Pumpkin beers: Discussion, developing recipes, tips tricks, and a good practices

[smokinghole]

For those of you that have used vanilla did you use extract or whole beans?

I just tried adding .25ml of extract to a beer. I think that .25ml was a little much for a 12oz beer so what I propose is basically a .18ml dose per beer. That comes out to 9ml for a 50 bottles worth. I'll probably end up bottling around 54-56 bottles but would rather err on the safe side of not too much flavor.

Now if you've used beans how many have you used? I'm assuming it as in the secondary.

 

[PassionBeer]

For those of you that have used vanilla did you use extract or whole beans?

I just tried adding .25ml of extract to a beer. I think that .25ml was a little much for a 12oz beer so what I propose is basically a .18ml dose per beer. That comes out to 9ml for a 50 bottles worth. I'll probably end up bottling around 54-56 bottles but would rather err on the safe side of not too much flavor.

Now if you've used beans how many have you used? I'm assuming it as in the secondary.

I'm actually on planning on using Vanilla, too but am wondering if I should add the extract to the secondary or individual bottles...?

 

[smokinghole]

If adding extract figure out how much you want total and just add it to the bottling bucket along with the priming sugar. That way you can mix it in pretty consistently. Plus adding a tiny amount to each bottle would just be plain annoying.

 

[masonsjax]

I added mine to the keg just before kegging. I used extract, just a couple oz in the pumkin ale. I made a vanilla creme ale one and used 8 oz for 5 gallons and it was very noticable, just what I was after. I used a real extract without preservatives because I like to prime my kegs and I'm not sure what preservatives do to yeast.

 

[radamadar]

For those of you that have used vanilla did you use extract or whole beans?

I just tried adding .25ml of extract to a beer. I think that .25ml was a little much for a 12oz beer so what I propose is basically a .18ml dose per beer. That comes out to 9ml for a 50 bottles worth. I'll probably end up bottling around 54-56 bottles but would rather err on the safe side of not too much flavor.

Now if you've used beans how many have you used? I'm assuming it as in the secondary.

My limited experience with real vanilla is that it's a lot more subtle than the other spices I've worked with. I used one whole split bean within 5-10 minutes of flame out, and I have another ready for some 'tea' at racking if needs be.

I was using whole Madagascar vanilla bean, split lengthwise with some of the insides scooped out.

 

[beesy]

i almost picked up sweet potatoes for mine this weekend, but was lucky enough to find whole pumpkins locally.

This year, I roasted all my pumpkin for 60mins @ 375 and it makes a huge difference in flavor. way more sweeter and less "squash" flavor. however, i noticed about a 40% reduction in weight after baking - tons of h20 must be in these things.

cooled and vacuumed sealed yesterday - ready to brew tomorrow!

 

[black95tt]

I brewed this about three weeks ago. I kegged it over the weekend and oh man does it smell good. Couple of things to note; it was racked onto two vanilla beans that I slit and scraped into 2 oz. of Jamaican rum. I also was not able to find canned pumpkin, as most of you have discovered. I ended up using one can of the spiced organic pumpkin pie mix and cutting my spice additions down a little to compensate. Not much pumpkin, I know, but it's better than nothing! For the spice additions, I made up a batch of the ingredients listed, mixed them together and then used 2 TSP of that mix with 5 minutes left in the boil. The vanilla in secondary really gave it that pulpy unique smell that pumking has. I can't explain it really. I guess it's a combination of spice aromas that does this. I think it's going to be VERY special in about two months.

Another thing, after having this years pumking the other day, it sure seems more bitter than 30 IBU's. I'd say more along the lines of 50. Something to note for next years batch.

Pumpking Clone

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

21-B Spice/Herb/Vegetable, Christmas/Winter Specialty

Min OG: 1.030 Max OG: 1.100
Min IBU: 2 Max IBU: 100
Min Clr: 2 Max Clr: 25 Color in SRM, Lovibond

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

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 19.53
Anticipated OG: 1.090 Plato: 21.66
Anticipated SRM: 14.3
Anticipated IBU: 28.7
Brewhouse Efficiency: 68 %
Wort Boil Time: 120 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
68.1 13.31 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
23.2 4.53 lbs. Munich Malt Great Britain 1.037 6
5.8 1.13 lbs. Crystal 60L America 1.034 60
2.9 0.57 lbs. Biscuit Malt Belgium 1.035 24

