Pumpkin Recipe Feedback

[t-ross]

Here is the Recipe I have so far:

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.079
Final Gravity: 1.022
ABV (standard): 7.5%
IBU (tinseth): 17.29

FERMENTABLES:
6 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light (50%)
1 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light - (late addition) (8.3%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
0.75 lb - American - Victory (6.3%)
0.25 lb - United Kingdom - Crystal 60L (2.1%)
2.5 lb - American - Vienna (20.8%)
1 lb - American - Munich - Light 10L (8.3%)
0.5 lb - American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (4.2%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Palisade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 15.44
1 oz - Willamette, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 1.85

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
30 oz - Pumpkin, Type: Other, Use: Mash
1 each - Irish Moss, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
15 oz - Pumpkin, Time: 15 min, Type: Other, Use: Boil
0.5 tsp - cardamom, Time: 5 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1.5 tsp - Cinnamon, Time: 5 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1.5 tsp - Nutmeg, Time: 5 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
5 each - Whole cloves, Time: 5 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Oak Chips, Type: Other, Use: Secondary

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - Safale - English Ale Yeast S-04


NOTES:


-Mash Grains - Use cooler and do mash in a bag method. Include part of pumpkin in mash.

-Sparge - Heat sparge water to ~170 F, sparge in brew pot. Add pumpkin into brewpot if possible.

-Soak Oak in bourbon while in primary, discard bourbon.[/I]


I'm mainly interested in feedback regarding the pumpkin and spices. I already have every else.

For the spices: I do want the spices to be prominent. Do you think that I am overdoing it? If I don't have enough I can add it in the secondary or at bottling.

For the pumpkin: Sounds like different people do this different ways. I included some in the "mash" and some late in the boil. I've heard of people roasting the pumpkin prior to adding it. Do you think this adds anything? I am planning to do canned pumpkin.

 

[motorneuron]

The Mad Fermentationist has decent empirical information on pumpkin: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2008/11/chocolate-pumpkin-porter.html and http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2009/03/sour-butternut-squash-ale.html

I have not used it myself, so I can't add to that. Randy Mosher also has some suggestions in Radical Brewing. One way or another, pumpkin just doesn't have that much flavor. So I think you'll have a hard time getting much true pumpkin flavor in your beer--after all, the flavor we associate with pumpkin most is usually pumpkin spice (as in pie).

On the spices, I am always an advocate of underdoing it in the boil/secondary, because you can add more later: (1) take a sample, and add more spice to the secondary, and keep sampling until you're happy (more time-consuming), or (2) use a potion at bottling time, which you can carefully measure in small quantities, and then scale up what you think is the best flavor. If you go overboard upfront, you are much more likely to wind up with a disgusting beer, or at least not a beer you're totally happy with.

However, I can't give you direct advice on the quantities of those spices. My reference point would always be Radical Brewing first, and then a comparison to other people's recipes on this site.

 

[t-ross]

Thanks motorneuron,

I think I'm going to brew this on Sunday as is. I read the mad fermentationist tasting notes on the sour squash beer. He said spices are barely noticable. My ammounts are higher but not by all that much. I'm guessing it will still be a little underspiced with what I have and I may add some more to the secondary or at bottling.

Radical brewing sounds like an interesting book, might have to pick up a copy of that.

 

[motorneuron]

Radical Brewing is an awesome book. It's definitely my favorite brewing book--creative, with really good information that you can't find anywhere else, and also a lot of fun to read. If you have ten or fifteen bucks to spend on anything brewing-related, get that book right now.

As for the spices, it's up to you, but I really don't see any downside to adjusting the spices at the end. I myself essentially ruined one batch from overspicing (doing it all at once, that is). So sure, feel free to experiment--it is, after all, your beer. But I don't know of a reason to take the risk. Unlike with dry hopping, which is hard to overdo (it fades) and difficult to do with a potion, my experience is that the spice blend will work just as well when added at bottling from a potion.

I don't know conversions between volume and mass for spices, but your spice bill includes many more spices than that squash recipe and is probably not going to be aged for a long time. So I'd be cautious. (It's different with a recipe you've made before, since then you can know in advance pretty much what level you want.) FWIW, Mosher and Gordon Strong both recommend adjusting at the end--e.g. Strong's chai brown ale recipe, which gets spicing from adding a "tea" at bottling.