Pumpkin Beer

Hello,
Would like to make a pumpkin beer for the holidays. It can be an ale, lager porter etc. I do not have the means to do a lager, but can i do all of these from a kit, or would it be better to do it from a recipe, filled at my LHBS? Want to do one now so it will have time to age before the holidays get here. I am always hearing a kit does not hit the target of the flavor. Any help, advice or recommendations will be greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance.

search the forum for "pumpkin", and I think you'll fine a number of recipes. If you've got a decent LHBS, you should be able to get everything you need.

-walker

www.midwestsupplies.com

They have a pumpkin ale recipe kit that looks pretty darn good, and the people at that store say it's quite popular.

This one looks tasty, I think I'm going to give it a try.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=2947&highlight=pumpkin

when i made mine, an ale, i seeded, skinned, chopped, and roasted 4 cooking pumpkins for the mash.

everybody loved it! it was bright orange, smelled like pumpkin pie. the spices are important. and be ready for a HUGE mess if you use real pumpkins. but it's worth it.

i believe in using the real flavor ingredient no matter what it is. you wouldn't use hop flavoring or malt flavoring, would ya now? and where is the fun in canned pumpkin? no stories to tell there to make people appreciate your effort even more.

barrett

Be sure to check out this thread...also about pumpkin beer.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9215

Hello! New to the forums and brewing. I've been reading through a lot of the posts so far to get up to speed. My first brew was a pumpkin ale back in 2004, and I just recently pulled out the equipment and started a second brew (Fat Tire clone kit from the local supply store) while planning on a third next weekend (an as of yet unpicked Amber Ale).

When I did the pumpkin brew the recipe called for stewing the uncooked pumpkin along with the grains. Unfortunatly the pumpkin flavor was incredibly mild. Gremlin, would you happen to have the recipe for the one you did with the roasted pumpkin?

Thanks,
Jason

give me a day or two to find the recipe and post it.
it took a ton of time and was messy, but it tasted so good.
real pumpkin is the way to go.

barrett (gremlin)

gremlin said:

i believe in using the real flavor ingredient no matter what it is. you wouldn't use hop flavoring or malt flavoring, would ya now? and where is the fun in canned pumpkin? no stories to tell there to make people appreciate your effort even more.

barrett

Click to expand...

Using canned pumpkin as opposed to cooking a whole pumpkin is no different than using malt extract as opposed to all grain. I've made a pumpkin pie from a whole pumpkin before and it tasted no different that one made with canned. It just wouldn't be worth the effort.
I will be making an all grain version and the recipe listed in this thread looks very good.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=2947&highlight=pumpkin
Also, I've read that you do not mash the pumpkin with the grains. Is that true?

One article I read recently talked about the fact that it was unnecessary to mash the pumpkin since very little sugar can be derived from going through a starch conversion of the the pumpkin. The amount of sugar you get is not worth the effort. I am not speaking from experience so take my findings with a grain of sand

Mashing the pumpkin (fresh or canned) only results in a stuck sparge most of the time.

http://www.audioholics.com/showcase/DIY/PumpkinAleRecipe.html

Casey

How does this look? I'm going to make it for Christmas. I figure I will keg it and leave it in the fridge for a few months at about 40 degrees F.
By the way, how does the pumpkin affect the gravity? ProMash didn't have it loaded so I added it but I don't know how it will affect the OG.
I'm also wondering if some dark brown sugar or molasses might be good in this.