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.55 oz. Magnum Whole 14.00 26.1 60 min.
0.55 oz. Styrian Goldings Whole 5.25 2.6 15 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.00 Lbs Pumpkin Fruit 60 Min.(boil)
0.28 Tsp All Spice Spice 5 Min.(boil)
1.37 Tsp Cinnamon Spice 5 Min.(boil)
0.28 Tsp Cloves Spice 5 Min.(boil)
0.39 Tsp Ginger Other 5 Min.(boil)
0.55 Tsp Nutmeg Spice 5 Min.(boil)
2.0 Unit(s)Vanilla Spice 7 Days(secondary fermenter)
__________________

 

[chicagobrew]

I am not sure if anyone ever chimed in about the effect of the decoction on the sparge ease....

DO IT!@!#*^&%$^#^%(@!!!!! Holy cow does it make a huge difference in the ease of sparging through that goop.

Decoct for sure.

BK,

What's your schedule for the decoction? I've been wanting to try my hand at this, so Saturday's pumpkin ale may be just the ticket.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Do you have any brewing software? If you have BeerSmith it is as easy as selecting decoction as a rest temp style. It will tell you the volume of deco to pull. I always add 15% to what it says though.

If you haven't watch Kaiser's videos over at braukaiser.com

For mine I did a Hochkurz style mash.

1. Infuse to reach 140 and hold for 40 minutes.
2. Pull a thick decoction and slowly bring to boil while the rest of the mash rests at 140.
3. Reintroduce deco to reach 158 and hold for 40 minutes.
4. Pull thin deco and raise to boil.
5. Reintroduce deco to reach 170 and mash out for how ever long you normally do.

Decos are really easy, you just need to know how much volume to pull. Kaiser does the math in his deco articles if you don't have any software.

For a first timer, you might try just a single decoction to raise to mash out. I would recommend boiling the deco for 15 minutes at least to gelatinize the pumpkin.

Hope that helps!

 

[chicagobrew]

That's perfect, BK. Thanks for the run through. I do have beersmith, so I'll plug it in. I think I'll take your recommendation and just do a single decoction. Really, I just want to try a new technique, and I think the added carmelization would fit well with this beer.

 

[RootvonRoot]

anyone know - does pumpkin beer need pumpkin to attain the desired 'pumpkin' beer taste?

i'm using this as data:
11-26-09 Pumpkin Beer Experiment - Basic Brewing Radio
http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/radio.rss

and since i couldn't find pumpkin yet i went with the same recipe as last year (which was awesome!) just without the pumpkin (besides this year i'm using my own home grown cascade hops - i know, i'm playing russian roulette with the alpha acid)

so i call it Autumn Ale instead and we'll see in about a month if it's similar

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

You don't need it. If you want to have some vegi in there, many have used sweet potatoes in place of the pumpkin with good results.

 

[MNDan]

Decent Pumpkin Beer article (on an audio site, no less - weird).

http://www.audioholics.com/news/edi...e-brew-recipe-and-commercial-microbrew-recipe

Interesting that they recommend putting the pumpkin in the boil instead of the mash, and they also have a "spicing" schedule similar to a hop addition schedule.

thoughts?

 

[smokinghole]

I just bottled my pumpkin ale today. I found it to taste awesome. I went pretty mild on the spices and ended up with 5.5gal bottled. I threw 10ml of vanilla extract in the bottling bucket with the priming sugar. Seems like just enough to have the flavor but not screaming "there's vanilla in here".

I plan on making this again when canned pumpkin hits the shelves (end of the month supposedly). I'll mash at 154/155. I think due to therm error and targeting 156 I ended up with more nonfermentables than I really wanted. My FG was 1.025 which is acceptable but a couple more points would have been nice. At this point the only thing I'll change is the hopping, spice addition timing (add cinnamon earlier), and I'll try some pumpkin in the boil to see if it makes a difference.

Here's the recipe I came up with after looking at others.

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Pale Malt (MO) (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 51.43 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 11.43 %
2.00 lb Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 11.43 %
1.50 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.57 %
1.00 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 5.71 %
1.00 lb Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 5.71 %
1.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 5.71 %
1.20 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.90 %] (60 min) Hops 17.1 IBU
0.25 tsp Nutmeg (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Rice Hulls (Mash 5.0 min) Misc
3 ea Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
60.00 oz Pumpkin (Mash 5.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028) Yeast-Ale

10ml of Vanilla Extract at bottling. Oats were quaker oats toasted in oven. The smoked malt was rauchmalt.

