lot of wort to wet hop cones - enough will be lost to the pumpkin, i imagine!)
.25 oz fuggle (15 minutes)
1 tbsp cinnamon (30 min)
1 whirfloc tab (10 min)
1 tsp nutmeg (20 min)
1 tsp nutmeg (2 min)
1 tsp cinnamon (2 min)

OG: 1.056 (about 1.060 if I add the honey), IBU: 26.5, Color: 8 SRM (looks like a good pumpkin color to me!)

single infusion mash, hopefully in the new MLT i plan on building today (i haven't been happy with my bucket-in-bucket system). so the pumpkin will go into the full 90 minute boil, and i'll strain it out as it goes into the fermenter. ferment with two packs of safale us-56 (i thought about an english ale yeast, but i'm sensitive to diacetyl and i like a dry finish). I figure I can go easy on the spices now, and add more in the secondary if needed. too light on the hops?

comments/suggestions would be appreciated, since I've never brewed a pumpkin beer before. and i'd love to trade bottles with other people who have been brewing with pumpkin!

From what I read Fresh Pumpkin is best.

- WW

wilsonwj said:

From what I read Fresh Pumpkin is best.

- WW

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From what I've read canned pumkin is just as good if not better than fresh.

This is what I've discovered about pumpkin beer. There are a lot of opinions about how to make it. I boiled the pumpkin in mine and a guy on another forum jumped straight in my **** and said I should have mashed the pumpkin. Now I'm going to end up with vegitable beer that gets an infection. When I racked it to secondary it tasted pretty clean so I guess he was wrong.
Pay close attention to this forum. A lot of folks have brewed pumpkin beer and if we compair notes we will figure this out. We really do need to exchange bottles to compair.

I like the idea of going light on the spices and adding more later if needed. I wonder what spice additions in the secondary will do?

RichBrewer said:

We really do need to exchange bottles to compair.

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Rich, pm me your address, and Ill ship you one.

As for the pumpkin, well canned works great. And I did one can in the mash, and one in the boil. Best of both worlds. But like Rich said, after everyone has their inital one done, we will compare notes and come up with one killer pumpkin recipe

Chimone,

Did you leave the pumpkin from the mash in or did you remove and then just boil 1 can of pumpkin?

I'm getting ready to brew a maple pumpkin ale in the next week or two.

edost said:

Chimone,

Did you leave the pumpkin from the mash in or did you remove and then just boil 1 can of pumpkin?

I'm getting ready to brew a maple pumpkin ale in the next week or two.

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one large can in the mash, and one large can in the boil

I'm an extract brewer, any I bake a 10-14 pounder, dice it up and add to cold water, add my grains and heat to steeping temp, then remove before boil. I read somewhere baking the pumpkin gives better flavor. I also add fresh ginger and cloves (be careful with the cloves, they can overwhelm) in addition to the cinnamon and nutmeg.......Just to add to the confusion.

Here's what I wound up brewing:

4 lbs 2-row
5 lbs munich malt
.75 lbs victory
1 lb carapils

pumpkin:
5 14oz cans of pumpkin, caramelized, added at the beginning of the 90 minute boil
1 14oz can added directly to the boil with 60 mins remaining

spice/hops/schedule:
90 minutes - 1 stick cinnamon, .75 oz Northern Brewer
60 minutes - 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp whole allspice, 1 tsp nutmeg
30, 15, and 2 minutes - 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
also .25 oz fuggles with 15 minutes remaining and 1 whirlfloc tab added with 10 mins remaining

Gravity was 1.055 going into the fermenter, pitched with two packets of us-56. It tasted like it might have been overhopped and/or underspiced, but the pumpkin character seemed good. we'll see how it develops.

How long are you guys typically aging these? I'd like to try one if it would be done by the end of November otherwise I'm going to try something else.

jcarson83 said:

How long are you guys typically aging these? I'd like to try one if it would be done by the end of November otherwise I'm going to try something else.

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Mine was in the primary for 13 days and it has been in the secondary for 16 days. I'm about to move it to my refrigerator and let it sit at 38 degrees for about 3 weeks at which point I will keg the beer. I plan on leaving it alone in the keg at 38 degrees until sometime in November when I will bottle most of it for gifts. I will be sampling along the way.

I just brewed my pumpkin today, to be consumed in October.

i'm not too concerned about clarity, so i might do a week of primary, a week of secondary, and then bottle.

ideally, i'd like to be able to have this one through halloween, but make adjustments to the recipe and brew another that would be done in time for thanksgiving.