Pumpkin Ale

[brew2enjoy]

I just kegged my first pumpkin ale and it was delicious when I sampled it. I used three cans of pumpkin in the boil. I couldn't really pick up any pumpkin taste but I could taste the spices. I have heard that it is hard to get the actual pumpkin flavor.

 

[aceinthehole]

How long till your yeast kicked off?

I'm not exactly sure, but if I had to guess, around 12 hours maybe. I pitched at 3:00pm sunday, and when I went to check on it before leaving for work at 6:00 the next morning, (monday) the airlock was bubbling very good, about 1 bubble per second i would guess.

 

[BrewinBigD]

I just brewed up my pumpkin ale kit from midwest on sunday. I plan on letting it sit in the primary for 2 weeks, and then racking to secondary for about a week before I bottle. The reason to transfer to a secondary it to help clear the beer us, especially for me, as I added about 60 oz. of pumpkin to my brew kettle. I'm just a noob, so take that for what its worth, but I think my plan is a good one for me.

Careful on the pumpkin!
i just racked my punkin ale to secondary last night, was a 5 gallon batch with about 60 oz of pumpkin in it,, i ended up with the bottom 1.5 gallons of my fermenting bucket ALL PULP! clogged my siphon and everything. youll probably end up like me and only end up with 4 galons or so in your secondary.

 

[stratslinger]

So I brewed my Pumpkin Ale today, everything for the most part seemed to go OK. Hit all the temps and times just right, so I was expecting things to go OK. Just a couple of issues, first, well I pushed my solid plug into the wort when aerating.... I am sure I have read that is no big worry. It was sanitized, so I still not to sure what to think if it. It's still in there, as I cannot get it out and have no other place to ferment the Wort.

Second, my O.G. its as far as I can read about 1.056 @ 70deg. off from what I was supposed to have 1.042-1.046. I am a little new at reading but yeah, that is about what it is.

I did bake the Libby Pumpkin 400deg, 60 min, BIAB. 2x29oz cans for 58oz, maybe that makes the difference in the O.G? Other then that all went well as advertised.

Taste test the Wort, hmmm pumpkin pie.

hope it turns out.

Edit : Did a calibration check on my Hydrometer. Found water reading to be about 1.004, so I suppose that puts me at an adjusted O.G. 1.052

A couple things:

1) Yes, from what I understand - particularly if you mash with it, Pumpkin will yield a few point of gravity in your brew. Part of why you bake it first is to ensure that at least a few of those points of gravity are unfermentable, so you'll still taste the pumpkin - so expect your FG to be a little higher than your kit tells you too!

2) As for a calibration check with your hydrometer: make sure you're checking at or near the temperature your hydro is calibrated for (should be listed on whatever instructions came with it), and make sure to use distilled water. Tap water could very well have enough impurities in it to throw off your measurement by a little bit.

 

[cimirie]

Careful on the pumpkin!
i just racked my punkin ale to secondary last night, was a 5 gallon batch with about 60 oz of pumpkin in it,, i ended up with the bottom 1.5 gallons of my fermenting bucket ALL PULP!

Big reason why I don't advocate putting pumpkin in the boil. Too much loss. Mash it instead and let the enzymes extract even more flavor AND let's you keep more of it to drink!

 

[heeler]

Good luck! I am still awaiting my kit to arrive in the mail...hopefully its here before the weekend so I can get it started soon. I think I will call it Hurricane Pumpkin Ale as my brew day looks like it will end up being when Irene pays us a visit.

Dude..thats so funny, cause I brewed a 15 min pale ale this am and I'm gonna call it Hurricane Pale Ale for the obvious reasons. We are getting wind gusts now -- good luck.

 

[Fennis]

Hopefully it turns out great! Good luck and stay safe...I don't think it will hit us quite as hard as it may down south, but the last time I experienced a hurricane, I was 9 years old, and all I remember is that we had no electricity for a week, and we lost 2 giant pine trees near the house.

 

[mjperry24]

I brewed my pumpkin ale on Tuesday. I used about 45oz of canned pumpkin direct in the boil. I had VERY little in terms of chunks, etc. carry over into my primary. That's not to say there's not a lot of pulp.

Was fermenting at a pretty good pace from shortly after I placed it into the primary until last night.. Has slowed some this morning... But it's giving off an unbelievably pleasant pumpkin / beer smell. Absolutely can't wait to try this one...

 

[aceinthehole]

I just brewed up my pumpkin ale kit from midwest on sunday. I plan on letting it sit in the primary for 2 weeks, and then racking to secondary for about a week before I bottle. The reason to transfer to a secondary it to help clear the beer us, especially for me, as I added about 60 oz. of pumpkin to my brew kettle. I'm just a noob, so take that for what its worth, but I think my plan is a good one for me.

Careful on the pumpkin!
i just racked my punkin ale to secondary last night, was a 5 gallon batch with about 60 oz of pumpkin in it,, i ended up with the bottom 1.5 gallons of my fermenting bucket ALL PULP! clogged my siphon and everything. youll probably end up like me and only end up with 4 galons or so in your secondary.

Thats an interesting observation. Maybe I will let it sit in primary for an extra week (3 weeks total), and then rack it to secondary for a week.

Did you use actual pumpkin, or the pumpkin with the spices in it? I also wonder if letting it sit in primary for an extra week will help all the extra stuff settle out??

 

[aceinthehole]

Big reason why I don't advocate putting pumpkin in the boil. Too much loss. Mash it instead and let the enzymes extract even more flavor AND let's you keep more of it to drink!

I will have to keep this in mind for next year. I am new to all this, so everything for me is a learning curve.

 

[BrewinBigD]

Thats an interesting observation. Maybe I will let it sit in primary for an extra week (3 weeks total), and then rack it to secondary for a week.

Did you use actual pumpkin, or the pumpkin with the spices in it? I also wonder if letting it sit in primary for an extra week will help all the extra stuff settle out??

my recipe was for canned pumpkin and spices were saigon cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, the third being the smallest amount due to its strength.
upon opening the fermenter, i had a strong smell of all the spices, and tasted it but only got the clove. when i got to the sludge, it was ALL pumpkin,, but smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg. so in secondary, i soaked a few cionamon sticks in vodka and tossed them in, along with some freshly grated nutmeg. hopefully the clove will mellow a bit and let the more gentle spices shine through,, if not i may add lactose to make it a little sweeter to offset the spicy clove.

 

[AdvGroo]

I'm not exactly sure, but if I had to guess, around 12 hours maybe. I pitched at 3:00pm sunday, and when I went to check on it before leaving for work at 6:00 the next morning, (monday) the airlock was bubbling very good, about 1 bubble per second i would guess.

Thanks I was just a little worried there. Mine is now currently fermenting. Nothing to crazy, but it is going. this morning I checked it about 5am, nothing, 11 hours since pitch. but I think it is just picking up speed.

 

[AdvGroo]

2) As for a calibration check with your hydrometer: make sure you're checking at or near the temperature your hydro is calibrated for (should be listed on whatever instructions came with it), and make sure to use distilled water. Tap water could very well have enough impurities in it to throw off your measurement by a little bit.

Thanks, I did not know that. I will check again as you advised. Thank you.

 

[LarryO1970]

This was after adding the WYEAST nutrient. For some reason, this was taking it's sweet time (I'm probably not patient enough, was approx 38 hours) to ferment. I was thinking of racking it after a week, but am thinking of letting it sit for the full two. Any insight and/or advice?