Mash Schedule: Double Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 17.50 lb
----------------------------
Double Infusion, Full Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
30 min Protein Rest Add 15.75 qt of water at 132.1 F 122.0 F
60 min Saccrification Add 14.00 qt of water at 202.0 F 156.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 10.50 qt of water at 205.6 F 168.0 F

 

[fugazzi]

Looks like a lot of people brewing this, but very little feedback on how it went! Does adding pumpkin/potatos contribute significantly to the flavor? Did you add pumpkin to the mash, or to the boil? Did you use canned or fresh pumpkin/potato?

 

[smokinghole]

Did you read the thread? Some think the pumpkin adds something. Some think it's all the spices. Some mash the pumpkin some boil it and some do both. People use canned, fresh and sweet potatoes.

I used canned and did not reroast them in the oven as they're ALREADY cooked in order to become canned. It's not like they skinned the fresh pumpkins and smooshed them into a can. They are already cooked with caramelized sugars as far as I'm concerned. No need to do it twice.

 

[wheatgerm]

i chopped up whole pumpkin and boiled it for an hour. I then used that water as my final sparge water. even though my pumpkin beer is still bottle priming, you can definitely taste the pumpkin flavor. you can even smell it. of course, i didn't spice mine, so the aroma is much more noticeable.

i drank a sam adams harvest pumpkin this weekend and it was great. they use fresh pumpkin in theirs but i couldn't smell or taste it. i'm thinking you could fake the pumpkin with dextrine malt if you plan to spice it. otherwise use real pumpkin. just my two cents.

 

[fugazzi]

Did you read the thread?

Thanks for the input! I did read the thread!

I know that people are using different things, I just wanted to know what effect those different things had on the outcome.

- Has anyone compared sweet potatos to pumpkin?
- Has anyone compared pumpkin to no pumpkin (just spices)?
- Has anyone compared pumpkin in mash to pumpkin in boil?
- Has anyone compared fresh pumpkin to canned pumpkin?

I'm planning on doing a brewday with a canned pumpkin in the boil, and I think next brewday I'll try either sweet potatos or just spices.

 

[fugazzi]

i chopped up whole pumpkin and boiled it for an hour. I then used that water as my final sparge water. even though my pumpkin beer is still bottle priming, you can definitely taste the pumpkin flavor. you can even smell it. of course, i didn't spice mine, so the aroma is much more noticeable.

i drank a sam adams harvest pumpkin this weekend and it was great. they use fresh pumpkin in theirs but i couldn't smell or taste it. i'm thinking you could fake the pumpkin with dextrine malt if you plan to spice it. otherwise use real pumpkin. just my two cents.

Just pumpkin, no spices? How much water did you boil with? All your sparge water? I was thinking of trying this as I use the BIAB method and I don't really have space in my 'mash tun' to add anything else. Sounds like your method might be a good one to reduce the amount of trub in the fermenter.

 

[wheatgerm]

Just pumpkin, no spices? How much water did you boil with? All your sparge water? I was thinking of trying this as I use the BIAB method and I don't really have space in my 'mash tun' to add anything else. Sounds like your method might be a good one to reduce the amount of trub in the fermenter.

Here's the recipe thread for what I did:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/bradfords-prudence-thanksgiving-beer-193185/

 

[FattyJLE]

I have a question on spice amount for a pumpkin ale recipe I'm going to try this week. I figured I'd post here so I wouldn't have to start a new thread. I'm going to be using the extract recipe for "The Great Pumpkin Ale" from pg 149 of The Homebrewer's Recipe Guide. Here are the ingredients.

3 lbs amber malt extract
3 lbs light dry malt extract
1 lb crystal malt
1/2 lb chocolate malt
1 tspn gypsum
2 oz kent goldings
1 oz fuggles
1 tspn irish moss
8 lbs pumpkin (fresh, bake)
1 package pumpkin pie spice
4 cinnamon sticks
3 whole nutmegs
6 whole allspice
1 pack london ale yeast

Basically, I have 2 major questions:
1) The recipe calls for me to sprinkle the package of pumpkin pie spice over the quartered pumpkin and bake it. However, I couldn't find "a package" of spice, just a small jar in the spice aisle. So, I'm not really sure how much to add. I'm not too big on "spicy" pumpkin beers. I'd rather the beer taste more like pumpkin than pie. I was thinking maybe 2 tablespoons, but I'm really not sure. Do you all have any advice on this?
2) Along the same lines, I don't want the final product to be overly spiced. Should I cut back on the spice ingredients or do you all think since I'm using whole spices, it may dampen the effect? It calls for me to boil the cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice for an hour along with the pumpkin. Then remove before chilling the wort.

