Brown Ale flavors

[FargoBrewer23]

Hello,

I have a Pumpkin Brown ale that I am going to be making soon. I am not sure how I feel about the pumpkin flavor so I am looking for other flavors that go well with a brown ale.

I was thinking Cinnamon and pumpkin, cinnamon and cloves, or cardamom.

Anyone have any suggestions other than those?

 

[jdauria]

Pumpkin itself does not really add any flavor. Cinnamon, all spice, clover, ginger, nutmeg are all common spices used in pumpkin beers. Vanilla sometimes too. Easiest way, just get a premixed pumpkin pie spice mix, boil a 1/2 cup of water and then add the spices to the water and let steep for 15-20 minutes. Cool the water, strain it and add to your beer before bottling or kegging.

 

[Feldmann]

Don't bother with actual pumpkin, its sticky and messy and doesn't really add much flavour to the beer. Some guys in my beer club have said that they've experimented with other members of the gourd family and squash gives more of a "pumpkin flavour" than actual pumpkin but even then its not really worth the trouble. Go with what jdauria said.

 

[FargoBrewer23]

Awesome! I don’t want to deal with a real pumpkin so I will go with that!

 

[Miraculix]

As a German, I get always slightly irritated when reading the word pumpkin in conjunction with the word ale.

How about baking a nice pumpkin pie with those spices and brew a nice brown ale with the malt instead?

 

[bobeer]

I only use real pumpkin if I'm brewing a style that can benefit from the color that pumpkin adds to the beer. I've tried to get that pretty golden color pumpkin adds by using different combos of grain but I could never get the same color I was going for.
I've brewed pumpkin stouts and porters before and haven't put any real pumpkin, or gourds for that matter, if the beer is going to be dark. There's always that smooth mouth feel that's missing but you can add oats or flaked barley to get that feel back. I'd just stick with the spices like the others have suggested. You can add spices after fermentation too. That way if the brown ale tastes good on its own you can just leave it be and make a pie to pair with it. Good luck!
EDIT: If you're going for a nice Fall beer you can always toast some oatmeal and add it to the mash. That gives the beer a nice flavor that matches well with the crisp nights and a fire pit!

 

[Soulshine2]

Hello,

I have a Pumpkin Brown ale that I am going to be making soon. I am not sure how I feel about the pumpkin flavor so I am looking for other flavors that go well with a brown ale.

I was thinking Cinnamon and pumpkin, cinnamon and cloves, or cardamom.

Anyone have any suggestions other than those?

I just bottled my Brown Ale . I put honey in mine (3/4 lb ,15 minutes left in boil) but I was also considering since we have them , pecans ...toasted.

 

[brewfrog]

well,i think pumkin pie spice would ruin it!it was intended originally for sweet potatoes.
cloves could ruin it as well.a tiny amount with cardamon and cinamon could help?