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 6.00 Wort Size (Gal): 6.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 12.75
Anticipated OG: 1.060 Plato: 14.71
Anticipated SRM: 9.4
Anticipated IBU: 37.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
74.5 9.50 lbs. American 2-row America 1.038 2
3.9 0.50 lbs. Crystal 60L America 1.034 60
15.7 2.00 lbs. Munich Malt(2-row) America 1.035 6
5.9 0.75 lbs. Maple Syrup Generic 1.031 35

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 7.00 24.9 60 min.
1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 5.00 9.1 30 min.
1.00 oz. Cascade Whole 5.80 3.4 5 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.00 Lbs Pumpkin Fruit 90 Min.(boil)
2.00 Tsp Cinnamon Spice 10 Min.(boil)
1.50 Tsp Nutmeg Spice 10 Min.(boil)
1.50 Tsp Allspice Spice 10 Min.(boil)
0.15 Oz Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

heres the one we just did last weekend. So far its a keeper. The smell is fantastic, and the color is a pumpkin orange. Definitely going to let this one mellow for a while.

5.5 Gallon Batch

The Great Pumpkin

A ProMash Recipe Report

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
74.4 8.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
9.3 1.00 lbs. Crystal 10L America 1.035 10
9.3 1.00 lbs. Muntons LME - Wheat England 1.037 3
4.7 0.50 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2
2.3 0.25 lbs. Biscuit Malt Belgium 1.035 24

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 oz. Cascade Whole 5.75 11.5 60 min.
0.50 oz. Saazer Whole 4.30 7.7 45 min.
0.50 oz. Cascade Whole 5.75 3.1 15 min.


Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP008 East Coast/Alt Ale


3 TBLSP Nutmeg
2 TBLSP All Spice
1 TBLSP Clove
1 tsp Ginger
4 Cinnamon Sticks
1 oz Pure Vanilla to Secondary

2 Cans 100% Pumpkin Filling
1 in the mash, 1 in Boil

Chimone said:

3 TBLSP Nutmeg
2 TBLSP All Spice
1 TBLSP Clove
1 tsp Ginger
4 Cinnamon Sticks
1 oz Pure Vanilla to Secondary

2 Cans 100% Pumpkin Filling
1 in the mash, 1 in Boil

Click to expand...

A couple questions.
1. You added quite a bit more spices than I did. I've been thinking about increasing them but haven't made up my mind. Do you think what you added is just right? Too much?
2. How did your mash go with the pumpkin in it? One article I read said that there is no need to mash the pumpkin because sugars won't be extracted from it. This seems strange to me.

I bet yours is going to be good!

EDIT: What was your OG? I'd like to know what effect the pumkin has on the gravity.

Well I just racked to the secondary, so i got to steal a cup or so for a taster.

Mmmmmm.......

The pumpkin is definitely there, but its in the background. Not overpowering at all. Now the nutmeg is a tad bit in your face though. Im going to let this one age until Thanksgiving time, so it should be right where it is supposed to be by then. I can't taste the cinnamon at all right now. Hopefully it will come out just a tad after aging. The aroma is fresh pumpkin pie, I love it

As for the mash... Well the pumpkin spread out evenly and didn't hinder sparging at all. Maybe next time I'll add both cans into the mash. The one in the boil kept clogging my strainer when racking to the primary. But as for not extracting any sugars from the pumpkin, cant you add pectin to it to get it to convert? We didn't but ive read somewhere you can.

I got 1.058 for the OG. But we filled up a bottle and let it sit ~12 hours so all the pumpkin and trubb would fall to the bottom, and then took our reading. i should of taken one with it in suspension, and one without. Oh well..

This is going to be so good after Thanksgiving dinner this year. I just hope I can keep my hands off them until then.

i see alot of the recipies have nutmeg, cininmon, etc etc in em. has anyone used just "pumpkin spice" which i believe already has all the other spices in it.

hoppedup said:

i see alot of the recipies have nutmeg, cininmon, etc etc in em. has anyone used just "pumpkin spice" which i believe already has all the other spices in it.

Click to expand...

The one I did with the steeped pumpkin that came out a little weak in the pumpkin flavor was made a "pumpkin spice" kit. The spices came through very strong, stronger then I would have liked. Since every company makes these different I would recommend using one that you have already tried and like, or use seperate spices so you can control the quantities.

Jason