I've never done one of these before so any advice you all have would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[smokinghole]

It's my opinion that would be a whole lot of spice. Plus if you look at the ingredient list of pumpkin pie spice it's basically all the stuff you have listed just combined in powder form. I haven't quite been able to wrap my head around listing them separately then adding pumpkin pie spice.

I only used 3 cinnamon sticks and 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground nutmeg. I feel that at bottling my spice level was real nice. I think all these breweries go over the top with spices. I put my cinnamon in the boil with 15 min left and let it stay in there for cooling. I was reading an article about spicing pumpkin beers done with a brewery. They said using the cinnamon and spices like hop additions can add to bitterness which they wanted. If you ask me getting bitterness from cinnamon bark would be back of the tongue nasty bitterness. Possibly very similar to the bitterness I got from the smuttynose pumpkin I had last weekend.

Overall it sounds like you're going for something I went with. 3 cinnamon sticks late in the boil and just a little nutmeg. I'm not a fan of the flavor allspice offers so I left it out along with ginger which is often times in pumpkin pie.

 

[Cdbrew]

So

I used a pumpkin ale extract kit, 5 gallons, 60 oz of pumpkin. I put in like 1 tsp cinnammon, 1tsp allspice, .75 tsp cloves, a little nutmeg. I also put in a cinnamon stick in the bucket during fermentation. I also dumped in the spice packet that came with the extract kit which may have been another teaspon total of pumpkin spices.

It has fermented in liek 5 days to the estimated final gravity. I did a taste test and really had a alcohol smell/taste, and i could not taste any spice/pumpkin. I realize most flavors really can be fermented out during fermentation.

I noticed a lot of people saying it really should age a few months before all the flavors settle but a lot of people mention how they could tastes spices/pumpkin straight out of the bucket. Do you think I should just add more spices at bottling to help give it a pronounced flavor or is it just too close to fermentation for me to taste them?

 

[user 53515]

I agree and expect mine to be this way. OK with me though. I'm really not a flavored beer guy so I made this for the parents walking with their kids on Halloween night who might want a cup. Though next year I expect I'll boost this with more crystal instead of backsweetening.

Come to think of it I might simply have been tasting a little too much spice before which put it out of balance. So it needed some sweetnes to balance it out.

How much crystal malt would you add as opposed to backsweetening? I'd like to make something a tad sweeter so even the females would have a pint or two at the t'giving table or when joining the boys watching afternoon football

This is the receipe I was asking about : https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/samhain-pumpkin-ale-140674/

Maybe I could mash it a lil higher at 156 or so to sweeten 'er up.

 

[ZehBaron]

Shot in the dark here, but has anyone tried racking onto pumpkin in secondary? Sure, you won't get many fermentables out of it, but it seems like the pumpkin aroma and vegetal character might come through more clearly that way, as opposed to letting it get churned through primary.

If someone brought this up already, I apologize; I wasn't too keen on reading all 27 pages in one sitting:cross:.

 

[imaguitargod]

Shot in the dark here, but has anyone tried racking onto pumpkin in secondary? Sure, you won't get many fermentables out of it, but it seems like the pumpkin aroma and vegetal character might come through more clearly that way, as opposed to letting it get churned through primary.

If someone brought this up already, I apologize; I wasn't too keen on reading all 27 pages in one sitting:cross:.

I did but actually took it to the next level. I racked a gallon and a half into a hallowed out pumpkin and stuck an airlock on it. Kept it in there for a week then bottled it.

It turend out really interesting. The beer had absorbed a little bit of that Jack-o-Lantern taste (I didn't use pie pumpkin for that, oops) and was a little more watered down. It was good though, actually, really good.

I would suggest aging it in a Pie Pumpkin next time though.

 

[Crustovsky]

Excuse the bump, but could someone explain to me why the interviews with professional brewers keep giving numbers along the lines of 0.5lb per 5g batch but every recipe I've looked through on here without fails seems to be in the 3-4lb range? Am I missing something here? Is half a pound really not enough to give a good pumpkin flavour?

