Pumkin ale

I am thinking about trying to brew a pumpkin ale ( my first attempt ). I want to use real pumpkin not just pumpkin spices. Any suggestions?

i used canned pumpkin in the mash, some pumpkin pie spice at the end of the boil and in secondary. turned out great. the recipe is in the recipe forum on HBT, it's Moon Hill Pumpkin Ale by Onipar.

I made a pumpkin ale with 3.5 lbs of pumpkin in the mash, and i have to be honest.... I don't think I could have told you there was pumpkin in there if I hadn't known from the get go. Spices came through a lot, not the pumpkin.

discnjh said:

I made a pumpkin ale with 3.5 lbs of pumpkin in the mash, and i have to be honest.... I don't think I could have told you there was pumpkin in there if I hadn't known from the get go. Spices came through a lot, not the pumpkin.

Click to expand...

that's what i noticed too. the actually pumpkin flavor is very subtle.

NordeastBrewer77 said:

that's what i noticed too. the actually pumpkin flavor is very subtle.

Click to expand...

I wonder whether using pumpkin in secondary would make any difference. I mean, you're still gonna ferment out all of the sugars, but maybe more of the flavor sticks around. Maybe I'll give that a try next fall.

EDIT: Oh wait, you did that.

discnjh said:

I wonder whether using pumpkin in secondary would make any difference. I mean, you're still gonna ferment out all of the sugars, but maybe more of the flavor sticks around. Maybe I'll give that a try next fall.

EDIT: Oh wait, you did that.

Click to expand...

no, just spice in secondary. made a spice tea with either 1/8 or 1/4 tsp of spice, steeped like tea for ten mins. sure brought the spice out!!! i was thinking the same thing about some pumpkin in secondary. i wonder how well it'd clear out, you'd think it would drop out but who knows. maybe pumpkin in secondary, then when that's fermented, a touch of spice in tertiary after it started to drop clear.

NordeastBrewer77 said:

no, just spice in secondary. made a spice tea with either 1/8 or 1/4 tsp of spice, steeped like tea for ten mins. sure brought the spice out!!! i was thinking the same thing about some pumpkin in secondary. i wonder how well it'd clear out, you'd think it would drop out but who knows. maybe pumpkin in secondary, then when that's fermented, a touch of spice in tertiary after it started to drop clear.

Click to expand...

Man, I can't read.

discnjh said:

Man, I can't read.

Click to expand...

workin on getting to that point myself!

I use fresh pumpkin. Use sugar pumpkins, which are the medium-size pumpkins that people paint, they have better sugar content and flavor than the big jack-o-lantern ones.

Cut the pumpkin (or pumpkins) in half, take out all the seeds and guts as well as the stem.

Bake in the oven (skins up) at 375F for ~90minutes until soft and mushy. Then peel off all the skin and mash it with the rest of your grains.

Also, don't be afraid to use a ****ton of pumpkin. Everybody above is correct that the flavor is very subtle and you should use spices to get the "pumpkin beer" taste, BUT it increases ABV and it gives your beer the thick, viscous character that is trademark of pumpkin beers. I don't know why, but I take it as a personal offense when somebody gives me a pumpkin beer and I find out that there is no real pumpkin in it, just pumpkin spices.

I've never tried spicing the secondary, I have always added the spices somewhere in the final 30 minutes of the boil. (example-- 1+tsp of allspice and cinnamon @30 and 1.5+tsp of nutmeg @15)

My only other suggestion is to brew pumpkin ales in August/September to drink them in October/November.

I use two big cans (29 oz.) of Libby's pumpkin (in mash) and 1.5 TBS of pumpkin pie spice at 15 minutes left. Mine came out perfect for me, great beer !