Pumpkin IPA

[peecan52]

I have been reading a few posts here and there and I have decided a Pumpkin IPA needs to be one of my next brews. I have a lot of warrior in the freezer and want a spicier hop so my current plan is to use all Warrior.

My recipe is for a BIAB. 4 gallons boiled with 3 gallons into the fermentor.

5# 2 Row
8oz Vienna Malt
8oz Crystal 60L
4oz CaraPils

.25 oz Warrior(17.2AA) @ 60, 15, 5, and 1minute
1oz Warrior for a 10day dry hop

This gives me the IPA backbone with around 50IBU.

Here are my questions:
-Is all warrior a bad idea?
-How much pumpkin puree should I use? I am thinking about 2 pounds.
-Should I boil the pumpkin for 60min or should I put it in with the other grains for the BIAB?
-Should I add any other spices to the mix?

 

[binkman]

IPA is not often used as a base beer for pumpkin ale. Too much bitterness or hop flavor tends to drown out the pumpkin. The base beers for pumpkin ales tend to be brown ales, for good reason, as the roasty and somewhat sweeter profiles tend to complement the pumpkin. At the very least I would limit myself to only a 60 minute hop addition.

Don't use puree, use pumpkins if you can.. If you look around you can probably find some even in July/August, depending on what part of the country you are in. Use it in the mash. 2 pounds is a good amount. If you use actual pumpkins roast them first almost to the point where they are soft and separate the flesh from the skins. Make sure to mash about 90 minutes or so, so that the pumpkins can convert fully.

Add some pumpkin pie spice. It will help the pumpkin flavor really stand out. Maybe just a quarter tsp. in the last few minutes of the boil. After fermentation you can taste it and decide if you want some more or not.

All that being said, this is if you want to make a more traditional pumpkin ale, reminiscent of most commercial varieties. If you want to experiment, go for it!

Remember, RDWHAHB.

 

[peecan52]

Thanks for the input. I think I am determined to try out the IPA style with the pumpkin. Should I up the amount of pumpkin I use to get it to stand out more against the hops? Maybe I will even lower the IBU's a bit. Has anyone ever done an all Warrior brew that can advise me on whether I should add some different hops to the mix or just stick with all warrior?

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

one thing to keep in mind is that in a typical pumpkin ale, you're tasting mostly the pumpkin pie spices...not the pumpkin itself which has a very mild flavor.

I agree with above poster that the two flavor profiles (IPA, Pumpkin Pie) might not get along.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Definitely an interesting idea, but likely tricky to execute. I don't think the pumpkins will give you any problems, but the spices may. Cinnamom usually works well with many IPA hops at low levels (Spanish Cedar wood adds cinnamon and pepper notes to Simcoe IPAs, for example), but I am not sure about the others. What you should do is prepare several pumpkin pie spice tinctures using a neutral grain alcohol and dose pints of your base recipes with them to find the best combination and concentration to use, then dose the entire batch accordingly.