 

[jonmohno]

I see 8 and 10 Pounds even suggested in kits. I like 2# per 2 gallon batch, although i tried my first pumpkin i made recently @ 8 months bottled and it was really good only used 1# for that.Spices on that use to be perfumy but took 6 months to start fading the heavy aroma. It was a prespiced can and it had sugar in it to so that is probably what made it taste weird at first for a while.
The brewers must fall into the category that pumpkin doesnt do much,but its the spice.I dont like the overspiced ones and i can detect pumpkin taste and aroma and is usually followed with somewhat of a not so great taste left in your mouth,very mildly though.I like pumpkin beers they just dont leave a good leftover taste like a well hopped ipa or something does.I almost think you could bitter more with a clean hop to clean up that aftertaste. Its pretty faint and almost undetectable though but i seem to notice it.
Alot people seem to swear there is no taste from pumpkin anyway.

 

[nailedtonothing]

I have my very first pumpkin ale in secondary right now. I came up with the recipe after discussing it with one of the brewers at clipper city brewing who make my second favorite pumpkin beer called "the greater pumpkin". He was kind enough to share with me the grains and hops and some methods, but no specific quantities and this is the partial mash recipe I came up with:

Mash:

3lbs - American 2 row
1.5lb - Crystal 60
8oz - Caramel Wheat
60 oz canned pumpkin puree caramelized in oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees

Boil:
90 minutes
6lb pale dme
3lb amber lme
2 oz mt. hood @60 minutes

2tsp pumpkin spice and 1lb brown sugar @5 minutes

1 oz mt. hood @5 minutes

Ferment with 1 pack of safale s-33 ale yeast.

SG~1.085

Reading after primary 1.025

From what I sampled when racking to secondary, the flavor is spicy and boozy with just a subtle hint of pumpkin. I really like where this is going and am very excited about how it will come out in a few more weeks!

 

[jonmohno]

@ nailedtonothing: Are you giving that a month or so? I would almost give that one more.Thats a big beer make shure you save alot to age. I would hang on to at least a few of those for next year for shure.

 

[dbreienrk1]

Pumpkin Ale (partial mash)
Brew Day: 9/10/2011
Secondary: 9/24/2000
5.5 gal 1 hour boil

Recipe:
- Rahr 2-Row Malt 6lbs
- Weyermann CaraRed 1.5lbs
- Brown Sugar 0.5lbs
- Breiss Caramel 40L 0.5lbs
- Belgian Biscuit Malt 0.5lbs
- Flaked Wheat 0.5lbs
- NB Amber Malt Syrup 2.5lbs (late addition - 20 min)
- Canned Pumpkin 60oz (1/2 60 min – 1/2 20 min)
- Wyeast nutrient 1/2 tsp (10 min)
- Super Irish Moss 1/5 tsp (10 min)
- Pumpkin Pie Spice 4tbs (5 min)
- German Northern Brewer Hop Pellets 1oz (60 min)
- German Northern Brewer Hop Pellets 1oz (15 min)
- Wyeast 1272 American Ale II

Spread pumpkin out on baking sheet and bake at 350° for 30 minutes
In a separate pot, bring 1.5gal water to 170°
Main brew kettle pot bring 4gal water to 150°
Mash-in grain and hold at 140° for 20 minutes
Raise temp to 156° and hold for 50 minutes
Remove grain bag and kick on burner to bring to boil
In separate bucket, rinse grains with 170° water
Add “rinsed” wort to brew-kettle and bring to boil
Follow hop, extract and additive schedule
Add wort chiller at 15 min
Cool to 70°
Add sanitized water to bring volume to 5 gal
Pitch yeast

Any thoughts?

 

[jonmohno]

I wouldnt add all your spice at 5 min,unless you like a perfumy beer,I would drop a tablespoon or two also.Unless you like something like shipyards pumpkin head , i thought it was overspiced and tasted like cola more than beer. Although im a fan of smashed pumpkin.

 

[dbreienrk1]

I wouldnt add all your spice at 5 min,unless you like a perfumy beer,I would drop a tablespoon or two also.Unless you like something like shipyards pumpkin head , i thought it was overspiced and tasted like cola more than beer. Although im a fan of smashed pumpkin.

Would it be better to add 1/2 the spice at say 15 and the other 1/2 at 5? Or 30 and 5? I want the spices to be present, but not overpowering. I'm trying to get more pumpkin than spice - and now that I write this maybe 1 Tbs at 15 and 1 at 5 would be better.

