EinGutesBier
Well-Known Member
Hey everyone, it's good to be back. I've been on a little brewing hiatus but I'm back and pleased to say I've met a good core of brewers through the club I helped found in this area. In recent memory, I made a lightly smoked/chocolate wheat Trappist-style ale a robust Flanders Red and am looking at my next brew, a nice pumpkin ale.
This is actually going to be a group brew for the local brew club, so I wanted to do the research to make it right. A few questions I have is, when should you add the pumpkin? At the end of the boil or in secondary (or primary if it won't be transferred)? I'll probably post a recipe later on, but a lot of us have had bad experiences using adjunct spices, so we want to get all of the appropriate spiced flavor for this pumpkin ale from a phenolic yeast. Sure, I could use a whitbier or hefe yeast, but does anyone have a particular recommendation, preferably from Wyeast?
Finally, if anyone has a tried and true pumpkin recipe, I'd be interested in seeing it - we're still debating which hops to use. We all agreed that we want something with light to moderate bitterness with a nice flowery or complementary hop aroma and flavor. Again, recommendations would be appreciated.
For the other part of the post, someone is going to be giving me their old International Harvester (IH) fridge, which I understand are nearly indestructible. It's huge and should be able to accommodate a lot of lager. I know I have to buy the analog thermostat adjuster ($54 from Midwest Supplies). Do I just plug it into the fridge, put the probe inside and set the temperature to whatever I want? Since I haven't done this before, never even brewed a true lager, I'd like to get it right from someone who's been there before.
Thanks in advance, guys and gals, it's good to be back. Keep brewing!
This is actually going to be a group brew for the local brew club, so I wanted to do the research to make it right. A few questions I have is, when should you add the pumpkin? At the end of the boil or in secondary (or primary if it won't be transferred)? I'll probably post a recipe later on, but a lot of us have had bad experiences using adjunct spices, so we want to get all of the appropriate spiced flavor for this pumpkin ale from a phenolic yeast. Sure, I could use a whitbier or hefe yeast, but does anyone have a particular recommendation, preferably from Wyeast?
Finally, if anyone has a tried and true pumpkin recipe, I'd be interested in seeing it - we're still debating which hops to use. We all agreed that we want something with light to moderate bitterness with a nice flowery or complementary hop aroma and flavor. Again, recommendations would be appreciated.
For the other part of the post, someone is going to be giving me their old International Harvester (IH) fridge, which I understand are nearly indestructible. It's huge and should be able to accommodate a lot of lager. I know I have to buy the analog thermostat adjuster ($54 from Midwest Supplies). Do I just plug it into the fridge, put the probe inside and set the temperature to whatever I want? Since I haven't done this before, never even brewed a true lager, I'd like to get it right from someone who's been there before.
Thanks in advance, guys and gals, it's good to be back. Keep brewing!