 

[jonmohno]

Ive only heard adding all at 60 and you get nothing(i doubt that), but i would add at least some @30 min.Treat them like hops i guess 30 or less is flavoring,15-flamout more aroma.Although i think depending how long it takes to cool your wort your still going to get flavoring. My first pumpkin doing small batches, i used a can of prespiced pumpkin towards the end of the boil and it was pretty perfumy and in my face kind of spice and it tooks many months to really mellow out, but if thats your thing then go for it.
If your dead set on doing 4 tblsp i would split it up some at 60 30 10 or 5 or flamout.
Now i have to go pull out one of my pumpkin browns i did 4 months ago, i did 60 min spice and 2 cans plain pumpkin mashed,definatly wasnt overspiced for a 2 gallon batch 2 tsp pumpk spice @60 min.It was pretty much a brown not my favorite style and it was decent but time usually does the trick but im still waiting it wasnt a big beer but had a lot of complexity in it.

 

[jonmohno]

Ok so i chilled down my 4 month bottled pumpkin brown wheat,its really a good beer the pumpkin is there perfectly the spice is subdued in the background with hints of spice faintly, i used 3/4 @60 3/4 @ 30 of pumpkin spice for a 1.7 gal batch(1/3 of a 5 gallon batch).Not much in aroma but still detected in flavor where i wanted them in the background.My last one i did 2 tsp for a third of a 5 gallon batch which would be 2 tblsp. for a 5 gallon which i think for my preference is good.

If i were to do another i would put a little in aroma and more of it @30 and 60.Even though i used a small amount of spice you get a spice coating like taste in your mouth faintly at the finish i used some blackstrap molassis to in a small amount and that ends up in the finish taste but seems to stick around in the aroma also. I also only got like 12-15 ibus with some chinook hops which i should have went for like 25.At this point i would say im finally happy with this pumpkin which is why i brewed it 5 months ago.Perfect timing.

The most recent pumpkin i did i added spice @60 although i did some bittering with a spice like hop so with hints of pumpk spice but a hop spice making it more beer like, i like pumpkins but i always think they leave a little bit of a crappy taste in your mouth thats why i bittered mine a little more this time.

 

[dbreienrk1]

@jonmohno - This info is much appreciated. I'm going to revise my spice/pumpkin additions tomorrow and re-post them. Thanks for the advice.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Thanks for the input! I did read the thread!

I know that people are using different things, I just wanted to know what effect those different things had on the outcome.

- Has anyone compared sweet potatos to pumpkin?
- Has anyone compared pumpkin to no pumpkin (just spices)?
- Has anyone compared pumpkin in mash to pumpkin in boil?
- Has anyone compared fresh pumpkin to canned pumpkin?

I'm planning on doing a brewday with a canned pumpkin in the boil, and I think next brewday I'll try either sweet potatos or just spices.

I used canned pumpkin, baked at 350 for an hour, and added it to the mash (what a mess -- I got a stuck mash doing BIAB with it). Then I added spices to the boil at 5 minutes.

Pre-boil it had the taste like beer with squash in it. Not much pumpkin aroma but definitely pumpkin flavor. Not pumpkin pie, just like squash. When I added the spices it immediately developed the smell of pumpkin pie. The spices definitely make up a lot of the aroma and flavor but I would think the pumpkin is the difference between a beer that tastes like (some) winter warmers and a pumpkin ale.

Just my $.02. This was my first go at a pumpkin ale, so take that for what it's worth.

 

[barrooze]

I've got 2 questions. 1) Has anyone brewed the Brewing Classic Styles pumpkin beer, and 2) To make a pumpkin saison, can you just take any pumpkin recipe and ferment it with a saison yeast? Would I leave out the spices or tone them down? (I guess it's three questions... )

Thanks!

 

[BrewMeThatBeer]

Has anyone ever used vanilla beans and/or toasted coconut in their pumpkin beers? I was considering adding one or both and would appreciate any tips on the matter. Obviously I would add these in secondary for about a week before racking to the bottling bucket.

Thanks in advance.

 

[smokinghole]

Has anyone ever used vanilla beans and/or toasted coconut in their pumpkin beers? I was considering adding one or both and would appreciate any tips on the matter. Obviously I would add these in secondary for about a week before racking to the bottling bucket.

Thanks in advance.

I used 10ml of vanilla extract when I bottled my beer for a 5.5gal yield. It made a difference but you couldn't pick the vanilla out.